A mid-90s family sedan still holds the record: the TE Magna's 0.28 drag coefficient beats every Commodore and Falcon Australia ever built, decades later included.
Lead trim: Magna 2.4 Sirius 4G64-S4 (141 hp) · up to 188 hp
Mitsubishi Magna TE1996–1997
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Mitsubishi Magna TE yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactA mid-90s family sedan still holds the record: the TE Magna's 0.28 drag coefficient beats every Commodore and Falcon Australia ever built, decades later included.
In April 1996 MMAL released a new-generation Magna (the Verada followed in July), broadly based on the pillar-less Japanese second-generation Diamante at a cost of some A$500 million, and both won the 1996 Wheels Car of the Year for value for money. The TE and KE shared the "YR" platform, with bodies 10 mm higher and longer than the TS and 13 percent stiffer yet marginally heavier thanks to more aluminium, coupe-like frameless windows and slim centre pillars, and the TE/KE was the most aerodynamic car ever produced in Australia at that time, with a drag coefficient of 0.28. Its engines were a Japanese-imported 2.4-litre four (4G64-S4, with 90 percent new parts) making 105 kW (141 hp) and 205 N·m, and an Australian-made 3.0-litre 6G72 V6 with 140 kW (188 hp) and 255 N·m, with the new fuzzy-logic four-speed INVECS II automatic or a five-speed manual; the suspension was MacPherson strut at the front with the Diamante's multi-link rear, steering components were made to MMAL's specifications by TWR, and it had Australia's first "Banksia" parking brake. The Executive and Altera came first (the Advance and Altera LS from October 1996), and the wagon arrived in March 1997 (drag coefficient 0.33) but was replaced by the TF three months later.
Collectors Spotted in the Mitsubishi Magna Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Mitsubishi Magna yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magna 2.4 Sirius 4G64-S4 (141 hp) | 1996–1997 | 2.4 L Inline-4 | 141 hp | 151 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Magna 3.0 Cyclone 6G72 V6 (188 hp) | 1996–1997 | 3.0 L V6 | 188 hp | 188 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The 2004 facelift quietly gave Australia's Verada larger "US-spec" bumpers — a transpacific engineering footnote on a car most Australians assumed was built purely for their own roads.
The 2003 Magna TL's redesign cost over A$70 million — and A$2 million of that went to its new headlights alone.
The Magna Ralliart's steering wheel was the standard Magna item underneath — but it was sent to Italy to be leather-wrapped in black and red by MOMO.
This Quadtec-badged Magna made local history — it was the first mass-built all-wheel-drive passenger car ever built in Australia, after a AU$10 million development program.
A humble family Magna went racing: in 2001 a Magna TJ Sports won its class at Bathurst, while a V8-powered rear-drive Magna separately ran in Australia's Super Touring championship.
Mitsubishi's VR-X made its extra power with barely any engine changes — just valve timing tweaks and a free-flowing exhaust, enough for class-leading pace among Australian sport sedans.
The TH Magna quietly set an Australian first: the first locally-built car with four-channel ABS and electronic brake-force distribution.
The TF Magna Sports was the first Australian-built car ever to offer a manual-shifting Tiptronic automatic — push forward to upshift, pull back to downshift.
A mid-90s family sedan still holds the record: the TE Magna's 0.28 drag coefficient beats every Commodore and Falcon Australia ever built, decades later included.
Every Magna/Verada wagon sold anywhere in the world under the Diamante or Sigma badge was built in Australia — for years, Australia was the only source on the planet.
Mitsubishi built exactly 1,000 Magna TP Grand Tourers in 1990 — split with almost comic precision into 500 white, 250 burgundy and 250 "Riviera Blue."
The TN wagon wasn't a global platform afterthought — Mitsubishi's Australian arm engineered and built it entirely Down Under, broadening the Magna's appeal from day one.
To satisfy Australians' taste for bigger cars, Mitsubishi literally sliced open the Japanese Galant and spliced in an extra 65mm of width to create the Magna.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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