Mitsubishi RVR (second generation)

The second-generation Mitsubishi RVR, codes N60 and N70, was introduced in 1997 and split into the regular, more minivan-like RVR GDI and the RVR Sports Gear with off-road styling. Thanks to its bumper and fender extensions the Sports Gear was too large to count as a compact car in Japan and so sat in a considerably higher tax grouping, and the generation was not sold in North America except in Mexico. In Europe it was restyled and sold as the Space Runner. A significant facelift, made to echo the Chariot Grandis and its strong sales in 1999, grouped grades into X, later called Exceed, and Sports Gear. The standard X had a 1.8 litre gasoline engine, while the Sports Gear used a 2.4 litre GDI engine or the turbocharged two-litre 4G63; the 2.4 litre engines drew extra yearly tax in Japan. A Fishing Gear package for bass fishers was added in February 1999. The original RVR was discontinued in August 2002.