Love for the unloved: Mitsubishi GTO

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

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

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.

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

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.

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...

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...

aha, was all about the GTO LM edition



Might have to dig out Gran Turismo now..