Mitsubishi FTO 2.0 V6 GPX any good?

[jami]

Anyone had any experience with these? Are they any good as in reliable. What kind of equipment do they have. Are they faster than a Bravo HGT (mines at 166bhp) Or should I just stay with the HGT?

1. Mitsubishi FTO 2.0 V6 GPX

2. Fiat Bravo HGT

Thanks

 

[Venters]

I've tamed them in the Marea. I think they are all imports aswell so can only run V-Power.
Suspension is too hard and they rattle badly when you are inside them. Bravo is a better car might not be as reliable but it's still better.
Mind you it all depends on the spec I believe the MIVEC ones are pretty quick.

 

[fenton_jd]

This is my half brothers FTO. It's the 1.8 so is the base model. They are limited to 112, speedo stops at 110. (get it removed though).

I've not driven it, but it feels very very smooth, engine runs perfectly.

It doesn't feel very torquey though, Feels like a you're being pulled along by a 100m sprinter as apposed to a big hefty fat bloke. But it does shift.

All reviews for FTO are pretty good though

Japaneese sports car. It's no Fiat Coupe in terms of speed/style. But definetly a nice motor to have.

 

[J333EVO]

I like FTO's, there was a good buying guide on them in Performance Tuner mag a few months back, was favorable towards the car.

The one to go for is the MIVEC model it has a 2L V6 thats sounds amazing, 200bhp, but although very smart in its day as it learns your driving style, the 4 speed tiptronic option dulls the performance a little and uses more fuel, the 5 speed manual is the one to have. The non MIVEC 2L V6 has 180bhp.

Performance is on MIVEC IIRC as do not have mag at hand sub 7secs 0-60 and 140ish top end, tiptronic is about 7ish and bit lower top end. Tea mag didn't say much about the base model 1.8. There is a light weight model that improves performance again.

Chassis wise its pretty much up there with the integra Type R for a FWD car, very planted, very communicative, everything that you want from a FWD car. the only other FWD cars that from that time that are as good really and mentioned in same breath things are Lotus Elan Turbo, Corrado, 205, Clio Williams etc all halcyon cars now.

As with most Jap cars has full climate control, but again for its day pretty cool is it has a digital display for this. Has some nice touches to interior latter models have MOMO steering wheel alloy pedal covers etc and the twin gauge pod on top of dash above stereo is nice touch even if it is just volts and clock. You get electric folding mirrors as well. It is as with most Jap cars from this period a fairly dull affair inside, you get supportive seats but ergonomically wise, everything falls to hand and its intuitive to drive them, something that some older Italian cars can't claim to be, though we call that character

We went to look at one a while back as Emma likes them, she can't decide between one of these or a MX5 but it reminded me very much of the Celica in overall feel, but that V6 sound is just brilliant.

 

[MasterAuron]

I have a friend (and now work colleague) with a GPX MIVEC FTO (Tiptronic). This one in fact:



Reliability is very good, as with most Jap cars. He has owned it three or four years now and never had any problems with it at all apart from the obvious things - new bulbs, pads etc. Although the car is not used a lot.

I have been in it loads of times now and it gets loads of attention especially at the Jap shows. Performance-wise, I think the MIVEC tiptronic does 0-60 in 7.6secs IIRC, 200bhp.

Left in automatic the accleration is very smooth and generally the tiptronic gearbox fairs well on upshifts. I have to say though that when you put your foot down, there is a noticeable delay before the box catches up and downshifts. Moreso than I have noticed with any other automatic cars. Obviously this problem can be solved by using the tiptronic mode but can be a problem booting it away from islands and junctions!

Can't say I've noticed any faults with the handling but it's hard to say without driving it.

Very well equipped, good looking car. Great sounding V6 (although not as nice as daddies Supra). Performance doesn't quite match looks though. A lot of car for the money these days. My advice though would be to go for the manual GPX or GPR (MIVEC). Does 0-60 in 6.8 and will crack on to about 140.

Mostly just my opinion on the FTO really with a few facts thrown in.

Hope that helps.

 

[SuicideUK]

My ex girlfriends dad just bought a Mivec, and my other brother was gonna get one and took it for a test drive.

As far as I believe, they still sound very jap car style, the deep rumble when it fires. And the mivec is pretty quick, hard to find in manual as said.

Are the mivec's the one's that run a power band as well? I'm not thinking of V-Tec, but I'm sure the FTO has the same sort of system :/

Luke.

 

[Sparky1483]

My ex girlfriends dad just bought a Mivec, and my other brother was gonna get one and took it for a test drive.

As far as I believe, they still sound very jap car style, the deep rumble when it fires. And the mivec is pretty quick, hard to find in manual as said.

Are the mivec's the one's that run a power band as well? I'm not thinking of V-Tec, but I'm sure the FTO has the same sort of system :/

Luke.

yeah mivec is mitsi version of vtec, but to be fiar both the mivec and the non mivec versions rev past 8000rpm, and sound:yum::yum:

mivec just has more power

mivec = 200
non mivec = 180

though the strabge thing is the non mivec induction kits are alot more expensive because it has a in-line MAF where as the mivec ones dont

dont worry about them tapping like hell when cold either, its what they do, with them being highly strung, they also idle at 1500rpm, so dont worry bout that either

just make sure if you get one its had under seal applied, the japs dont use it, as they dont put salt on the roads, and this could be an easy cause rust to form over here, same with any jap import really, but really try and find a manual, if it helps all gp-version r's are manual, and slightly lighter, if a little more expensive

though a well known problem is reverse can be a pain to get in on the manual versions, it gets stuck between teeth and can be a bitch to release itself again

 

[J333EVO]

Do not fit induction kits to MIVEC's, all they do is REDUCE power by huge amounts.

In one of the recent Jap car mags I was reading they had a r/r day with FTO's owners, ever single car running an induction kit was as much as 20bhp down on power.

The reason is it causes the MAF to interpolate the more air flow as needing more fuel, but they feed in way to much fuel, so cars run rich and as such drop power.

Plus they introduce hot air into induction system, this is less dense and again contributory factor in power drop.

The only cars on the day making standard power or more all ran standard air box's with drop in good quality filters, Green and Apexi seem to be regarded as best.

So the ones we have been looking at have made sure they all run standard air-box's if not to ensure they still have them.

Heres some facts I gained from re-reading buying guide again in Feb 08 Performance Tuner mag.

FTO stands for "Fresh Touring Origination" only Japs could come up with that.

MIVEC "Mitsubishi Valve Timing and Electronic Control"

It was Japanese car of the year in 1994/95

FTO's wheel base exactly matches contemporary Lancer EVO, as it was based on Lancer floorplan, which makes it one of the highest regarded handling cars of its time.

It has sophisticated Machperson front struts multi-linked rear suspension, twin anti-roll bars, disc brakes all round.

1997 got a face lift, these are much rarer as only 4000 were made compared to over 32,000 of earlier models.

MIVEC model is 1999cc V6
10:1 compression ratio
1200kgs
200bhp@7500rpm
147lb ft@6000rpm
0-60 Tiptronic 7.0sec, manual 6.5secs
143mph top end manual, 140 tiptronic

Light weight Version R a bit quicker and was cheaper to buy new over GPX model, all GPX/R models have uprated brakes and suspension compared to lesser models.

Non-MIVEC 1999cc V6
10:1
1150kgs
170bhp@7000rpm
137lb ft@4400rpm
0-60 7.9 Tipronic no figures for manual

1834cc 4 cylinder
9.5:1
1100kgs
125bhp@6000rpm
119lb ft@4500rpm
0-60 9.2secs

 

[puntokris]

The GPX MIVEC ones were sold in the uk between 2000 and 2002. Avoid these versions as they were slower than the jap imports. A whole second 0-60 slower!

Get a manual jap spec GPX MIVEC if your going to get one.

Personally I think they have dated very well considering the age of a few around. Not a big following for them unfortunately, I do like them although not as fast as people think and I dfinitely wouldn't say its up there with teg dc2s.

Oh, and the insurance isn't great either.

 

[SuicideUK]

Teg DC2's are a whole different ball game and I'd have one over a lot of the cars for the money.

My brothers mate was rolling a teg DC2 and my brother Pulsar GTiR didn't always speed past him.

Luke.

 

[jug]

my step-dad has an FTO. they're well made, reliable and easy to work on. parts can be difficult to find and expensive, and its more of a grand tourer than a sports coupe- so it doesnt go as well as it looks. handling isnt as good as MR2 imo. the interior is dated but still good quality. the semi-auto actually works quite well, but you'd be mad to buy one over a manual. overall they're great cars imo but it depends what you want. most young lads would be better off with an MR2.

 

[Sparky1483]

my step-dad has an FTO. they're well made, reliable and easy to work on. parts can be difficult to find and expensive, and its more of a grand tourer than a sports coupe- so it doesnt go as well as it looks. handling isnt as good as MR2 imo. the interior is dated but still good quality. the semi-auto actually works quite well, but you'd be mad to buy one over a manual. overall they're great cars imo but it depends what you want. most young lads would be better off with an MR2.

probably kill themselves quicker too

mr2 can be a tricky little beast on the limit but fun

fto goes quite well, certainly cant call it slow, makes a better noise than the mr2 aswell

 

[cxthompson]

I test drove one of these before my Fiat Coupe and have to say that the Coupe was a million times better. THe FTO looked sporty but just didn't deliver the performance..

 

[jami]

Awsome thanks for the replies, all very useful!

The GPX MIVEC ones were sold in the uk between 2000 and 2002. Avoid these versions as they were slower than the jap imports. A whole second 0-60 slower!

Get a manual jap spec GPX MIVEC if your going to get one.

How can I tell which is a Jap compared to a UK one?

 

[jamie86]

Not sure exactly on these cars but for imports in general..

Speedo in KMH
No Rear Fog light
Different Size numberplates

Sure someone will tell you specific things for FTO's

 

[J333EVO]

Awsome thanks for the replies, all very useful!



How can I tell which is a Jap compared to a UK one?

Easiest way to tell is look at V5 document as it will say when it was first registered in UK, if its later than the build date its imported. Plus number of owners, my Celica is a 1996 model but has only had two owners in UK, first only being last year.

All the UK ones will still have Jap size rear number plate as its an integral part of rear bumper, and all should (though some do not) have a MPH speedo now to comply with MOT requirements as all imports still need to be MOT'd before sold on. And speed limiter should have been removed at same time as speedo converted to read on MPH.

Have to remember that the official UK models were still imports, not fully fledged UK models and as such will not have anything completely obvious to make them stand out.

Best go and read some of the owners pages

 

[jug]

the other easy way to tell is when you try to check the mileage and the owner has a very creative story to explain why a 10 year old car has only done 50,000km. pull the other one mate, its got bells on.

 

[Sparky1483]

the other easy way to tell is when you try to check the mileage and the owner has a very creative story to explain why a 10 year old car has only done 50,000km. pull the other one mate, its got bells on.

even easier way, jap cars dont have rear foglights, imports have to have them fitted, usually below the bumper

 

[J333EVO]

even easier way, jap cars dont have rear foglights, imports have to have them fitted, usually below the bumper

FTO's were never made for UK market, so all of them have had to have a fog light fitted as there was never a set of UK spec rear lights made. It's either by cheapest method hanging one off bottom of bumper, slightly dearer inserted into bumper, or final version is to use a reverse light with red bulb, this is how my Celica still has JDM rear lights rather than UK versions which are not as nice and have a fog light to pass MOT's.

 

[jug]

i really hate it when they cut the bumper to fit one.