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Mitsubishi FTO GPX
by aksram
Mitsubishi FTO ((Fresh Touring Origination) is one of the good looking imported cars but not so great in performance. Launched in 1994, it was manufactured until 2000.
I bought my second hand car in 2006 mainly because of its looks. When I first went to look at the car from the previous owner, I was very impressed by its ... sporty looks. When I went for a test drive, I wasn't impressed with its automatic gearbox or the interiors but I couldn't resist myself from buying it for £2000.
Mine is a FTO GS Auto 1995 model with modifications like body kit, bigger rear spoiler, momo steering wheel and strut bar in the bonnet- all this in a flashy red colour-well who could resist such good looks!!!! And that too for a bargain- just £2000!!
Interior-
It has fabric covered seats, air conditioning, power mirrors, electric windows and CD player. Although it is 14 years old, its AC works perfectly fine. There is slight wear and tear of seating which is expected knowing that it is so old but otherwise the car works fine. It has 4 seats but the rear seats are not very spacious- the leg room is very less compared to many other coupes. The cup holder is available only near the front seat but can say it's pretty useless- can't keep anything without spilling!
Performance-
The auto gearbox is quite slow esp. when compared to some of the newer auto cars. It's pick up uphill or when starting is very slow but after it reaches around 55 miles, then it picks up faster and shows its real power. Only problem is that they have limiter at around 120 mph (usually seen in many Japanese cars). It can simply be removed with a delimiter chip- available on eBay- I have bought one but never got time to fix it. I think the car is still capable of doing a lot more than that quite comfortably. The strut bar in the bonnet makes its handling in turns and curves very easy. It doesn't lift off from the ground so easily. It might seem as if you driving at around 150 mph especially with the kilometre speedometer.
Specifications-
GS auto usually has a 1.8 litre engine. Its gearbox is automatic and tiptronic. But there are other models like mivec which are manual- I'm sure their performance is a lot better- haven't driven one yet but have seen one of the mivec fto overtake mine in seconds. It usually comes with 15" alloys but I have changed mine to 16" alloys. The battery is very feeble. Although I have changed my battery last year, still it gets totally drained out if unused even for a day- it might be something with the car rather than the battery but I went to garage so many times to know the reason but they still thinks its probably because of the age of the car.
The car doesn't have any tracker or any great security facilities. I got a toad immobiliser and alarm fitter on mine for insurance purposes and for central locking.
Insurance-
Getting insurance for fto is not the easiest- a lot of companies don't do Japanese imports. Finding an online deal is quite difficult but there are specific companies who insure such cars- sky insurance, Adrian flux etc. I got mine for around £400 which is not too bad for this car. Some insurance companies don't insure if the drivers are not 21 years old- so you might be better of checking this before buying a flashy car to show off in front of your college friends.
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Mitsubishi Colt Hatchback 1.3 CZ2 5dr
by markos9
I've owned my Mitsubishi Colt 1.3CZ2 for about 8 months now (I sold my 2004 MX-5 due to the massive petrol price increases, not realising the prices would come down again...) and am really pleased with it.
Most cars these days appear to look similar to each other, but I think the Colt looks a bit different. It has a very tall, ... 'upright' design and is styled as a mini MPV. There are worse looking cars out there. The CZ2 comes with alloy wheels and body coloured mirrors and bumpers which improve the appearance a bit, too. It's never been a big seller, so it's not a common sight on our roads.
The car appears to have been designed to maximise internal space. There is a huge amount of space inside the car. The back seat can be split and moved back and forward giving either more room in the boot, or in the cabin. Very clever, and very flexible. Although the cabin is cleverly designed, I've got to say, It's not exactly luxurious. The dash and door panels are made of cheap looking plastic (and in my car are a light blue colour (yuk). A 'feature' of the interior is that the centre panel glows a greenish colour when the lights are on. I don't like it.
The shape of the car makes it easy to reverse (as you know exactly where the back of the car is), but bizarrely, it's more difficult to park the car moving forward into a space, as you cannot see any of the front of the car at all from the driver's seat (the bonnet slopes sharply downwards). This can make parking a bit of a guess.
Another problem with the shape is that the back of the car gets really filthy really quickly. I assume it's something to do with airflow, but the back soon collects muck even if the rest of the car looks clean.
The front windscreen is massive and the elevated driving position gives a superb view, BUT, a word of warning, the front windscreen pillars are really thick and can mask the view of other cars especially when turning a corner (I once 'lost' a whole truck when turning a bend, scary!). This is the biggest problem with this car and you soon learn (after a few near misses) to 'look around' the pillars before moving off.
I've found the car to be excellent to drive. There's enough power to overtake, and the car holds the road extremely well. The ride is slightly hard, but not too firm. The steering is accurate and direct, and the gearchance is OK too. The brakes are a bit sharp (for the first couple of days of ownership, slowing down was occasionally converted into an emergency stop!), but the presence of ABS is reassuring.
Fuel economy has been excellent. I've achieved over 50mpg on a long run and never less than 40 around town. Insurance and tax are pretty cheap too.
Overall, I've been really pleased with this car. It's economical, nice to drive and cheap to run. There's a new Colt out now, so the 'old shape' should be available at knock down prices.
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