Faults:

The gaskets went bad, but I fixed that. Now I'm waiting to rebuild the engine for turbo applications.

General Comments:

The car handles very well. It is not too quick, but after the turbo, it will have the power it needs. Besides, we don't have the option of having the 3sge (190hp) VVTi (1996-up) or the 3-sgte engine, which is quite rare. The iron block could handle the turbo after it has been built using stronger rods and such. The car will last a very long time.

It is worth having, to be different from all the Honda guys out there. Lucky for Honda that Toyota does not have so many engines to swap in their cars.

Back to the point, the car is good for the price. Look well when buying one... timing belt, oil leaks, engine noise.

Faults:

Alternator needed new bushes at 200,000 kilometers.

Replaced clutch at 190,000 kilometers.

General Comments:

Good visibility with mirrors, no blind spots.

Nicely contoured dashboard.

Incredibly reliable, only routine maintenance required.

The car had four wheel steering, which is excellent for manoeuvering the car in tight spots, a problem with previous models.

Good all round performer IE; sporty, cheap to run and not as hard to insure as some sports cars.

Good build quality. No squeaks, rattles or undue fading of fabrics.

Economical to run as long as its not being thrashed.

Faults:

Exhaust developed a 'blow' at the flexible joint, this required a replacement. Due to Toyota prices, decided to opt for a Mongoose full system, which was £300, compared with £170 for just the flexible joint from Toyota (the mongoose system was a full system, from the cat back).

General Comments:

The car is very good fun to drive, very good acceleration (0-60 in 6.3 seconds) and the acceleration feels just as quick from 50 - 100, which makes it very quick for overtaking. The car has the same horsepower as the Subaru Impreza WRX at 225 bhp, so is a very fast car on the road, add four wheel drive and you have a very fast way of getting from A to B.

Handling is very sharp and predictable, with very little body roll.

The car comes very well equipped, with climate control, air conditioning, full electrics - including electric fold in mirrors and electric controls.

One downside of the car is its fuel consumption, which seems to have very little relationship to how the car is being driven. As turbocharged cars operate a low compression head, when the turbo is not being used the engine is not operating efficiently. At the other end of the scale if the turbo is being used heavily it will use a lot of fuel. So therefore the mpg seems to be around 20-25 every time, regardless of whether it is driven very easily, or just normally.

The car has a very nice sleek shape and this alone makes it a very desirable car, couple this with the brilliant 'bullet proof' engine, and the 4 wheel drive system and you have a very nice, fast car, provided you can live with the 25 mpg. Although this is common with all similar cars, with the current Mitsubishi Evolutions averaging little more than 15mpg!

All in all excellent car, great fun to drive, very attractive.