Friday 16th December 2016

Shed Of The Week: Mitsubishi FTO

Well as we're celebrating rare 90s coupes this week, here's one that falls into Shed's clutches

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FTO. Not a piece of Facebook shorthand to describe the misery of one's humdrum daily existence, but another smashing example of Japanese lingo-nicking gone wrong in the naming of this otherwise perfectly innocent 90s Mitsubishi coupe.

Slightly annoyingly, the FTO was a front-wheel drive car, a dull fact that Mitsubishi wanted to disguise by adding a whiff of Latin excitement to the name. FTO sounds quite like GTO, which is good, but the letters actually stand for Fresco Turismo Omologato, which literally means Fresh Touring Origination or, as some of us might describe it, nothing.

Pretty sure it's there somewhere

Despite this dodgy genesis the FTO was Japan's car of the year in 1994/95. Two decades on, the FTO has lost much of the excitement that greeted its semi-official entry into the British market via Mitsubishi UK's Red Zebra scheme back in whenever that was, 1996 or thereabouts.

But might there be some sort of FTO second wind for those examples that have survived? Should we be paying them a bit more attention as they Flee The Orb?

After all, from the back end the FTO has an Alfa GTV look about it, which is vaguely interesting as both cars were launched in 1994 so there can't have been any copying going on. The front end is a bit more Mazda MX-3-ish. That's more interesting as the Mazda coupe (released in 1991) predated the FTO in offering a twin-cam 24-valve V6 engine of small capacity, a popular dodge back then to get around Japanese taxation burdens on bigger cars.

Whereas the Mazda's six was a titchy 1.8 litres, the Mitsu's was a slightly less titchy 2.0 litres and came in MIVEC or non-MIVEC variants. MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control) is Mitsubishi's version of VTEC, albeit one that doesn't generate quite such a high-rev whizz. It doesn't enjoy the same street-cred as the Honda system for that reason, but that doesn't mean it's not a good one in its own right.

The MIVEC FTO pushed out 197hp at 7,500rpm. In the absence of any claims to the contrary or any pics of the engine, we're assuming the car you're looking at here is a non-MIVEC GR, which would put its horsepower at a still healthy 168hp, its 0-60 at 7.9sec and its top end at 136mph. Our Shed would also have single-piston front brake calipers rather than the twin-pot ones on the MIVEC.

Ah yes, there we go

This particular car has been in the UK for the last ten years. Judging by the murky photography, the vendor is clearly a fan of Swedish crime programmes, but there's no getting away from the fact that it's a well-used example. There are some nasties here, principally a centre console that looks as if Mrs Shed might have been using it as a genital topiary footrest. But there are also a few nice things about our Shed.

One is that it's a manual. Many FTOs weren't. The other bit of niceness is the story told by the MOT records. There's a lack of clarity as to whether our Shed has covered miles or kilometres. From a geographic and possibly philosophical viewpoint it's done both. The vendor tells us what we want to hear, i.e. that it's metric not imperial, but forget that and concentrate instead on the overall picture, which is a heartening Shedly yarn of money poured in for your benefit.

The car seems to have been off the road from 2009 to 2010. On returning to the fold it unsurprisingly failed its test, although only for a major exhaust blow. Mind you, that 2010 ticket came with advisories on pretty much the entire suspension system. These were comprehensively addressed a year later.

In spring 2013 the inspector noticed slight corrosion to the vehicle structure and to the o/s rear suspension mount point, but again these were advisory items and there's been no mention of either since. That exhaust problem resurfaced in 2014 and was mended. The brake pipes were replaced last year.

Appreciate the manual, perhaps not the rest of it

Next summer's test might involve new tyres, as tread cracking was noted this year, but other than that you might not have too much to do apart from enjoy the fruity rasp of the jewel-like and yet pleasingly robust V6. Non-MIVEC cars have a better rep for oil-tightness than the MIVEC ones, and the tappetiness they display from cold usually goes away with warmth. MIVEC valve clearances have to be adjusted manually too, so that's another tick for our Shed's everyday usability.

Idling problems are pretty common whatever FTO you have, usually caused by a faulty idle speed control valve. Throttle bodies can demand attention and the battery is too small for the car so it needs to be fresh. The alternator is weedy too.

If the miles are as stated the belts will need changing about now (100,000km). They're interference type and there are a lot of valves to bend.

Only the GPX Limited Edition cars had an LSD as standard, so don't expect WRC-level handling. A lot of acronyms flying about the place here, but if you don't like them you can always FRO.

Here's the ad.

Mitsubishi fto 2.0L V6 manual mot till June 2017 mechanically sound interior is a bit tatty plastic around the radio all cracked and drivers seat worn exterior has few dents but not bad for year. Working electric windows, mirrors. Some buttons on the climate control don't work but temp control and demist and heated rear window do work. Only 105k km so about 65000 miles from new

[grumpy52]

Had to deal with a few of these back in the day.
Some body parts on non UK spec imports were horrendously expensive

I found them disappointing to drive ,all show and not much go .