My new car...

[flak monkey]

I think its scrubbed up fairly well for a 16 yr old motor...

Always wanted one, since they were the fastest thing you could own on Gran Turismo after they were tuned to 1000bhp So I sold my Leon FR TDi and bought this monster. Only do about 3k miles on 4 wheels now I use the bike for work. So I could justify having a thirsty petrol again.

Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo
1995, imported in 2008. 60k miles.
3 litre V6, 320bhp, 315lbft
4wd, 4ws, active aero, active exhaust, electronic adaptive suspension

All the electronics work flawlessly as well

Not really a car to be chucked about (1700kg) but the sheer amount of grip and how fast it will corner is suprising...

Polybushed the front ARB, changed the drop links and had a 4 wheel alignment done this weekend. Which has sorted the handling out.

Just need to finish cleaning the interior and fit the missing exhaust trim and its sorted

[Borats Baby]

I've always liked the shape of these, along with the mk2 MR2, and 300ZX..

I have only driven the MR2 out of those, and being a lot smaller, is fairly chuckable.. but I do like a big monster car..

Yours looks like a minter, nice one !!

[gthang]

Nice motor!

Has it got a 5 or 6 speed gear box?

[flak monkey]

I had a mk1 MR2 a while back. Great fun to drive, very tail happy in the wet, a real hoot. I would have another one if they weren't all rotting...

The GTO is a big car, but its performance is still impressive. Even in standard trim its only 5.4secs to 60mph. Plus they are mentally tuneable. I know a few people running 500bhp, which is pretty cheap to achieve reliably.

ETA it's the 6 speed model. All the Mk2 Twin Turbos were 6 speed.

[julian2002]

BE VERY CAREFUL!
I have one of these slowly turning green on my driveway.
They are a nightmare to work on if anything goes wrong. Things to watch out for:
Gearbox - the 6 speeds are stronger than the 5's (which are made of chocolate) but they still aren't bulletproof.
Transfer box - this can have problems.
Rear Diff - again can have issues and can get very sloppy - these are like hens teeth to find.
Be careful if you are tuning yours, the injectors are only just capable of supplying the standard engine and the SMIC's are woeful - wick the boost up too much and you risk knock and engine destruction.
Be very careful when jacking the car up - the sump is made of tin foil and if you support the engine by the sump without spreading the load it will dent and cause oil starvation leading to spun bearings and all sorts of nasty stuff.
Parts are becoming very rare although there are specialists making replacement parts - mainly in the US though - google for 'dodge stealth' as this was the US version.

That said - IMO they are the best looking of the 90's 'japanese supercars' and if you look after them and tune them sensibly they can run for ages. They are also mentally fast when they are on boost and are more than capable of drubbing almost anything else out there.

Always carry a screwdriver so that you can reattach the y-pipe on top of the engine if you get a bit enthusiastic with the throttle and blow it off. You get a big bang and no power - frits you right up the first time it happens.
First upgrade should be a metal y-pipe and some purpose built clips to hold this steady.
Second upgrade should be some form of engine logging to make sure everything is running ok.
Then look to boost controllers, upgraded fuel pumps (another weak spot), bigger injectors, a piggyback controller to control them and then an FMIC and bigger turbos if you are going all out.
Pay to join GTO:UK it's worth it and the people on there are amazingly helpful. Another good site is stealth316 which has loads of technical information.

Other than that your's looks amazing - enjoy it i hope you have a better experience than I did though.

[flak monkey]

Thanks Julian.

I am not planning on tuning it at all. My insurance is expensive enough at the moment

I do know of the gearbox problems. Mainly seems to be with tuned cars though. Never heard of problems with the rear diff. They are meant to have the oil changed every year (as is the gearbox and transfer box) so it might be a maintenance issue coupled with abusive driving that causes the failures.

I would never jack a car on the sump. There is a proper jacking point under a cover on the front aero, which I always use. Doesnt look like the sump has ever had a jack on it.

I have had quite a few bits from the GTO Doctor so far in the course of tidying up the car. Hopefully I will not need anything major.... I do need to get the cambelt done fairly soon though.

David

[julian2002]

If you need parts then evil empire is another great place to deal with - when i replaced my gearbox they helped me out with exactly what i'd need and the price for all the bits including a new clutch and rear engine oil seal was very competitive.

Even if you're not planning on tuning it i'd still get the metal y-pipe / clamps and data logger, there are some heath robinson fixes for the y-pipe issue involving jamming a tennis ball between it and the battery but i'd not trust it.

The sump issue is more if you have to undo an engine mount and support the engine - pretty specialist i know but the number of times i've seen forum posts like 'help i've spun my big end bearings why did this happen - oh and i've got this dent in my sump' is pretty high. There are some good diagrams about the internet showing what's going on in there but basically there's an oil uptake head that fits into a depression in the sump - if that gets pushed in (and the clearance is millimeters) then you block or restrict the oil uptake and starve the engine.

Definately do the cambelt / waterpump / pulleys - get the kit as soon as possible.

Have a good time with your new car, when mine was running i absolutely loved it.

[flak monkey]

Thanks

I am a member on GTO:UK (just waiting for my cheque to clear) and on GTOOC too. I know of Rob at Evil Empire, Camskill also sell a lot of parts.

I plan on getting the cambelt, pump, idlers and tensioner all done in the next month or so.

I'll keep an eye out for a metal Y pipe and hoses. I might silicone hose the entire engine bay anyway. Just because I can't resist fiddling with things...

[julian2002]

a powder coated or chromed intake manifold looks pretty spiffy too ;)

[Borats Baby]

You've shown us all those gleamy red pics above, now lets see some dirty "engine bay" black ones please..

[Beobloke]

Very tasty and proof that there are one or two Jap cars that aren't completely dull. Me likey!

[gthang]

You've shown us all those gleamy red pics above, now lets see some dirty "engine bay" black ones please..

[flak monkey]

This is the engine bay as it is at the moment.

I will be doing the cambelt and spark plugs next week while I am on holiday from work (just ordered all the bits), so a lot of cleaning will be happening as well.

I will be spending a bit of time scrubbing up the inlet manifold hile its off to change the rear bank of plugs...