The Irish Mitsubishi FTO Owners Club

Hello everyone, came across the site a few weeks ago and got hooked! Great job! Im hopefully going to get my hands on a 95/96 GS within the next 3-4 months, just need to build the Euro's up first! Driving a Civic at the mo but had 4 Mitsubishi's previously and can't wait to get the FTO

Anyway, look forward to talking to some of you's soon! I've loads of FTO questions!!



p.s. Thanks CJ for getting the account setup!

Why a GS?? - Have you priced the difference in insurance between a GS a GR and a GPX - it may not be as big as you think. Well worth going for either a GR or GPX over a GS.

To be honest with you I was pretty shocked when I finally got the quote for the 1.8 FTO, I was trying for a long time to get a quote on it with no joy at all! I was only thinking today, would there be much difference in the price from a 1.8 to a 2ltr, I'll give them a ring in the morning and see what the crack is with it. There only giving me third party aswell because of the type of car (which is a load sh!t) It's all down to the Euro's at the end of the day. I take it that the GR/GX/GPX model's are well worth the extra few quid?

I've owned both a GR tip and a GPX Manual and both were excellent cars - go with the best car you can find for the money whether it is a GR or GPX - if you can get a clean GPX manual then great but condition is v important - ask loads of questions on here about any car you see and you won't go far wrong.

I've asked for quotes on the GS (out of curiousity),GR and GPX previously and there has been no difference whatsoever - seems stupid that a 125BHP car costs the same to insure as a 200BHP car but thats Irish insurance companies for you.

Myfeckin FTO wrote:I've asked for quotes on the GS (out of curiousity),GR and GPX previously and there has been no difference whatsoever - seems stupid that a 125BHP car costs the same to insure as a 200BHP car but thats Irish insurance companies for you.

Same situation here, I had a GS before the GPX and there was no difference in the premium when trading up, thats not the case with all insurers though so do ring around. If possible, I recommend you test drive a GS and a GR\GPX on the same day to fully appreciate the difference in power, the latter are considerably quicker - I still remember the time I took a GPX up the M50 after owning the GS for a year, this is how I felt after putting my boot to floor for the first time - . Generally speaking, all models have the same exterior looks (give or take a few cosmetic items), why Mitsi ever made a 4-cylinder 1.8 engined FTO I'll never know, the V6 engined models go like a scalded cat in comparison and are much more fun to drive (enter Dave with comments about boost and intercoolers )

Oh and welcome on board Declan

CJ

i was going to say nothing

Got on to my insurance broker earlier and asked for a quote on a GR, and it was the same price only this time there giving me TPF&T instead of just TP on the GS! Still going to set me back 3k, but that wont bother me once I have the car

declanc wrote:Got on to my insurance broker earlier and asked for a quote on a GR

Out of interest Declan, did you get a quote on a GPX as well? If not, it would be worth checking to cover all of your options.

CJ

Yeah CJ, that quote was on a GPX, I suppose it's not bad as I'm 23 and only strated with Hibernian last month. No one else would touch me once I said FTO. Just have to start looking out for the right car now.

Although my policy does state that I can drive ANY CAR once it's not in my name and is taxed I'd say it's too risky to go down that road, but it would save me 2k!!

declanc wrote:Although my policy does state that I can drive ANY CAR once it's not in my name and is taxed I'd say it's too risky to go down that road, but it would save me 2k!!

Heh, could be dodgy alright, you still need to display a current insurance disc, plus, even if you have fully comp on your insured car on the other car you're only covered 3rd party.

Doing my best not to get into a rant, but I still have my Xsara (see avatar!), and for insurance purposes I'm the only one who can't drive it! Madness, the only one in my family who can't drive the Xsara is the owner, i.e. me!! Ah well, prob have it sold in the next couple of weeks...

Kev.

I'll end up paying the full amount, but probably won't get it till April or there abouts. Trying to decide which model to go for, should I go for the GR or the GPX model, I like the idea of the mivec, gives the extra kick!

declanc wrote:should I go for the GR or the GPX model, I like the idea of the mivec, gives the extra kick!

*ahem* as a GR driver myself, who has never driven a MIVEC, I'd say the GR is pretty good, if you come across a nice one give it serious thought. More than happy with mine anyway.

Just to help with your decision making, differences that I can think of offhand:
- MIVEC available on GPX, but its at the higher end of the scale, so if you're doing mostly city driving you're not going to use it most of the time. Still though, 20bhp (?) more I think it is.
- GPX front brakes are 2 pot as against 1 pot on the GR, and the discs are slightly bigger. GR brakes are ok still but GPX are a bit better. Having said that, you can get hold of GPX brake calipers/discs/pads and just replace the existing GR ones (just did it myself over Christmas).
- GPX tappets are adjustable, GR/GS tappets aren't. Again not usually an issue but in certain cases can be good, especially if they get noisy, you can adjust GPX tappets to help.

I just know I'll get flamed for not mentioning other things but thats all that comes to mind. You'll probably see spec sheets for what did and didn't come with the GR and GPX, but most things were optional extras, or could have been added on later. E.g. I think the GR isn't supposed to have a spoiler as standard, but I've only come across 1 or 2 that didn't.

From what I can make out, the major differentiating factors in FTOs:
- 1.8 engine in GS vs 2L in GR/GPX/GPvR/GX
- tiptronic or manual gearbox
- in 97 there was a facelift which basically amounts to a different front bumper, and the tiptronic gear box had 5 instead of 4 gears
- MIVEC or not MIVEC.

There is also one other model of note, GPvR, a version mitsi did that was lightweight and the handling was improved a bit as a result. These are rare, there's one in the for sale forum at the moment. They're lighter and I think suspension is stiffer (?) so drive a bit better than the others but you loose out on a few creature comforts iirc.

Check out CJ's buying guide off the home page too!

Kev.

kevinod wrote:Still though, 20bhp (?) more I think it is.

Pre-faclift GRs are rated @ 170PS, facelifts are 180PS

kevinod wrote:GR brakes are ok still but GPX are a bit better..

I've driven a few GRs and the first thing that I've always noticed is the lack of bite in the brakes, the GPX twin-pots really come into their own @ high speed.

kevinod wrote:GPX tappets are adjustable, GR/GS tappets aren't.

I'm being picky here, but the GS doesn't have teppets

If I had the choice between a good condition GR and an average condition GPX, I'd pick the GR every time. Declan, the main thing to do is get out and drive the different models to familarise yourself with whats out there, if you havn't read the Buying Guide, check it out here.

CJ

CJ wrote:

kevinod wrote:Still though, 20bhp (?) more I think it is.

Pre-faclift GRs are rated @ 170PS, facelifts are 180PS

kevinod wrote:GPX tappets are adjustable, GR/GS tappets aren't.

I'm being picky here, but the GS doesn't have teppets

CJ

Picking up a few bits here myself:
Facelifts - does the facelift GPX have extra PS or did that stay the same?

GS tappets - oop... um, what he said!

Kev.

I will have a spotless 1997 GR for sale in 4-6 weeks if you are interested.

Rory

kevinod wrote:Facelifts - does the facelift GPX have extra PS or did that stay the same?

There was no difference in the facelifted GPX power output, I can't remember exactly how the output was upped on the 97+ GR but I think it was something to with changes to the ECU to improve the air/fuel ratio or something similar.

Rory wrote:I will have a spotless 1997 GR for sale in 4-6 weeks if you are interested.

Sounds interesting, facelift, colour, gearbox?

CJ

97 GR
Silver
Manual
Not Facelift.
Spotless inside and out

Thanks for all the info lads. I think my head is even more messed up now than it was before

I know of two people selling FTO's, a GS and a GPX. He's looking for 8 grand for the GPX which I think is a bit much for a 95 but it might be worth a look and a test drive. Think I'll stay away from the GS, doesn't look in the best condition from what I saw of it.

I went into Motorpoint (just before the Red Cow) on Saturday and was talking to one of the sales men and he was saying that he might be able to get me a GR / GPX if one comes in from the docks. He asked me what year & colour would I prefer, not too sure if its the right way to get one.

In my opinion 8K for a 1995 GPX (manual or tip) is scandalous no matter what condition it is in. I recently talked to a guy that bought a perfect GPX for 4.5K. Keep loooking and the right one will come along. Also buying off the docks will cost you. Plenty of good ones out there and most guys who own them take care. You will normally know if the car has been cared for from first impression.

CJ Wrote

Pre-faclift GRs are rated @ 170PS, facelifts are 180PS

This is news to me I'd seen both figures quoted before but assumed the difference between quotes was due to people 'rounding' the figures. What's the difference between the engine of the GR & the GX?

Mustang

Oops Sorry I had only read the first page of this thread when I asked the above question. I had not read CJ's reply!

CJ Wrote

I can't remember exactly how the output was upped on the 97+ GR but I think it was something to with changes to the ECU to improve the air/fuel ratio or something similar.

If CJ, or anyone else can expand on how this was achieved I'd be very interested to know.

Mustang

Mustang wrote:If CJ, or anyone else can expand on how this was achieved I'd be very interested to know.

OK, scratch my original reasoning, some searching back to 2001 on the old SG FTOList revealed that the facelift GR had a different ECU and improved cam profiles, this raised the PS by 10 but didn't have an impact on torque output.

CJ

Thanks for the update CJ.

declanc wrote:Thanks for all the info lads. I think my head is even more messed up now than it was before

I know of two people selling FTO's, a GS and a GPX. He's looking for 8 grand for the GPX which I think is a bit much for a 95 but it might be worth a look and a test drive. Think I'll stay away from the GS, doesn't look in the best condition from what I saw of it.

I went into Motorpoint (just before the Red Cow) on Saturday and was talking to one of the sales men and he was saying that he might be able to get me a GR / GPX if one comes in from the docks. He asked me what year & colour would I prefer, not too sure if its the right way to get one.

Heh, sorry, got into a discussion about facelifts and stuff!

Have to agree with Steelroe, 8k is too much for a 95 whatever it is, unless it has a lot of things improved from standard, uprated this and that on it - brakes, exhaust system, suspension (lowered?). If its standard I'd say don't pay anything like 8k for it.

Kev.