The tuning landscape in Japan is one wealthy in 1,000hp Nissans and Toyotas. So great are their numbers, they have almost become the standard, akin to the Mustang and Corvette phenomena we see stateside. That’s why it was truly surprising to run across this mega-horsepowered beast in Osaka, not because it can roll with the best of them but because it isn’t one of the ubiquitous aforesaid marques.

Manufactured by Mitsubishi between 1990 and 2001, the GTO (or 3000GT in the US) came from the factory with all-wheel drive and a twin turbocharged 6-cylinder mill. It seemed that the GTO had all of the ingredients to become a top contender in the Japanese supercar realm, but for some reason it never achieved the same level of notoriety as its competitors, the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Supra and Mazda RX-7.

We take a closer look at what could be the most powerful Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO in the world.

The company behind this project GTO is Pit Road M, and it has been suggested that since the outfit hails from the same prefecture as the Hajima Castle, it has inherited some of the castle’s samurai spirit. PRM used that honor and discipline to overcome the obstacles it faced in reaching the success it enjoys today.

For starters, they had to establish themselves as tuners of a not-too-popular platform, which initially seemed foolish until it became clear several years on that they were one of only a few GTO facilities in the whole of Japan. In fact, when we were looking at this car, PRM had just finished tuning another GTO from Hokkaido. That customer drove for 2 days to drop off his car, and flew back to pick it up.

Another obstacle Pit Road M had to contend with was finding off-the-shelf parts for the GTO. Few were available, so the company had no choice but to start developing their very own line of products for the platform.

This Pit Road M project makes 960hp and 708 lb-ft of torque. Almost all of the internal modifications to the motor were made by Pit Road M, and the majority of the turbocharging work was done using Trust/GReddy parts.

Internally the engine was upgraded with PRM MFR Fighter rods, while the head took on MFR Fighter cams (Type II), valve springs, 1,000cc injectors and Trust racing spark plugs. A Pit Road M 100mm Drag exhaust, with 130mm tip, hangs under the car, while under hood boost pressure is made with a Trust T-88 38GK 18.0cm turbo.

A Trust Type R wastegate allows exhaust to bypass, and the intake charge is chilled via PRM front-mount intercooler. An HKS F-Con V Pro fuel computer allows some flexibility in tuning, while a host of Pit Road M gear – like the triple-disc 1,200hp clutch, limited slip diff, and front and rear strut tower bars – round out the package of major performance mods.

All of the intercooler and exhaust piping had to be fabricated from scratch. Paying close attention to the bends in the piping, it’s clear all of the cuts and welds were very time consuming, but by using this process a true mandrel bend was achieved.

Pit Road M makes a complete wide-body kit for the GTO/3000GT. The aero kit adds 6cm to the rear and 3cm to the front. Included in the kit is a complete front bumper, side skirts, fenders and rear bumper/diffuser.

With a curb weight well over 3,000 lbs, the GTO is a very heavy car from the factory, which is why the Pit Road M GTO was put on a very strict diet. Included in this diet were healthy servings of carbon fiber doors, hatch and hood, with the doors and hatch sporting Lexan windows. Essentially, anything that was not necessary for this car to get down the track was pretty much stripped out.

Replacing the heavy factory buckets are a pair of Recaro SP-GIII seats in gold, and a Veilside Steering wheel handles directional duties. An M-SPL rear battery relocation kit was installed to help with weight distribution, while Pit Road M installed a set of their plush floor mats to spiffy up the interior.

Pit Road M employed a set of lightweight 18-inch Volk Racing RE30 rims with Yokohama A048 rubber to help put power to the ground. Enlisted to stop the rotating masses are a set of GReddy 6-pot front calipers with 355mm rotors and 4-pot rear calipers with 330mm rotors, which had to be custom fit to this application.

Here is a sneak peak at Pit Road M’s next motor for this car. The stated goal for the mill is 1,000hp, and hopefully we will see this motor run in early 2008. To quote Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Pit Road M has had problems with people counterfeiting their products, so they asked us to help warn people in the US. The thing to look for is the authentic Pit Road M manufacturing label on each and every part.