GTO Engine Noise

Merry (belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope this entry finds everyone in fine spirits this festive period.

I hope Santa was kind with the car parts this year to help everyone get ready for the 2016 show season!

So Santa may have got me 1 or 2 car parts this year, but I also treated myself to a new camera, a new action cam. Nothing flash mind, my budget didn't exactly stretch to a hero4, but it'll certainly do for what I need and will be much better than using my phone! As such I took advantage of the quiet holiday roads and unseasonably good weather (finally!) to do a bit of hooning in the GTO.

As promised weeks ago here the sound my car makes, currently with a stock in-take and Kakimoto Racing Exhaust. I look forward to hearing how it will sound down the line when I get round to upgrading the intake system as it already sounds pretty mean (even if I do say so myself)

I have been reflecting on 2015 and what it has meant for me automotively (if that's such a word), obviously it has been the year this project started (not so much started, but rather the year the car was bought) but it also had a few highlights building up to that point also. In the run up to New Year I will share my top 5 moments on my Instagram  as I reflect on my 2015 and look forward to what 2016 may hold!

So I will leave you with one final thought, and something I sure a lot of petrol heads are feeling...

WAIT.... I almost forgot to mention, when hooning I may have done a 0-60 video... which may be in next weeks entry... so until then, Happy New Year!

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Winter is coming... Aaaaaaand its here...

I plan to keep my entry rather brief this week for fear of becoming a blog about the weather instead of being about cars....

So in the last 3 weekends we've had a weekend of 90mph winds, a weekend of flooding and to top it off, this weekend was a weekend of snow... Don't get me wrong, snow at this time of year can be nice and give a Christmas-y feel, but I just want to try to redo the 0-60 test! I know the one I did a few weeks ago can be beat and isn't truly representative of the cars' potential, I just have to catch a break in the weather...

On the plus side, snow does make for rather nice photos of the cars. The first pic is to give you an indication of how much snow ended up falling as most of the pics were taken in a slight break in the weather mid way! Living up in the hills makes for great driving roads in summer, but has it's disadvantages at this time of year!

Lots of snow!

Was feeling a bit artsy at first and quite like this pic so thought I'd throw it in here as well!

Careful Abarth, there's a monster in that garage!  

this is actually the first pic I've taken of the Mitsubishi and the Abarth together

The Abarth and the Dacia

Scorpion Popsicle!

The snow was actually that bad it caused a local bus to catch fire trying to get up a hill...

Luckily everyone was safely evacuated, but it goes to show how dangerous it can be driving in these weather conditions. If you're going to be driving in snow, stay safe!

Hopefully I will catch a break in the weather soon, and be able to do my baseline test, but in the mean time I will finish with a pun that bad even the Christmas Cracker companies rejected it...

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Starting to make decisions... Well, one or two...

OK, so for the last few weeks I have been playing around with apps that can help you plan projects and store links and ideas from the web, such as Google Keep and Evernote etc.

Although I have used these kind of apps before for other reasons, when it comes to planning a project car I have come to one main conclusion, and that is that 90% of the things I want to save fall into one of 3 predetermined headings which I will probably start using moving forward:

1. 'From this list of many MANY things you may eventually be able to buy 1 or 2 items by 2019'
2. 'Maybe if you win the lottery'
3. 'Dude, just buy an EvoX FQ400 already....'

That being said, using these apps to actually save things has helped me to come to a few decisions on the direction I want to take some of the aspects of the car. For instance last week I mentioned that I wanted some new rims, when I started saving wheels I was interested in I noticed a recurring theme.... and I know they've been played out.... I know everyone and their Honda has had a set.... but how lush* would a set of red Volk Racing rotas look on my sexy little black Mitsubishi?... 

*Geordie colloquialism, in this instance meaning sexy as f@£k

This would raise another question though, on a black car with red rims, what colour calipers to go for on a big brake kit? If the rest of the car is black and red not sure yellow would work and that was my first thought... Would black work?... hmmm may have to come back to that one...

Rims are not the only thing this little exercise has helped me to decide. A few weeks ago I posted this meme on my instagram account:

I know I want something JDM to keep the car true to its imported heritage (and unleash a little of my inner ricer). Since doing this I have been drawn back time and again to the Katana shifters... So Santa, if you're reading this, one of them please! 

I have started looking at proper mods as well, however I still need to do more research into those. For instance, is Meth injection legal in the UK? As its not that common a mod here that question seems to confuse google when I ask it... Although saying that there is plenty of time to research that yet as power will come after handling!

This week I did order a camera to help document the build when I get it properly started in January, Trying to document engine sounds on my phone highlighted that it wasn't up to the task. So no doubt as soon as that camera arrives a baseline 0-60 test on the GTO will finally follow! (weather permitting)

So with that, I'll conclude for this week with one last thought.... "Do you even lift bro?"

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Project - Prologue pt 2

Actually talking about the GTO... and its about time!

I apologise in advance if anyone reading this has viewed my Instagram  account recently (@3ofdiamonds_GTO) as some of the pics have already been posted on there, they will just have a touch more explanation now! As mentioned in my first entry the 2 months or so from getting the car until the new year is a time I wanted to set aside to learn about the car, the way it handles, the way it feels and drives before I start making changes so I can be sure I am making changes I want to be making.


So I'll start with exterior aesthetics.

Have you ever seen the episode of 'How I Met Your Mother' where they are trying to take a bad picture of Barney? No matter how bad he looks when the picture is taken, the picture always turns out great... The GTO is a bit like that. The picture below shows some slight damage to the rear quarter. No... it really does...

The paint on the corner just above the exhaust is cracked and will probably need a touch of filler before a re-spray. There is also a touch up needed just below the active aero wing for a scratch... They just don't seem to show up on pics unless you are really zoomed in... hence Barney... In truth the car could probably use a full re-spray anyway purely because the paint is a little tired through being almost 25 years old. I know how it feels there, it is probably in better condition than I am at 28.

With the paint, I like black so will probably go for that again. I had briefly toyed with the idea of white with black accents, but quickly went off the idea when I saw an example online done badly, thought keeping it black was a safer bet. Still deciding on whether to go for gloss again and keep it original or whether to change it up with a satin/flat black... That will probably be decided later. There are more important things to consider first like POWER! and handling.... and brakes... and safety..... but POWER!?!?!!

The car could also use some new shoes. I am pretty sure these are the original ones, only I'm pretty sure they didn't come black as standard.

They don't fill the wells enough for my liking, and changing them out for a good suspension/big brake kit combo should make a big difference to the way the car handles. Along with a potentially more striking colour could really help the car stand out looks wise.... I can already envisage a black and red colour theme for the car?....


The exhaust was already aftermarket. When I first saw the car, I couldn't stand the way the exhaust looked, and then I heard it and I was converted. Its gone from being the first thing I wanted shot of, to being one of the things I love showing off most on the car...

The exhaust is a Kakimoto Racing Exhaust. Yes its aftermarket and having two of them makes it a bit loud, but the sound it makes is awesome. I have recorded the sound (as with my Abarth on my phone) only this time with a little help, but my phone still doesn't do it justice. I will try to get a better recording, but if I can't will share what I have of the rumble. As far as I can tell this is not yet coupled with an aftermarket intake (unless it is simply an uprated panel filter) so may sound even better down the line....


Speaking of exhausts (and moving to the interior of the car) it comes equipped with this:

When I first found the exhaust silencer I though "this aint gonna get used much at all" however after driving the car for a while and playing with the buttons, I have come to realise that this button works about as well as a chocolate  fireguard, or in car terms as well as a BMW on racing slicks in snow.... basically it doesn't. Obviously (well... I'm assuming...) when the exhaust was changed the silencer must have been deleted. The cruise control has also been deleted at some point. I've read about the cruise control on 90s Mitsubishis,  they used the throttle cable to set the cruise control rather than a computer, and as such would sometimes make the throttle lag harder than Windows Vista, so from what I've read I'm not disappointed that this system is gone.

The interior is showing its age. The aftermarket Ripspeed steering wheel and Momo gear knob, along with worn seats and a Sony mini disc player (mini disc? wtf?) means the interior needs a bit of work, and I'm not actually sure where to start yet on this.... (although I know I kinda want a ninja gearstick)

Still also not quite sure how far to take the weight reduction either... These cars were known for being heavy... watch this space. The car going on a diet may be first change, weight reduction bro!

As with the majority of project cars, I would like to squeeze some more power from under the bonnet. The first thing on the list for the 3.0l lump under the hood will be a good cleaning so I can see whats what. The car pulls well, especially given its age and that current mods from buying the car are minimal. I think I cant make any other decisions about this area until that is done, and it will probably be quite painstaking as I doubt the 25 year old electrics will take a dousing from a hose......

Still going to stick with the plan to not start making changes till the new year, however because of this I think December will be a very long month indeed.... At least today we get to open the first window on our advent calendars. (how cool is mine below?? how much of a geek do I look now??.....)

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Project [Code name TBC] - Prologue pt1

This week I thought I would actually talk about the project car, after all that's why I was doing this blog and it's only been 5 weeks.... Finding Dori springs to mind...

So in previous entries I have mentioned why I wanted a project car, but I haven't answered a question I've been asked by a few other petrolheads since buying this car....

'So why a GTO?'

The answer to this one was always going to be a bit more controversial as they are not a popular car in general, though from what I've read, owners of the car love it unconditionally. I actually think that my need to have something different, and its prettiness makes me prefer it to its competitors. When I knew I wanted a project, I also knew I wanted to meet certain criteria:

• AWD
• Turbo or Twin Turbo
• Manual
• Qualifies for Classic insurance
• Easy initial power gains (I know GTO gets harder past 500bhp or so in comparison to similar cars of the era but 500 is probably going to be more than my initial aims for power)
• Good looking 
• Something a bit different

So with those criteria in mind I kind of knew it was going to be some kind of 90's JDM muscle  so started thinking through my choices:

(Note: for those who like to argue in import vs muscle threads on Car Throttle, here in the UK you cant get American muscle and was I HELL buying a Rover 25)

• rx7 - the later models are pretty (FD), but I didn't fancy doing an engine rebuild every time I took the car to the corner shops and measuring my oil in miles per gallon! Rotary jokes aside I love these cars, there is one that lives the other side of town from me that I am admittedly slightly envious of it even with it's cheesy F&F style decals... I think they are beautiful, but think these are a car I would love to drive but not to own. I am by my own admission an AWD fanboy and they didn't tick that box, combined with being as rare as hens teeth when I was looking meant they were never really an option. Good ones were few and far between, and when you found a good one the price required me to give up limbs....

• Supra - With a supra, it had to be a mk4, it had to be twin turbo and it had to be manual. The choice for a Supra in good condition was phenomenal.... as long as you wanted an N/A.... or an auto.... or both... The only ones at a reasonable price that were turbo-ed and manual were the mk3 and earlier, which if I'm being honest are probably a really good car, they just don't do it for me....

• Skyline -  I went further in my search for a Skyline than for the Supra or rx7... there is something about that name, and that GTR badge that was just screaming 'Buy me!'. I actually went to buy one and was talked out of buying it by the sales assistant, it was an R33 GTR they'd had in part ex and he couldn't answer any of my questions about it, or its history, or anything about any work done to it in the past... so I walked away, and kicked myself for a couple of months after thinking it was probably him being a moron rather than being a dud car. After missing out on that one, I trawled sites for a while but struggled to find another one in budget. There were plenty of GTS and GTS-T to choose from (quite often falsely advertised as GTRs)... but that GTR was always at the back of my mind and meant I couldn't commit to a GTS-T. Maybe an R34 as my next project...

• Other random Unicorns - There were occasionally others that caught my eyes, Galant VR4s, 240zs or 300zxs GTFours... but I quite simply never got the same spark with them as when I looked at the GTO.

I have always considered the GTO a very good looking car, even by modern standards which I think is quite a rare trait for a car with a production run that was fully contained within the 90s (excluding the Dodge Stealth variants rear wing *gags*).

My first experience of driving one however was not the greatest. It was from a small locally owned garage, and it was an N/A 3000gt. The owner of the garage allowed my to drive around 500m before returning it to the forecourt, think he assumed because I was young I wasn't going to be serious about buying the car. I made a comment about it not being as quick as I expected as I gestured towards buying the car, to which he took offense and threw me off the forecourt... looking back now that was probably a godsend. The difference in the drive between that car and the twin-turbo I now currently own in unreal, they are the same car underneath but essentially not really comparable in terms of drive and what the car can do.

In truth I would have loved any of the other cars I listed as a potential for the project, but I was always strangely drawn back to the GTO. They are just so different and rarely seen. They were under appreciated in their time, and they still are which is probably why you can still pick up a good twin turbo version for relatively cheap in comparison to other cars with similar performance. 

I know people complain about the price of parts, but when you look into it good parts for this car cost about the same as good parts for any car of the era, you just cant get cheap knock off parts for cheap like you can on other cars... which to me, is in all honesty no big deal. I'd only want to use good parts anyway!

When I read comments on forums for wider car communities (rather than owner specific ones about these cars) it was funny how often you would read owners slate the car, calling its' transmission shit, saying it was a bitch to work on and source parts for, but then go on to say they wish they'd never sold it and they wished they still had it, and they loved it more than their Subaru Impreza/Mitsubishi Evo/whatever hot hatch they traded it in for.... and having it for just 4 or 5 weeks I can already see that.... I have been frustrated that the same day I bought it I needed to replace the battery and its connectors, and that next time I get it out of the garage I know I've got to try to un-seize the bonnet 

release mechanism that wouldn't let me close it when I put it away at the weekend..... But at the end of the day it makes me smile more than any other car that I have driven, let alone owned, and that's what really matters.... 

As the stolen meme says, don't build it for anyone but yourself.

And so I conclude yet again having not really talked about my specific car... So I will make this Prologue pt1 of 2 for now. To keep up to date you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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Abarth Exhaustion

In today's entry: Abarth Exhaustion... 

Monza Exhaust on the SuperSport

When I did the review of my daily driver, the Abarth SuperSport, a few weeks back I mentioned that although it only had a little 1.4l engine, it sounded mean and angry beyond its cc. So this week I decided that it was time to do that video! This may have also had something to do with damp and slippery roads combined with 90mph winds again at the weekend preventing that 0-60 video I want to do on the GTO... (wind speed may be a slight exaggeration but it was damn windy).

Digital Boost Gauge (apologies for glare)

I took this video on my phone with it propped up on a box whilst I revved. Lets be honest, this is not an ideal set-up, far from it actually... It may be how ITV film Emmerdale, but it was never going to give the sound this car makes the justice it deserves. 

In the flesh this exhaust does sound so much more beastly, especially with its Sport mode engaged even in its current stock guise. The engine and exhaust combination Abarth put on these cars (and the 595 equivalents) from the factory really make the noise generated from that 1.4 tjet engine second to none against other stock engines of a similar cc out there. 

Yes, that includes your Saxo, even with its 4" Halfords own exhaust tip you've tried to cable tie on... Wait... is that Burberry paint? 

Sport Mode - Engaged

The phone does not pick up on all the pops the exhaust makes as you ease off between revs, which is one of the traits that made me fall in love with the sound to begin with.... But alas, here is the video for now:

Although you can hear me start the car, the video was done on a warm engine. I had originally done a take with the phone sat further back and the wind noise wasn't the greatest, so this was a second take.

I have only been at this blog malarkey for 3-4 weeks now, so if I end up getting a better camera down the line I will probably re-do this video to try to show the car in the better light it deserves! If not, the phone footage will have to do.

I will probably do a similar video for the GTO, but with a bit of assistance in shooting it! I love this exhaust sound, but it will never realistically compete with that from a 3.0l twin-turbo with a racing exhaust system....

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Walk-around Washout

This weekend I took the GTO out for a spin, intending to find a nice spot in the countryside to do a walk-around of the car. But got caught up in a torrential downpour and gale force winds. My attempts to film the car seem to be cursed. The rain... The wind... Together, it was raining sideways...

Not be be put off by bad weather, like a preppy high school cheerleader I put my best 'positive mental attitude hat' on and decided to try a 0-60mph test instead. I told myself "the car has AWD, it'll be fine, the weather will barely make a difference!". How wrong was I?

The results are pictured below:

*Disclaimer* This screenshot was acquired on a private road by professionally-amateurish car bloggers. Do not try this at home. No puppies were harmed in the making of this screenshot. 

The same run was timed by my passenger as just under 6 seconds so think I need to find a more accurate app to do a 0-60 time with, especially as I only went to just over 60 due to road conditions and it reckons I got that 1/4 time... Ultimately either way I gotta give it another shot. I've wanted to do a benchmark acceleration test since getting the car using the 0-60 figure but cant start with one in poor conditions or my improvements to the car will look like they've had more effect than they have, 

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting the car to knock out a 5 second flat 0-60 as it could when it was new, but I know it has more in it than 6.89... but I do think it could still dip below 6 on dry roads.

If anyone know of any good 0-60 timing apps, please feel free to drop me a message on the social sites, otherwise feel free to follow to keep up to date:

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Daily Drive

Ok, so I ended last weeks entry at the point of trading in my beloved Hawkeye WRX for a hothatch due to the birth of my son. (at this point I would like to note that the Mrs was happy to see the scooby go, as she saw it as an unneeded expense at the time, but was not impressed when the baby seat would not fit in the new car...) This week is talking through that daily driver. Those of you who have checked out my instagram will have already seen that this was for an Abarth Supersport.

When I bought this car it was from new, but at the end of its production run. A couple of weeks later I read an article about this car and how much of a unicorn it was. Apparently there were only ever around 850 Abarth Puntos brought to the UK, and of these only 138 were of the top spec Supersport version, the majority being either the Abarth Grand Punto, or the Abarth Punto Evo. Although I have seen social media peppered with them from time to time, in my area I only know of 1 other Abarth Punto, and thats an Evo.

I love the fact that a lot of people, especially non-car people, don't really know what they are. I have lost track of how many times I've been asked what an Abarth is, and when people finally click, say "so thats like a fast fiat 500, right?" as if Abarth only do 500s and nothing else..... Don't get me wrong, I like the 500 models, I went to the showroom intending to buy a 595 Competizione, but walked away happily with my Supersport instead, its more me, and I like the fact you don't see them as often as the 500 based models.

So what I have is a car which I love, and although its nippy its the slowest car I've ever had. It has a 1.4l t-jet engine which has around 180bhp, which although it isn't much pushes the car to 60 somewhere in the region of 6.5 - 7 seconds. Which given how small the engine is, isn't actually that bad.

Abarth Supersport engine bay.

In fact when I was looking into this car, I read many a reviews and most compared the car to 1 of 3 cars. The Golf GTI, the Civic Type R and the Focus ST. All of the reviewed said the same thing, the car was a great little car but couldn't compete with those 3 of hot hatches on performance. But the Abarth has a smaller engine, and cost significantly SIGNIFICANTLY less. The other 3 cars will all cost you in the region of £30k, maybe just under. More if you want a decent spec. My little gem was under £20k. This means it was being compared against the big guns, when it cost less than the smaller hot hatches on the market, still coming in a few quid shy (couple of g's in fact) of the cost of a Fiesta ST and Corsa VXR with similar performance, and has the same 0-60 as the PUG GTI but costs around £7-8k less!

With Abarth you also get lots of goodies as standard. In fact the parts list on the Abarth would do as a shopping list for the GTO... Each corner sees a set of Brembo's coupled with Koni suspension. The seats are Buckets by Corsa (not the Vauxhall kind...). The dials were designed by Jaeger. The exhaust sound is mean for a 1.4 thanks to a system by Monza coupled with an uprated airbox thanks to BMC (I'll have to post a video of it on a later entry). Not a bad list for a car which is still stock....

I have mentioned the GTO has pop up headlights, a button on the car that makes me a bit giddy. The Abarth has a go faster button, and I've always wanted one of them since I was a kid, lusting after an M3 purely because it had the M button... I've come to realise BMW's are not for me, I indicate and don't tailgate, however the go faster button is still right up my street!

I love talking about the car, I love explaining what an Abarth is to non-car people. I love explaining the bolt-on's that come stock to car people. I do love this car, but I miss the tear your face off acceleration. I miss having power whenever I want it, this car needs you to be in sport mode and in the right rev range or the turbo lag will see you accelerate from 30-60 at the pace of a Dacia Sandero. I miss having AWD and as I mentioned last week, that is what ultimately made me want a project car.....

In the mean time, if you want to keep up to date, follow me on social sites in the links, also more pictures below:

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Alloy + Brembo

Corsa Seats

Having a bath

Dat Ass!

Car History

Ok, so this Sunday I fully intended to do a walk-round of the GTO...

I fully intended to do this right up to the point where the Formula 1 Qualifying was postponed until 2pm Sunday due to rain... From that point onward my weekend was dedicated to shouting for Lewis... really, shouting. I was sure if I shouted loud enough at the TV he would be able to hear me across the pond... Guess it worked!


So as I was caught up in the history that was being made on the TV, I thought I would talk a little about my car history.

I didn't sit my driving test until I finished University, and by that point I had fallen into bar management, which meant for my first car I didn't need to resort to buying a 1.0l Corsa with a 4" exhaust (you may need to be a Brit to get that reference...)

My first car was a Blob-eye Impreza. Don't get me wrong, it was not a WRX, and it certainly wasn't an STI, but as a first car in the UK where you have to give your left arm for an insurance policy.... (I'm surprised more of us don't drive automatics for this reason...) this was not a bad car. It was a 2.0l GX Sport, and without a WRX or STI badge, I cherished that word 'Sport' that emblazoned my rear bumper. It was still relatively quick for a first car, and with AWD it felt like a bit of tank. Unfortunately  after 6 months or so the clutch went and I couldn't justify paying for a new one to be fit as someone offered to buy it for the same price I paid when I got it, so alas I had to let it go.

My second car was a Honda Civic Type R - an EP3. It was post-facelift model (2005) which loved to rev, and I loved to rev it! It saw off 0-60 in around 6.6 seconds. It had a fair chunk of power for a car that was so light, 200bhp, and it was enjoyable using that full rev range with the dash mounted gear stick. In all honesty I think that gear stick is probably the thing I miss most about the car... Vtec is good, but not as good as Honda fan boys make it out to be, and the engine could have used a good deal more torque to match its power.

My third car was another Subaru, and another Impreza, though this time it was 2.5l WRX Hawkeye.
With around 230bhp and AWD it did 0-60 in around 5.5 seconds, in all conditions.

Roads like this are why I love AWD. This car is the first car I did more than just normal service tasks on. It was mainly just service tasks, but I also upgraded the brake discs. It was enough to make me start thinking that one day I wanted a real project, that I didn't need any work completed in a day.

When my son was born I sold the car. This was a bit of a mistake. I got another hot hatch instead. I saved money on insurance and petrol but in every other sense the Impreza is the better family car. Its boot is huge and passengers get an acre of space, AWD is practical, especially in an area prone to bad winters. It had 4 doors to my current cars 2. I like my current daily drive, don't get me wrong I prefer it to my Honda, but it wasn't my Scooby... This car is why I got the Mitsubishi, I wanted a fast 4x4 and wanted a car that didn't matter if work was done in a day or not......

I will do a walk round of my daily and of the GTO in a separate entry.

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Project Start

Ok, so I have to start by saying I think I have the most understanding girl a guy could possibly ask for! We are currently expecting our second child, yet this weekend I was allowed to buy my first ever project car.

I do admittedly feel a little guilty, not for buying the car.... rather I can't even begin to try and recall how many adverts I've read recently for cars being sold purely for the reason of an expected child.

I've known for a while I wanted a project. I have bugged many a petrolhead friend, bouncing build ideas off them to try and help make my mind up. My ideas ranged from sleeper T5 Volvos, to classic restorations, to taking a new Beetle, doing a AWD swap from a 4motion Golf and the engine from who knows what to make a modern Frankenbeetle rat rod (I do admittedly still like that idea... maybe in the future...). My decision in the end realistically came down to two options. A classic with a wicked engine swap or something JDM. If I went the classic route I was mainly thinking a busa into a beetle or mini. I saw a couple of Beetles, but without the ability to weld that idea was a bit of a no-go because a clean one cost to much, so instead this was my choice.....

This is my 1991 Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo. When new it had 280bhp and lots of torques. It has AWD and AWS. It has some toys that help me unleash my inner child... every man loves a button for pop up headlights... don't they? It also has Active Aero front and rear and a button that makes my exhaust quiet (although I don't think that will get much use somehow...) I think the car was trying to be Mitsubishi's answer to other similar spec sports Coupes coming out of Japan at the time, however its toys left it heavy in comparison to its more basic rivals. Weight left it slightly slower, although 0-60 took around 5 seconds so it is still no slouch even by today's standards,

Over the next couple of months I aim to get to know the car. Learn what I love about the car and learn its flaws. Early next year I will start making changes and tweaks to it. I've had fast Japanese cars in the past, but never really had one to wrench on that wasn't a daily driver, so I will be starting  small at first and working up to bigger jobs down the line. I'm not going to be preaching how to do things, more talking about how I've done things which undoubtedly will be how not to!

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