FTO GP/GPX owners/drivers
Discussion
Hi, I'm really after some info on these just out of interest. I've always known about them, but never really looked into them. I know the GP/GPX models with the MIVEC are the ones to have with the 200PS motor. But what are they actually like?
I've found several reviews/magazine articles on line and quite frankly they are all over the show and highly contradictory. Such as one articles says the motor hates to rev, another says it loves it. One says the ride is too hard, another says it's too soft. One says they handle great and have a fine chassis, another says the chassis is overwhelmed and cannot cope. And so on and so on.
Anyone here actually owned or driven one of these and able to offer up some real world comparisons vs something like a DC2 or a Clio 172?
Thanks.
I've found several reviews/magazine articles on line and quite frankly they are all over the show and highly contradictory. Such as one articles says the motor hates to rev, another says it loves it. One says the ride is too hard, another says it's too soft. One says they handle great and have a fine chassis, another says the chassis is overwhelmed and cannot cope. And so on and so on.
Anyone here actually owned or driven one of these and able to offer up some real world comparisons vs something like a DC2 or a Clio 172?
Thanks.
I have several, and they are great cars. (Maybe selling one shortly)
Maybe age related, but not as robust as youd expect of your honda, skyline ect...
Great handling, six sounds as sweet as you like, rated as only second in the handling stakes to the ITR.
I think it looks 10x better than the hondas as there a bit boring, but its one of those shapes you love or hate.
Cabin is nicely styled with retro hooded dials, great bolstered seats.
Brakes can be a weakness for the top spec, but lots of crossover bits from the GTO ect to help this.
The car always makes a trip enjoyable and great drive.
Probably ot as quick point to point as a clio due to the weight up front, but you cant compare a coupe to a twinky mobile :0)
Let me know if you need any more details.
Maybe age related, but not as robust as youd expect of your honda, skyline ect...
Great handling, six sounds as sweet as you like, rated as only second in the handling stakes to the ITR.
I think it looks 10x better than the hondas as there a bit boring, but its one of those shapes you love or hate.
Cabin is nicely styled with retro hooded dials, great bolstered seats.
Brakes can be a weakness for the top spec, but lots of crossover bits from the GTO ect to help this.
The car always makes a trip enjoyable and great drive.
Probably ot as quick point to point as a clio due to the weight up front, but you cant compare a coupe to a twinky mobile :0)
Let me know if you need any more details.
swb1 said:
I have several, and they are great cars. (Maybe selling one shortly)
Maybe age related, but not as robust as youd expect of your honda, skyline ect...
Great handling, six sounds as sweet as you like, rated as only second in the handling stakes to the ITR.
I think it looks 10x better than the hondas as there a bit boring, but its one of those shapes you love or hate.
Cabin is nicely styled with retro hooded dials, great bolstered seats.
Brakes can be a weakness for the top spec, but lots of crossover bits from the GTO ect to help this.
The car always makes a trip enjoyable and great drive.
Probably ot as quick point to point as a clio due to the weight up front, but you cant compare a coupe to a twinky mobile :0)
Let me know if you need any more details.
Thanks. Do they have any major weaknesses, gearboxes or engines?? Thinking 5 speed manual only, not the tiptronic. Also do the use a front LSD? I've read one article that said they were optional, but nothing else about them. Ta. Maybe age related, but not as robust as youd expect of your honda, skyline ect...
Great handling, six sounds as sweet as you like, rated as only second in the handling stakes to the ITR.
I think it looks 10x better than the hondas as there a bit boring, but its one of those shapes you love or hate.
Cabin is nicely styled with retro hooded dials, great bolstered seats.
Brakes can be a weakness for the top spec, but lots of crossover bits from the GTO ect to help this.
The car always makes a trip enjoyable and great drive.
Probably ot as quick point to point as a clio due to the weight up front, but you cant compare a coupe to a twinky mobile :0)
Let me know if you need any more details.
Never driven or had a passenger ride in one, but I knew a lad who had a GPX. He did like the car, and spent thousands attempting to maintain and restore it, but in the end gave up and sold it. His opinion, after a few years of driving it:
which he believes is a much better car all round.
- Nose heavy handling due to the big heavy engine up front
- Not terribly robust or reliable (hence the bills)
- Nowhere near as fast as 197bhp suggests, and used a lot of petrol given the performance on offer
- Not a great sounding engine, even for a 6 cylinder - I will concur with this, I don't think they sound too hot at all!
which he believes is a much better car all round.
Every time I was in the market for one I ended up with a Prelude 2.2 VTI.
The Hondas just feel a much more solid car.
There are a lot of tatty FTOs around, the ones I drove were all a bit rattly, even the well looked after ones.
I was after a manual Mivec too, even drove a manual version R which was great but it was £10000 at the time and massivly overpriced.
I still think they look great, in the right colour without being chavved up.
The Hondas just feel a much more solid car.
There are a lot of tatty FTOs around, the ones I drove were all a bit rattly, even the well looked after ones.
I was after a manual Mivec too, even drove a manual version R which was great but it was £10000 at the time and massivly overpriced.
I still think they look great, in the right colour without being chavved up.
As mentioned by another reply, rust is the killer here.
Most were shipped over and sold without any care for our market so never got underseal.
They rust on the rear chassis rails eitherside of the petrol tank and the inner wings of the engine bay, under the fuse box and ac piping. Remember these cars are 15 years old now and not made to last forever, when did you last see a clio or cavalier from 95 still going. This shows they are good when cared for.
Find a good sound example and there are some, and u can fix anything mechanical as they are being srapped like hot cakes so loads of spares.
I too remeber wanting one 10 years ago and they were 16K then, Now a good one is 1600-2K.
Ive only driven 1 Tip once even though its supposed to be the Boxster box, i wasnt enthused after trying a manual first. It depends what you usually drive to your taste. A LSD is a definate plus if you want to make the most of the power, it was a factory option, but standard on the type R.
I would compare it like for like to a Integra type R, or the civic type r old shape.
The car with a nice box on sounds great. Probably wont find any better noise from a V6 unless it had a prancing horse on the front. The little 6 makes a lovely rumble and scream at its redline of 8200, when the cam changes on the mivec and your flat out it sounds awesome changing gear on full bore.
Im not saying its up with todays hot hatches, but its a nice balance of good enginering, styling as apposed to a shopping hatch for kids.
Have a look on the net, find a good one and enjoy the best normally aspirated coupe you can get for <2K :0)
Most were shipped over and sold without any care for our market so never got underseal.
They rust on the rear chassis rails eitherside of the petrol tank and the inner wings of the engine bay, under the fuse box and ac piping. Remember these cars are 15 years old now and not made to last forever, when did you last see a clio or cavalier from 95 still going. This shows they are good when cared for.
Find a good sound example and there are some, and u can fix anything mechanical as they are being srapped like hot cakes so loads of spares.
I too remeber wanting one 10 years ago and they were 16K then, Now a good one is 1600-2K.
Ive only driven 1 Tip once even though its supposed to be the Boxster box, i wasnt enthused after trying a manual first. It depends what you usually drive to your taste. A LSD is a definate plus if you want to make the most of the power, it was a factory option, but standard on the type R.
I would compare it like for like to a Integra type R, or the civic type r old shape.
The car with a nice box on sounds great. Probably wont find any better noise from a V6 unless it had a prancing horse on the front. The little 6 makes a lovely rumble and scream at its redline of 8200, when the cam changes on the mivec and your flat out it sounds awesome changing gear on full bore.
Im not saying its up with todays hot hatches, but its a nice balance of good enginering, styling as apposed to a shopping hatch for kids.
Have a look on the net, find a good one and enjoy the best normally aspirated coupe you can get for <2K :0)
floydbax said:
I've had mine over 10 years and have no intention of changing it as I have yet to find anything that can match it for its overall package of power, handling, running costs, looks, reliability. Of course it could do with another 1000 bhp but doesn't every car?? 1995 GPX manual
What sort of mpg do you get and do you have to run it on super or is 95 ok?You dont have to run on super.
May notice slightly better pickup if you do, but not a must.
To find if its got the LSD youd need to get the vin no: and maybe try the owners club with it.
Some have after market ones fitted in rare occasions.
I think its better than not having one, but its a basic factory setup, not a track one if you what i mean.
If you do go for one, try the owners club for £18.
Stacks of info,feedback, mods and fixes incase you need them.
Find out the answers from someone elses mistakes before you make them :0)
The mods are usually cosmetic unless you go forced induction as the engine is in a pretty hot tune already, only second to the S2K i think.
May notice slightly better pickup if you do, but not a must.
To find if its got the LSD youd need to get the vin no: and maybe try the owners club with it.
Some have after market ones fitted in rare occasions.
I think its better than not having one, but its a basic factory setup, not a track one if you what i mean.
If you do go for one, try the owners club for £18.
Stacks of info,feedback, mods and fixes incase you need them.
Find out the answers from someone elses mistakes before you make them :0)
The mods are usually cosmetic unless you go forced induction as the engine is in a pretty hot tune already, only second to the S2K i think.
A GPvR a nice car fun to drive,but liked to drink.It proformed well in the bendies.
This is a Perlude type S.I had it for 5 years.
The Honda was a lot faster,but the road holding was about the same.I canot compere them to a DC2,I now have a DC5 and there is not much betweem them in handling.The type S was a lot faster than both of them.
My two pennies to concur with the others, had my GPX for 2 years now.
Overall very good cars but they need to be looked after. As others have said rust is the main culprit and usually in some of the worst places. Relatively cheap to buy, but insurance is costly and the upkeep soon adds up. If you're mechanically minded you can do a lot of work yourself which makes everything much easier and cheaper, but even then I probably spent the cost of the car again in the first year of ownership by fixing bits and mine is by no means a duffer (sailed through its last MOT).
Driving wise, the handling is the biggest selling point. The chasis is fantastic and feels like it's on rails, surprisingly little understeer when pressing on for a FWD car. I dont have much to compare to but the the owners club consensus seems to be on par with the DC2 (from people who have/had them). The speed is sufficient on the road but there are plenty out there faster in a straight line. For mileage, I'm getting low/mid-20's on average with a mix of motorway and town driving. You can use regular unleaded but your MPG will drop due to the knock sensor.
Its biggest weakness, in my opinion, is its looks. The car looks, and sounds, amazing, and with that people expect it to be fast. Much faster than it is. You'll see people saying FTO can't hold a candle to the MkIV Supra, Skyline etc. and that is solely because it looks like it should be able to. In reality its main competition at the time was the likes of the Fiat Coupé and Alfa GTV, against which it held its own very well. In my opinion, Mitsubishi got the engine wrong for a car like this. There is precious little more to squeeze out of it as it is so highly tuned already, even with adding FI. It should have at least had the 6a13TT engine from the Legnum, which is a very popular modification.
That said, very happy with the car and don't regret passing up the similar offerings when I was shopping around. The money spent and work done have all been worth it, though for someone else looking to buy I would say they really need to be into the car to keep it running well.
Overall very good cars but they need to be looked after. As others have said rust is the main culprit and usually in some of the worst places. Relatively cheap to buy, but insurance is costly and the upkeep soon adds up. If you're mechanically minded you can do a lot of work yourself which makes everything much easier and cheaper, but even then I probably spent the cost of the car again in the first year of ownership by fixing bits and mine is by no means a duffer (sailed through its last MOT).
Driving wise, the handling is the biggest selling point. The chasis is fantastic and feels like it's on rails, surprisingly little understeer when pressing on for a FWD car. I dont have much to compare to but the the owners club consensus seems to be on par with the DC2 (from people who have/had them). The speed is sufficient on the road but there are plenty out there faster in a straight line. For mileage, I'm getting low/mid-20's on average with a mix of motorway and town driving. You can use regular unleaded but your MPG will drop due to the knock sensor.
Its biggest weakness, in my opinion, is its looks. The car looks, and sounds, amazing, and with that people expect it to be fast. Much faster than it is. You'll see people saying FTO can't hold a candle to the MkIV Supra, Skyline etc. and that is solely because it looks like it should be able to. In reality its main competition at the time was the likes of the Fiat Coupé and Alfa GTV, against which it held its own very well. In my opinion, Mitsubishi got the engine wrong for a car like this. There is precious little more to squeeze out of it as it is so highly tuned already, even with adding FI. It should have at least had the 6a13TT engine from the Legnum, which is a very popular modification.
That said, very happy with the car and don't regret passing up the similar offerings when I was shopping around. The money spent and work done have all been worth it, though for someone else looking to buy I would say they really need to be into the car to keep it running well.
Within the first week of picking the car up I put it in to a garage for a new cam belt, underseal top up and general check-up to assess what state the car was in. This came to around £600, mostly for the cam belt which is an insane job on the FTO. This probably wont be applicable to most though, I went for a new one because when I bought the car it was a few thousand miles over the recommended life for the belt (60k) and the seller didnt know for sure if it had been done, so better safe than sorry.
The only other major work I've needed is welding on one of the chasis/suspension legs which cost a few £hundred. Everything else has been little jobs here and there which I've bought parts for and done on the drive. To name a few:
The rev counter stopped working, which is a quick sensor replacement fix (Ignition Failure Sensor for some bizarre reason).
The gear lever was stubborn going into 2nd and reverse, which was just a swap of the selector cable bracket.
New aftermarket alarm/immobiliser - not strictly the cars fault but it doesnt come with anything as standard and is required by some insurers, at least to bring the cost down.
So really nothing terminal, mostly just bits and bobs that crop up - you could honestly live with most of the stuff if you can put up with the annoyances. But these plus "consumables" can rack up the cost in a relatively short amount of time since some of the parts are quite pricey.
The only other major work I've needed is welding on one of the chasis/suspension legs which cost a few £hundred. Everything else has been little jobs here and there which I've bought parts for and done on the drive. To name a few:
The rev counter stopped working, which is a quick sensor replacement fix (Ignition Failure Sensor for some bizarre reason).
The gear lever was stubborn going into 2nd and reverse, which was just a swap of the selector cable bracket.
New aftermarket alarm/immobiliser - not strictly the cars fault but it doesnt come with anything as standard and is required by some insurers, at least to bring the cost down.
So really nothing terminal, mostly just bits and bobs that crop up - you could honestly live with most of the stuff if you can put up with the annoyances. But these plus "consumables" can rack up the cost in a relatively short amount of time since some of the parts are quite pricey.
had one never again
full if rust had to have the chassis welded spent £400 on that
I had a auto but Ive heard the manuel is a little quicker but not by much
also pay over the odds on insurance
and did I mention SLOW
and drank far to much fuel for a none turbo car
bought mine for 900 7 months later got wrote off due to sombody driving into the back of it
but they do look very nice and have some great curves
if your going to buy one I suggest you test drive one
full if rust had to have the chassis welded spent £400 on that
I had a auto but Ive heard the manuel is a little quicker but not by much
also pay over the odds on insurance
and did I mention SLOW
and drank far to much fuel for a none turbo car
bought mine for 900 7 months later got wrote off due to sombody driving into the back of it
but they do look very nice and have some great curves
if your going to buy one I suggest you test drive one
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