Mitsu GTO - worth a punt or not?

[Kentish]

Anyone had one of these, circa 1990 to 1992/3?

I don't know much about them, are they reliable?

They look nice I understand there's a V8 in the range and norm apsirated or turbo.

[vixpy1]

I thought they were all V6 twin turbos

They can be horrendously expensive if they go wrong!

Not had much experience with them to be honest otherwise.

[Kentish]

There's a V8 in autotrader but I guess it may be a conversion

[Alex]

They were roundly panned in contemporary roadtests.

[_Al_]

Clarkson:

"This has rear-wheel steering, twin turbo-charged engine, active suspension, active aerodynamics.."

(pause)

"...feels like I'm driving a whale."

[andy mac]

I think they tried too much. They were after a Supra, 300ZX competitor, but although it was all great on paper, it was just far too complicated! If only thery could simplify it, and remove all the rws, and electronic gizmo's, it would be up there as a rival...

[The DJ 27]

Have you seen how much a GTO weighs? Pretty close to 2 tonnes IIRC

[tuttle]

Go pretty quick but not good handlers either in my short experiences,that is.

[Mr E]

tuttle said:

Go pretty quick but not good handlers either in my short experiences,that is.

Pretty much my experience as well to be honest. Starship enterprise when spooled up, but a bit on the lardy side (and this from a man who drives a tank). Horribly, horribly expensive when they go bang.

[cptsideways]

Overweight, over complicated, overly expensive when they go wrong. Dull handling & not actually very quick.

Buy a GTS-T Skyline instead, right noise, rear wheel drive, easier to fix though more reliable, better all round.

[Kentish]

cptsideways said:

Overweight, over complicated, overly expensive when they go wrong. Dull handling & not actually very quick. Buy a GTS-T Skyline instead, right noise, rear wheel drive, easier to fix though more reliable, better all round.

200SX S14, is that comparable for reliability vs performance?

Is the shell actually the same on these, it looks it to me

[cptsideways]

Kentish said:

cptsideways said: Overweight, over complicated, overly expensive when they go wrong. Dull handling & not actually very quick. Buy a GTS-T Skyline instead, right noise, rear wheel drive, easier to fix though more reliable, better all round. 200SX S14, is that comparable for reliability vs performance? Is the shell actually the same on these, it looks it to me

SX is lighter and only a 2.0L Turbo, very similar handling but a bit nimbler, just as reliable, though the noise is not the same. Not a huge difference in size between a 2 door liner & a 200sx.

[tuttle]

Only four cyls in a 200sx V's the Skyline's mighty straight six.
200sx is a great car,but it aint no contest,IMHO

[RobGTO]

I'll always chip in on GTO talk...

Basically, it looks good, sounds pritty nice, doesnt cost much - but repairs can cost a lot if you buy directly from mitsu, most people get parts from traders over at gtouk.co.uk

The GTO is ONLY my second car, and im a student, it kicks everyone else's butt in my uni - BUT if you have around £6k to spend [im presuming thats roughly how much you have] there could be better alternatives...

BUT
I bought my NA for £3.5k.

Bargin.

[MarkK]

RobGTO said:

I'll always chip in on GTO talk... Basically, it looks good, sounds pritty nice, doesnt cost much - but repairs can cost a lot if you buy directly from mitsu, most people get parts from traders over at gtouk.co.uk The GTO is ONLY my second car, and im a student, it kicks everyone else's butt in my uni - BUT if you have around £6k to spend [im presuming thats roughly how much you have] there could be better alternatives... BUT I bought my NA for £3.5k. Bargin.

Like Rob said - can be expensive if you don't look around!

I have a 3000GT and love it! Not the fastest, best looking, best handling, most reliable car you can buy but it has enough of all of these categories to make it a damn good car in my opinion.

[_Al_]

But if ever there was a case of "Can't afford a good one? Then you REALLY can't afford a bad one" - this is it...

[MarkK]

_Al_ said:

But if ever there was a case of "Can't afford a good one? Then you REALLY can't afford a bad one" - this is it...

Very VERY true - but they are out there.

There is an immaculate black 3000GT on our owners club that still hasn't sold for £12k but people tend to go for the cheap knackered ones and then complain about reliability!

[Mr E]

MarkK said:

There is an immaculate black 3000GT on our owners club that still hasn't sold for £12k but people tend to go for the cheap knackered ones and then complain about reliability!

Would that be Eliiots?

[MarkK]

Mr E said:

MarkK said: There is an immaculate black 3000GT on our owners club that still hasn't sold for £12k but people tend to go for the cheap knackered ones and then complain about reliability! Would that be Eliiots?

Possibly - the owner goes under the name Elie.

Not 100% sure though.