FTO any good???
Discussion
Theres loads of these cars from 2 to 5 grand. Lots of car for the money. But aside from insurance. What are they like to run. How much do they cost to service. Are they prone to eating head gaskets etc?
Is anything else any better? like maybe a 200sx?? Skyline (imports.)
5 grand buys a very nice S type but there a bit pipe & slippers. What do you guys recomend.
Every day use. 10000 miles ish. Mixed moterway & b roads.
Must be reliable!
Is anything else any better? like maybe a 200sx?? Skyline (imports.)
5 grand buys a very nice S type but there a bit pipe & slippers. What do you guys recomend.
Every day use. 10000 miles ish. Mixed moterway & b roads.
Must be reliable!
Makes one of the best noises anywhere - that V6 really does sing.
Meant to be reliable and a scan of the FTO owners club 'Frequently Asked Questions' (and their buyers guide) doesn't seem to show any major problems.
They're not as fast as you might hope from a V6 with 9k rpm on the clock. Mondeo Man won't be a threat to you but don't expect to be scaring the Supras.
There are many people on here who know more about them than I do so I'll bow out now.
Meant to be reliable and a scan of the FTO owners club 'Frequently Asked Questions' (and their buyers guide) doesn't seem to show any major problems.
They're not as fast as you might hope from a V6 with 9k rpm on the clock. Mondeo Man won't be a threat to you but don't expect to be scaring the Supras.
There are many people on here who know more about them than I do so I'll bow out now.
i'm not usually a fan of FWD cars, but i have to say i enjoyed the short and troublesome time i had with an FTO.
basically this time last year i borrowed one from a mate of a mate to get to JAE and back.
long story short mate of a mate had given it to my mate (follow me?) to sell as he didn't have time and it needed work.
this was a manual mivec jobbie.
It had 17 or 18 inch wheels, a warped front disk, and a noisey release bearing.
The wheels basically ruined the cars handling. a quick change back to standard and it was much better, even with the warped disk. disks were changed before JAE and down we went. Initial impressions were a big thumbs up despite the god awful noise the gearbox made, and the interior being half missing! great fun, and yeah that engine sounds pretty good for a small n/a.
great fun on the back roads.
got to JAE eventually, the battery had decided to pack up big style, stranding us there on the sunday in the pouring rain, so a quick trip to halfrauds and 70 quid lighter it was changed and all was good. well comparatively.
by the time it got back from peterboghorror, the release bearing was screaming on idle, and i was told upon returning that my mates brother was stuck for getting home, in blackpool.
being the nice guy i am i offered to take him, so immediately we set off. sadly this was the demise of it's release bearing and i was stuck having to match revs to the gearbox as there was no gear selection via the conventional means, it had officially packed up, as had all the clocks, so i had no speedo.
another point to note, is the frankly god awful design where just infront of the suspension turrets, 3 body seams meet, and low and behold they rust to buggery. apparantly it's very common. nothing that a quick grind and plate weld won't fix.
Despite my ramblings of doom, i still look back on that car and realise i really enjoyed it. It's character, and chuckability for a FWD backroad stormer, really set it apart from other cars of comparable price and ability, it's quite a good looker, particularly from the front end, the engine sounds sweet and is pretty responsive, albeit a tad lacking in guts, and overall i'd say its a nice car.
The fact there's quite a lot of them being imported, or was, means they can be picked up for sensible money too, which is always nice.
Comparing them to cars like 200sx's, which despite me stacking mine yesterday i hold a lot of love for, isn't really fair to be honest. one's a lukewarm fwd hatchback, the other is a rwd turbocharged car with a hell of a lot of tuning potential. If you can afford insurance etc i'd take a 200 over an FTO all day long. Also R32 GTST's are well worth a look, as are R33 GTST's which i'm not as keen on, but are still a damned fine car.
a big part of owning the cars for me is the community that comes with it, i found the FTO owners clubs pretty crap to be honest when we were looking for specific info on the cars, very few owners seem to get their hands dirty to any technical extent. The likes of the SX owners club and both the big skyline owners club (SOC in particular) are an invaluable resource, loads of very knowledgeable people on there who are getting their hands dirty regularly and aren't shy of taking on their own work.
for 5k you could pick up a very clean S14a, maybe with some mods if you're lucky, or a well fettled S14. much more fun to be had there, but all the cars mentioned are worth there salt. The FTO is a bit thirsty for what it returns, about the same as my S14 is, and it's running a lot more power than the FTO.
basically this time last year i borrowed one from a mate of a mate to get to JAE and back.
long story short mate of a mate had given it to my mate (follow me?) to sell as he didn't have time and it needed work.
this was a manual mivec jobbie.
It had 17 or 18 inch wheels, a warped front disk, and a noisey release bearing.
The wheels basically ruined the cars handling. a quick change back to standard and it was much better, even with the warped disk. disks were changed before JAE and down we went. Initial impressions were a big thumbs up despite the god awful noise the gearbox made, and the interior being half missing! great fun, and yeah that engine sounds pretty good for a small n/a.
great fun on the back roads.
got to JAE eventually, the battery had decided to pack up big style, stranding us there on the sunday in the pouring rain, so a quick trip to halfrauds and 70 quid lighter it was changed and all was good. well comparatively.
by the time it got back from peterboghorror, the release bearing was screaming on idle, and i was told upon returning that my mates brother was stuck for getting home, in blackpool.
being the nice guy i am i offered to take him, so immediately we set off. sadly this was the demise of it's release bearing and i was stuck having to match revs to the gearbox as there was no gear selection via the conventional means, it had officially packed up, as had all the clocks, so i had no speedo.
another point to note, is the frankly god awful design where just infront of the suspension turrets, 3 body seams meet, and low and behold they rust to buggery. apparantly it's very common. nothing that a quick grind and plate weld won't fix.
Despite my ramblings of doom, i still look back on that car and realise i really enjoyed it. It's character, and chuckability for a FWD backroad stormer, really set it apart from other cars of comparable price and ability, it's quite a good looker, particularly from the front end, the engine sounds sweet and is pretty responsive, albeit a tad lacking in guts, and overall i'd say its a nice car.
The fact there's quite a lot of them being imported, or was, means they can be picked up for sensible money too, which is always nice.
Comparing them to cars like 200sx's, which despite me stacking mine yesterday i hold a lot of love for, isn't really fair to be honest. one's a lukewarm fwd hatchback, the other is a rwd turbocharged car with a hell of a lot of tuning potential. If you can afford insurance etc i'd take a 200 over an FTO all day long. Also R32 GTST's are well worth a look, as are R33 GTST's which i'm not as keen on, but are still a damned fine car.
a big part of owning the cars for me is the community that comes with it, i found the FTO owners clubs pretty crap to be honest when we were looking for specific info on the cars, very few owners seem to get their hands dirty to any technical extent. The likes of the SX owners club and both the big skyline owners club (SOC in particular) are an invaluable resource, loads of very knowledgeable people on there who are getting their hands dirty regularly and aren't shy of taking on their own work.
for 5k you could pick up a very clean S14a, maybe with some mods if you're lucky, or a well fettled S14. much more fun to be had there, but all the cars mentioned are worth there salt. The FTO is a bit thirsty for what it returns, about the same as my S14 is, and it's running a lot more power than the FTO.
Edited by MeLLoN Stu on Saturday 5th August 04:06
Mine's been relatively trouble free since I've had it - a few minor niggles but nothing major.
Mine (well, until tomorrow when the new owner collects) has 17" alloys, but handles sweet as a nut, very chuckable and one of the most sorted FWDs I've ever driven (That said, I've not had the pleasure of an Integra...)
If you drive it like you would a "normal car" then its not that quick - it takes a bit of concentration to keep in the power band (i.e above 5.5k, but the MIVECS rev to 8k), but if you do you are duly rewarded.
If you do go for one, only consider a GPX Manual with Mivec.
HTH.
Mine (well, until tomorrow when the new owner collects) has 17" alloys, but handles sweet as a nut, very chuckable and one of the most sorted FWDs I've ever driven (That said, I've not had the pleasure of an Integra...)
If you drive it like you would a "normal car" then its not that quick - it takes a bit of concentration to keep in the power band (i.e above 5.5k, but the MIVECS rev to 8k), but if you do you are duly rewarded.
If you do go for one, only consider a GPX Manual with Mivec.
HTH.
Thanks for all the info guys. HAve had a look at the FTO club site & wasn't that impressed. All I've found out about it was a road test by needles for fith gear or somthing. That was quite good. Insurance isn't a problem for me as I'm classed as an old fart with ten years no claims. The 200sx looks interesting. Its just if I can afford a good enough one. Thers a lot less about than FTOS Easier to find Skylines.
Any one care to reccomend a good importer. Or is it best to buy private? Theres a massive place at Kiethley with loads of skylines. They look good but are they just wrecks that have been put through the body shop? Not so easy to find someone to inspect these cars as there so speicalist.
Any one care to reccomend a good importer. Or is it best to buy private? Theres a massive place at Kiethley with loads of skylines. They look good but are they just wrecks that have been put through the body shop? Not so easy to find someone to inspect these cars as there so speicalist.
if you're talking about Keighley trade centre steer well clear.
there's loads of good 200's about, a few crackers for sale atm
try the classifieds here or www.sxoc.com/vbb
there's loads of good 200's about, a few crackers for sale atm
try the classifieds here or www.sxoc.com/vbb
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