Hello Folks,
I am looking to buy a vehicle for summer use only and will be covered up come winter time and one of the one’s in mind is as above GTO or 3000GT, but I see a lot of N/A versions around are these quick ? or should I hold out for a vr4 TT obviously the price will go up if I want the latter.
But what is maintenance like on these, easy to repair, I rarely need an engineer and can repair my own cars so need advice on what it is like to own one of these.
thanks.
As spiros said the buyers guide is a good start. 3000GT’s / GTO’s can be very expensive when things go wrong. That being said if you get a good one you could find it very cheap to run. I have had mine for 2 and half years and the only real cost I have had (other than general servicing) is the waterpump/cambelt change and a tweak to the map.
Teamed with classic insurance it can be cheaper to run than some “normal” cars. I would classify these as “Hard” to work on compared to most cars. However, if you are handy with the spanners you shouldnt have trouble with most jobs.
As ever with cars of this age there is a massive price difference between genuinely good cars (£5-8k) and rotters that will cost you a fortune (£2-4k). Not to say that a £4k car cant be brilliant but you would be a very lucky person to get a really solid car for that money. Having said that mine may go for that sort of money on the ebay auction but i thought i would take the plunge and see what happens. These prices are all Turbo car prices by the way.
Mine is currently on ebay here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubishi-3000GT-GTO-Mk1-Blue-Modified-/232238561590?hash=item36127f3936:g:Yx8AAOSw2gxYoV6F
Also skander the Vr4 designation was for the American market. Here we had the 3000GT and the imported JDM GTO and N/A GTO.
Sorry to burst your bubble, I’m not really like that 
Terry 
Providing you are happy enough with the mechanicals key thing is corrosion
These cars can look great but can be very rusty.
Check under rear wings area around the aerial, behind the spare whell recess, rear of the sill at the front of the rear wheel arch, the joints of the floor to the front and rear bulkheads, around sun or moon roof if it has one.
You could check intercoolers [tt] they go manky (l can redo them) also of you can check under front bumper cover not easy to see.
Hope a few usefull tips, cheers and good luck.
if you have small hands then you will be fine, as a japanese car they seem to make the engine bay so that only small japanese people can get they’re hands in there lol
Hello again,
still on the hunt, i sacked the idea off of owning a gto but something keeps dragging me back in i keep looking at them.
So my plan is to maybe get one and use as a summer car and when winter arrives it will be parked up on the drive and covered for protection, so i’m hoping with this idea and only being used for what 4-5 months it should keep it in good shape and be relatively trouble free motoring, no ?
and also what are the N/A ones like auto and manual are they quite quick as if i were to get a n/a it would have to have some decent power enough to put a smile on my face.
thanks.
Erm no,
Mitsubishi had to mount the V6 motor transversely because the Yanks (Dodge) wanted a cheaper FWD model to be available - allowing DSM to switch transmissions depending on the model.
That said, it’s not really that much more restrictive than other engine bay with large / performance engines.
The real problem with GTOs is rust, rusty bolts, rusty nuts, rusty brackets and overheated hoses/lines that bond onto metal - this can make some simple routine jobs more painful and time consuming.
So Overall the engines are quite solid, as mentioned above, what are the n/a one’s like, i mean i won’t be hammering it around i’m no longer a 25 year old i’m 36 it will be babied around and some short bursts of power on motorways within legal limits, it will not be abused.
thanks.
My mate had a yellow one, a '93 Mk1 auto, went like s off a s, similarly @BexGTO is an auto, well an N/A, I think its auto, and she kept in front on the way back from Newark, wasn’t slow by any means
Rambling on a bit there 
Terry
Had a n/a before the tt. loved it. Tbh if i could afford to run 2 i never would have sold it.
I nearly managed to keep Bex in my mirror 
Been in bex’s auto and it goes reallywell
