Mitsubishi FTO's

[face]

Just spent 10 minutes trawling EBay, as you do and stumbled upon an FTO search.

 

These seem very cheap at the moment, are they good value, reliable etc?

 

This one looks dandy and is just £795:

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MISUBISHI-FTO-2-0-V6-GR-AUTO-IN-IMPERIAL-RED-/261075236707?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cc94bf763

 

Am I missing something? Or are these somewhat of a bargain?

[wuvvum]

I've actually seen them a fair bit cheaper than that, although that one does look quite tidy. They do look like a bit of a bargain at the moment, although they're nowhere near as quick as they look and bits tend to be expensive. They do seem to handle nicely though from my brief passenger ride in one.

[Spiny Norman]

No real experience of them although I have had a brief go in one.

They tend to be owned by chav/boy racer types but they're not that fast so they'll get ragged senseless in an effort to keep up with their mate's Imprezas. I think if you can find a decent one it might be worth a shot, but personally I'd sooner have a Cougar, Fiat Coupe, Celica etc.

There are several better ways of spending £800 I reckon. but hey, this is Autoshite so when did a car's capability, history, performance, image etc matter? Look for a beige one.

[pompei]

The majority of FTOs that I've seen recently have been standing on bricks in front gardens. I've no direct experience but I'm told they are money pits when they go wrong.

[Guest]

I nearly got punted off the M56 by an FTO like the one at the top.

[Ross_K]

Brother K had one briefly. Hard to find an un-modded, un-shagged one at this stage. Most are automatics or tiptronic shite

 

Not all that inspiring to drive either. Most will have coilovers or such fitted by their pimply owners for cruising round a McDonalds car park on a Saturday night.

 

I'd buy a Calibra instead safe in the knowledge that Opel parts are cheaper.

[John F]

I'd buy a Calibra instead safe in the knowledge that Opel parts are cheaper.

 

+1

 

In particular, the V6 is rapid (a true 148 mph) and very easy to work on. Not that they seem to go wrong much.

[cms206]

Our tame welder had to do a "wee job" on an FTO at the weekend.

 

Six hours, some odds and sods, two sills and a chassis rail later... "I've binned Mantas that were in a better state and I still need finish it off."

[barefoot]

I looked at buying one a couple of years ago but it had a problem with the autobox & set off in third.

It would change up & down with the lever thing but the quickest of quick looks into it revealed that gearbox faults are common & frighteningly expensive.

The temperature gauge also went straight up to the red bit as well so I took it back to the dealer & bought a Scirocco off here instead.

In it's favour it revved to buggery & made an entertaining noise, was quick-ish, handled with what can best be described as aplomb & the cockpit was a pleasant, although cramped & dark place to be.

I still think that a nice one would be a nice car but I think that the cheap ones are cheap for a reason.

Oh, insurance quote was crippling - its an import.

[jonny69]

The GR was the lower specced of the FTOs. The GPX was the better one with the MICVEC variable valve timing and was a genuine 200hp out of that 2 litre V6 and had about an 8,500rpm redline out the box but would clip past 9,000rpm if you chipped it. My mate had a GPX import from nearly new and racked it up to nearly 100,000 miles. It was a very fast well handling car when he first got it, but by the end it was way down on power, the gearbox was playing up, all the bushes were getting a bit loose and it needed some welding here and there. He got rid of it in 2003 or 2004 and though it wasn't worth much by then, the value has plummeted since. I usually only see them driven by boy racer wannabes and local scumbags and they often have terrible bodykits screwed to them - just to warn you who your fellow owners will be!

 

Another mate had a GR which was a bit crap in comparison, but he changed the cam and got it chipped so it made the same power as the GPX. It lacked the torque of the GPX because it didn't have the MIVEC but it was fine when on song.

 

Something to think about is you can't change the spark plugs in the rear bank of the V6 because it is too close to the firewall. It's got some ridiculously expensive long-life plugs, but when the mileage gets up they will need replacing and I think I remember it's an engine out job to do it.

[RoadworkUK]

They make a nice noise when V6'd, but otherwise are noteable only for making me think DB7!!! for six nanoseconds every time I see one.