Love for the unloved: Mitsubishi GTO

[Robinxr4i]

Given its contemporaries the Mitsubishi GTO was bit meh, sadly (or maybe rightly) it never gaining the same kind of cult status that similarly aged Supras, Skylines and RX7s all seem to have developed.

Granted it might have lacked the reputation of the Skylines touring car domination, the quirkiness of the RX7s rotary engine or the styling of the mk4 Supra. Even falling behind the Z32 300ZX in the affections of the public, but it was still a car that in twin turbo form offered blistering performance.

They've been cheap for a while, clean examples like this one (£2500 classified advert)...
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubishi-gto-twin-turbo-manual-low-miles-not-3000gt-/191263185016
...can be picked up for between £2000-4000.

Buy GTO, procure some 'stance' yawn type wheels, remove copious amounts of suspension travel. Win!

IMO given 'The Treatment'© these things can look awesome...















Anyone got any good ones?

Disclaimer: Some or all of the images contained within this thread may also be Mitsubishi 3000GTs or Dodge Stealths

[Robinxr4i]

OOOOOOOOOH THIS THIS THIS THIS.......

[Robinxr4i]

....and another, I'm spent!

[Gem]

curse word pic.. but this is my mates.. taken today.

[Raoul Duke]

I've always had a soft spot for them, and I think their lack of 'credentials' will mean bargainous prices for a while yet. Oddly, my favourite pic has to be the grubby black one with brown 6-spokes. Their styling means that nearly all mods result in an even more 'meh' look imho, stripped-down and subtle is definitely the way to go.

[DaveEdge]

I sold mine last year. Great cars if they're maintained, like anything.

I had a mk2 as my main one and also 2 mk1's, in my opinion the mk2 is a better looking car and has the stronger 4 bolt engine.

They get a bad rep because they're a sports car and can be owned by people who aren't mechanically minded (run them into the ground or have to pay top prices to maintain them), they've been modified to look like max power cars and/or because they've never been popular to the mainstream so less info is commonly known etc.

The horror stories are usually exaggerated by people who've never owned them or because they're more advanced than your average car, but then most people on here have owned a retro so get the jist of that anyway!

Anybody who says they're "hard" or even a nightmare to work on has never worked on one, simple as that. They have tight engine bays because they're twin turbo v6's and transverse mounted like a 4 pot but they're a piece of cake once tbh, obviously just more things to remove to get to where you want sometimes and can be a ballache if you've got ape hands (you will scratch your knuckles and swear when you drop somethting down there) and although they can have tempremental electrics (my back lacks stopped working but that was water ingress) it's mainly the coils and alternators that are the culprits and they can be replaced pretty cheaply. They're definitely not poorly made or deserve the massive bodge job electrical tag they have, they were about $60k new so they certainly weren't made poorly.

They are reliable cars in my experience. My mk2 was my daily for nearly 2 years and I never had any major problems, but I did sort a few "niggles" out but that's why we're all members on here for ain't it? I like cars, bought it cheap and it was a rough diamond tbh, cracking car.

6 speed boxes fitted to mk2's are abit tempremental until warm (either worn syncro's or it will be their agricultural feel but mk1 5 speeds are fine and better suited to every day driving imo)but mine was fine, they're pricey if they go wrong but my advice would be to fit a 5 speed, they are easier and cheaper to source.

Transfer cases are a known weakness but mine was also fine, it's usually a leak/damaged spline.

They're cramped in the back but my kids fitted in fine, driving position is good, well made, still look good in my opinion, engine can take big power, not expensive to get power to around 400bhp, they put it down really well being 4wd despite they're weight they can be rapid on pull off. Standard turbo's on the GTO are small so a cheap upgrade are 3000GT(uk version) turbo's.

The problem is there are a lot of sheds about (Like most old cars that aren't looked after and have wheels bought instead of servicing) and you ideally want to be mechanically minded so that you can do all the jobs yourself tbh as most places will either over charge you or won't want to touch them because of the stigma attached to them, little knowledge or daunting engine bay appearance.

I'm not a mechanic by trade or an expert though so don't be put off.

MK1's can be had for as little as £700 if you look hard enough. Parts are cheap in my experience just less available second hand parts/modified options than their more popular Japanese counterparts.

End of the day it's like any retro car though, they're getting on abit and if they do have some problems it takes an enthusiast to be able/want to sort them out themselve's and/or get them into better condition than what they bought them in and/or want to maintain them to a high standard.

If you've never owned one (and you've worked on a car at some point in your life, it helps) buy one.

If you get a good one you won't regret it, trust me.

[joefaulkner]

So how bad is the fuel consumption? We know it's gonna have a drink problem but just how bad are they? Would make a great winter beater.

[adam73bgt]

I've loved the GTO ever since playing Gran Turismo as a child, there always seemed to be an AI player that had one with around 800bhp

I'm more a fan of the pre facelift flip up headlight one but all GTO's are good to me

[DaveEdge]

Yeah I used to prefer the mk1 but mk2's are the better car in my opinion, both cool cars though.

Fuel consumption is like any other performance car mate, not great but then not as bad as you might think if you've never owned one.

If driven sensibley the mpg isn't bad at all but then you don't drive one because you're requirements are a 70mpg eco daily, aye no body wants to own a complete greedy curse word (yank tank, RR etc) but they're not in that bracket.

I've always owned turbo cars so I've never had anything else to compare them too, maybe one day I'll be sensible enough to buy a diesel or something boring that will make me happy because they're very econmical but I don't drive cars like I've stole them all the time so they're not too bad tbh mate.

They're as good as anything else coming out of Japan in that era excluding a Honda NSX purely because I've never driven one and they're basically classed as a super car.

They can definitely be put in the same bracket as a GTR though.

Same here Adam, mine was the same as the top pic and had Work Meisters from the last pic except mine were gold centres and silver lips.

You'll usually find a lot have BGW and terrible wheels fitted to them so they're given a bad image but they've got potential to look very special, definitely not "dated" in my eyes as some suggest.

They're great in the snow too!

[starionturbo]

I've had my GTO TT MR for 2 years now and TBH its been perfectly reliable. I've replaced the general wear and tear items as they've needed doing with genuine Mitsubishi parts or better along with modified parts because I can

As for fuel, it costs me £95 to fill her up on V-power, that lasts 250-280 miles on average, 400miles on a run and i have emptied it in 148 miles with "enthusiastic" driving.

There isn't much that will keep up let alone out run a TT, in standard form its quicker than a r32 GTR..............

Here's mine.

[fred]

I have saw a few in my Friends garage for MOT'ing and they always get a gathering round them.
I really do like them and seem to be forgotten (or Overlooked)

[LowStandards]

There's a red one in my village, covered in moss, not moved for at least 5 years, running a set of what must be 18inch Smith Twisters!




Mmmmmmmmm melty venom goodness...

[DaveEdge]

Looks nice that, are you a member on GTOC?

Aye they're quick, wouldn't say there's not a lot that can't outrun it though lol, there's plenty about but they're definitely not slow and can run big power... At which point there's not much that will keep up with one

For big heavy cars, they're fast though and put the power down so well, can't beat the sound of a v6 neither.

[Rich606]

Jul 28, 2014 20:22:24 GMT LowStandards said:

Mmmmmmmmm melty venom goodness...

Ooooooh I love a good set of Twisters. Surprisingly hard to find because every time I look for them on Google I just get lots of results for crisps...

[ferny]

Jul 27, 2014 14:11:58 GMT adam73bgt said:

I've loved the GTO ever since playing Gran Turismo as a child, there always seemed to be an AI player that had one with around 800bhp

Yes! That's exactly when I fell in love with them as well. I was disappointed when they took out the option to fit a body kit to them later on.

[adam73bgt]

aha, was all about the GTO LM edition



Might have to dig out Gran Turismo now..

[ferny]

Don't! I did last year and it was like playing with a low resolution version of artificial lego.