Potential new Legnum VR-4 owner

[Witchfinder]

Greetings, from the land of Skoda! I'm Rob, and I currently drive a Skoda Octavia vRS. It's a properly quick car, especially with the chip by JabbaSport. Much as I love my car, I find myself in need of about three or four grand. I moved house and it looks like the kitchen and batrhroom need doing :sad3:

Looking for a quick family car to replace it with has led me to consider the Legnum VR-4. I originally dismissed this as Direct Line wanted £1700 (with a tracker!) to insure it. However, Lifesure have given me a VERY competetive quote that beats what I'm paying for my current car!

This is good news. However, I still have a number of unanswered questions. I've searched the forums and gained as much info as I can. If you could give me the benefit of your wisdom, it would be very much appreciated!

1) How much do these cars genuinely cost to run? I do little mileage, so fuel economy isn't the issue. However, big and unexpected bills are always unwelcome.

2) Are there any decent specialists in the Manchester area? I just popped into Samurai Performance (Hollinwood) to see what their charges are like, and £200 for a major service seems suspiciously cheap. They seem like genuine, enthusiastic people, but they didn't know what engine was in the VR-4, which didn't inspire confidence.

3) How much can I expect to pay for a decent car? I have a budget that will max out at around £6000, but any spare change would be a bonus. Can I expect to get a decent car for my money?

4) How common are unmolested cars? Is it going to be hard to find an unmodified example?

5) I've read the buyers guide, but is there anything else in particular to look out for? I plan on getting an inspection done on any car I consider. Who is best to trust on these, and how much is it likely to cost?

6) How stealable is the Legnum VR-4? Some kind individuals attempted to kick my front door in for the keys to my Skoda. Are things likely to be worse for a Japanese performance estate?

7) Safety? How safe is my 18 month old son going to be in the back?

8) Are the brakes really that bad? I'm used to some pretty impressive stoppers, so poor brakes would be a worry.

/help

Thanks very much for your answers in advance.

[Legnum Boy]

I currently drive a Skoda Octavia vRS. It's a properly quick car

http://www.zzr-international.co.uk/forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif

I'm sorry for the non-constructive comment.
My belly aches now...

[enigma]

So many questions.......not got time to answer them at the moment, but you will not be upset with a VR4, it is a PROPERLY quick QUICK car! (especially mine!)

[Nick Mann]

Welcome! If you can make it to an event you will be more than welcome to ask as many questions as you can think of! Hope this helps in the meantime.

1. A lot. Service every 4500 miles, almost never less than £200. Major service should be a lot more. Around 20 mpg. Big unexpected bills should be infrequent if you can find a sound car and look after it.

2. Not inspired either - but some main dealers don't know what a VR4 is. If you buy one you will find that this club is the place for expertise on the cars.

3. How long is a piece of string? You could import a fresh one for around your budget, but if you look for long enough you should find a god car already in the UK for less than that. Remember they are rare, so you will have to be prepared to travel!

4. I would say a good proportion are unmolested. Sometimes a de-cat and induction have been fitted, but many are relatively modification free. If the car has been looked after, modifications could be a bonus.

5. No-one knows what they are, so it is probably luck of the draw as to whether the expert who comes to have a look is experienced enough to know what he is doing.

6. In Japan there is little car crime, so the cars had nothing factory fitted. The legnum is in need of UK devices to prevent it being nicked. Each one has something different, so the criminal shouldn't know what to expect.

7. I think when the Galant/Legnum was launched it was class leading in the safety area, and it is still not bad against some of todays cars. I would rather be in my car than many others from that point of view!

8. The brakes are fine for a one-off very heavy stop. Twice is okay as you can press harder. The third very heavy stop in a short period will leave you thinking that the brakes have been removed from the car! I have cooked the standard brakes several times, but a simple £250 upgrade in the members area will greatly improve them. If you have a post facelift car, then £500 will give you very impressive stopping power.

[Witchfinder]

http://www.zzr-international.co.uk/forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif

I'm sorry for the non-constructive comment.
My belly aches now...
Sorry mate, but I reckon you ought to take the blinkers off. 0-60 in sub-7 seconds, and 148 MPH for £14,000 *brand new* is, in my humble opinion, properly quick. The Briskoda.net boys don't seem to have too much trouble holding their own on Scoobynet days out. What seems to be the problemo?

Thanks for the useful information. I'm grateful.

EDIT: Incidentally, it's possible to run the Octavia up to about 460 BHP for around £8,000. I've seen cars with 360 BHP monster Porkers and M3s on the track.

[enigma]

Sorry mate, but I reckon you ought to take the blinkers off. 0-60 in sub-7 seconds, and 148 MPH for £14,000 *brand new* is, in my humble opinion, properly quick. The Briskoda.net boys don't seem to have too much trouble holding their own on Scoobynet days out. What seems to be the problemo?

Thanks for the useful information. I'm grateful.

EDIT: Incidentally, it's possible to run the Octavia up to about 460 BHP for around £8,000. I've seen cars with 360 BHP monster Porkers and M3s on the track.

The Skoda is a fine car, but the Legnum is better.

In recent tests I have done 0-60 in 4.7 in my estate car!

I would have bought the Skoda had I not found the VR4! :thumbsup:

[SGHOM]

& I have a calculated 0 - 60 time of 3.92 secs !! [Japshow, santa pod, 19th june ] 12.552 sec 1/4 mile !! :smug: /Steeringw

[stevec205gti]

Sorry mate, but I reckon you ought to take the blinkers off. 0-60 in sub-7 seconds, and 148 MPH for £14,000 *brand new* is, in my humble opinion, properly quick. The Briskoda.net boys don't seem to have too much trouble holding their own on Scoobynet days out. What seems to be the problemo?



I don't think you should take too much offence at peoples comments - it's just that whilst no-one is denying that your Skoda is quick, compared to the VR4 you'll find that it's a bit pedestrian

[Legnum Lad VR4]

i looked @ the Octy VRs and I am a registered user on briskoda i test drove the car and loved it but i see far to may of them on the road now so no longer meets my criteria of rare :( but still a stonking car

[bernmc]

My two cents:

For the money you've got, you're looking at a prefacelift car, most of which are 1996's in the UK - some 97's and 98's, all grey imports. Japs don't drive much due to congestion, so you'll still find low mileage cars even though they're oldish. The problem is that even though they're low mileage, the bits are still 8 or 9 years old. So the seals will start failing, the CV boots will be delicate etc. A common problem is the gearbox leaking - not a big thing in itself to fix, but it'll cost you 7 hours labour to get it out!

I imported my Leggie myself - top auction grade, looked absolutely spotless when it got here - clearly well looked after. This last month it has needed the gearbox doing, 4 new goodyear eagle F1's, and the major service (cambelt etc). Around 1500 pounds spent. These things are NOT cheap! And as skoda man, you will be in for a shock when the bills arrive! (I'm after a cheap diesel myself atm!)

While there are some very good cars about, they're generally not on dealer forecourts - that's why I ended up importing myslef. Sick & tired of looking at the rubbish on UK forecourts. You're best off keeping an eye on the for sale section here, and buying a known car from a member. Otherwise import your own.

Unmodified, the VR4 is not the quickest in a straight line, although the triptronic will allow you to surprise most people, and you'll have no traction problems on launch! There are plenty of hot hatches out now that will stay with it in a straight line race, provided the other bloke(ess) doesn't fluff the gear changes. Where the VR4 comes into it's own is around corners - there is VERY little on the road that can keep up in the twisty bits - grip and AYC is awesome! Have a look throught the video clips of track days on the site.

Brakes are resonable as has been said, but if you drive fast regularly, you'll want to upgrade. It's a fast, heavy car, and really should have been given something better as standard.

[Legnum Boy]

Sorry mate, but I reckon you ought to take the blinkers off.

/lol

No blinkers here, mate.

I did apologise in advance, it just made me chuckle.... :scholar:

[Witchfinder]

No offence taken, and thanks for the information everyone.

[v8killa]

Huh???? Steal a Skoda????
They weren't trying to steal it...