[eliseum]

The self-learning INVECS II semi-automatic gearbox is a bit of a marvel. It can learn the way you drive and then mimic that when running automatically, or you can flick it into a tiptronic gate and whiz up and down the ‘box as fast as you can flick the lever. Fantastic. The problems come from sloppy changes and a vibration that shudders through the car at about 40mph on a light throttle load. Gear changes that take a long time or seem to slip in and out are also known faults, and the cost of rectification is very high.

Xtreme Automobiles — ex-Ralliart UK —reckons that spares availability or, rather, the lack of it, is such that they hadn’t found a gearbox specialist willing to take on the job of stripping a box to find out what the problems were. They recommend fitting a recon ‘box to get rid of any nasties. Not cheap.

Having said all this, when you’re test-driving the car, make sure you let the transmission become really warm before you go looking for faults, as it can be a little tweaky until it’s at correct operating temp. This should go without saying though as you shouldn’t be giving the car any pain until the turbo motor is nicely warmed through, anyway. If you cane engines before they’re up to temperature, you shouldn’t be driving something this special.

Another possible problem area to listen for is the AYC unit (limited-slip diff) at the rear, which can get noisy if the oil hasn’t been changed regularly according to the service schedule. Once the oil breaks down, the clutch plates begin to degrade and fall apart, making weird noises going into and coming out of corners. Again, there is no real alternative but to fit a new unit, and this is mega money at around Ј2500, so listen carefully during your test drive or you could be in for a nasty cramp in the wallet.

This is usually the shortest section in a buying guide for a Japanese vehicle because there are hardly ever any faults to relate. The only thing to look out for on some Galant/Legnum versions is the Mitsubishi Multimedia Communication System which controls the air-conditioning, satellite navigation, television system, CD player and radio.

This touch-screen-controlled system is covered in Japanese characters and no one has yet come up with a software translation package that can be downloaded into it to make it give commands and read-outs in English. Club VR-4 has someone working on a manual to show you what each of the screens means, but until then it’s a case of playing around with the controls until you get something like the right temperature breeze blowing roughly where you want it, and with your CD playing OK.

These seem to be the VR-4’s weak point and, bearing in mind it’s a heavy car that can travel really quickly, it’s no surprise the brakes can benefit from upgrading. They can fade alarmingly if you’re really pressing on a bit and are generally hard on brakes. If the brakes are a bit shot on your test drive, but the car is otherwise up to spec, lever a few hundred quid off the price and get them sorted as soon as possible.

The springs and dampers appear to be up to the job of supporting the large Mitsi’s body, and no one we spoke to mentioned anything about any real weak points on the suspension, apart from a couple of cars that have needed their lower front ball-joints attending to. The multi-link rear end works well and the handling is generally praised for a big car that can really motor.

Tyre wear and wheel damage can be an indicator of something amiss with the geometry settings, so go round all the wheels and make sure they don’t have any major kerb scars (or even dented rims) and the tyres are evenly worn across their whole tread. That said, hard driving generally promotes wear on the outside edges of the front tyres, even with perfect geometry, so don’t read too much into this. If the tyres look OK, and the car handles without drama, you should be fine. Any sign of wayward steering could indicate there’s some history you need to know about before you start counting out the used notes. If you’re then sure the suspension just needs computer aligning, set aside about Ј100 to get it done.

The factory alloys are a strong enough wheel, but whether they are to your taste or not is another matter. Aftermarket rims might be more attractive but, if they are bigger than standard, they could upset the car’s handling balance because of additional weight and decreased tyre sidewall. Have a good drive and make sure you can live with the ride and handling if the wheels have been changed. And, as we’ve just mentioned, use them as an indicator to see if there might be any possible damage on the suspension by checking the rims for scratching.

If you are going to be the first UK owner, it’s worth getting the Japanese rubber swapped for something that’s appropriately speed-rated for the vehicle. In Japan, the rating is lower as cars are electronically speed-limited to 112mph. And make sure the tyre can carry the load of this fast-but-*porky vehicle. Just because it’s a high speed-rated tyre doesn’t mean it can cope with the weight of the body; it needs to have the correct load code, as well. Get something that will stand the strain of a ton-and-a-half of car trying to roll it off the wheel during heavy cornering, otherwise your tyres could let go just when you need them the most.

For UK-spec cars rust shouldn’t be an issue; just check for evidence of previous damage or repairs. A good Japanese import should be equally clean if you find a nice one. You may want to consider adding additional under sealing on an import to keep our road salt out of any nooks and crannies. This will have been carried out by Ralliart UK on UK-spec cars. Apart from that, you just need to do the usual checks for mismatched paint, uneven shut gaps and ripply panels to give you a hint that the car might have some interesting history you really need to know about before parting with your cash.

The Mitsubishi’s interior decor varies according to the options fitted at the factory, ranging from the standard unimpressive seats covered in fabric, through leather trim and up to a Recaro sports option. The Recaros will hold you nice and firmly through any road or track shenanigans; the other seat options aren’t as supportive. From a buying point of view, make sure everything is clean, works correctly and there is no obvious bits missing.

Unlike other forgotten heroes, like Mitsubishi’s 30000T, the VR-4 was never sold in the USA. This might sound like an odd thing to point out in a UK Buyer’s Guide, but not being available over there means the usual tuning network hasn’t arisen around the car — and there aren’t many tuning options for the owner who wants more power. The cars are popular in New Zealand, but we haven’t heard of much being available over there that might start filtering back here for our use. Simple stuff like induction and exhaust swaps aren’t too much of a problem, with an HKS Super Power Flow filter available for around Ј180, and their Super Drager exhaust comes in at Ј640.The word round the club is that a set of new eight-groove discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads from Woodford Garage Motorsport can help a lot. Standard-sized grooved discs are available for Ј130 and Ferodo DS2500 pads for Ј90. These offer a worthwhile improvement over standard for most tastes but, if you want to get much better performance for really heavy braking, you’re looking at fitting something like an AP Racing brake kit that will set you back the best part of Ј2000 for the front end. If you are finding you’re always running out of brakes because you’re on track a lot, maybe you should be thinking of changing to a car that’s a bit more suited to circuit use and that doesn’t weigh quite as much.

Suspension kits are sometimes seen on cars from Japan, and the most popular seems to be the Ralliart set-up. This is one of those things that you might get on with or it might be too harsh for your taste, so try before you buy the car. Also, check to see if the standard equipment is in the back of the car — it is sometimes put there before the car goes into the auction — before you make your choice.

If you’d just like to lower your car and stiffen it up a little, HKS does a set of springs that would do the job for about Ј250 but, after that, you’re into coil-over damper sets that would probably spoil the overall car for road use more than they would help the handling.

There aren’t many Galants and Legnums to choose from, but the prices we found fall in line with the figures that Club VR4 told us to expect. We found imports starting around the Ј6000 mark for 1996 cars – both saloons and estates – but the greatest variety was in the Ј9-10,000 region. Here were cars from 1996 to 1998 with reasonable mileages and, again, they were four and five door variants.

The only UK-spec Ralliart cars we could find were obviously newer, on 2000 W-reg plates, and their prices started at Ј12,000. We found one car to which Xtreme had added a few mechanical mods to raise the power output as well as fitting AP Racing brakes front and rear and 18in BBS rims. It had a sticker of Ј15,000 – quite a saving on the new price, plus the work that must have made it a Ј35,000-plus car about three years ago.