Mitsubihi RVR Hyper. Advice Sought.

[Flintstone]

G'day folks.

I've got my eyes on one of these as a daily runner, a 2001 with 55,000 miles. I need something capable of occasionally hauling the family, bit of shopping, farm tracks plus keeping me awake on the boring roads. I'm fairly sure parts and maintenance won't be a problem, I guess trim and bodywork would have to come from Japan, and I think there's room for tweaking what with the engine being that from the Evo V. I'm just wondering if anyone has first hand experience of these?

I like it because a) on paper at least it has some 'go' and b) it's a bit of a sleeper. Any reason not to?

[TotalControl]

Love these. Although aren't they a bit extra maintenance wise?

[GravelBen]

AFAIK the engine is detuned somewhat compared to the Evo (230bhp auto/250 manual), should be simple enough to bring it up to a similar level though.

[Flintstone]

I guess like most cars the higher the tune the higher the cost of running but I can live with that.

Do these engines have any weak spots?

[TotalControl]

I do know the previous RVR had issues as it was based on the Evo 4 gear (IIRC). Not sure about the running gear on this one.