Galant Ownership?

[ScoobyMonkey]

hi
first off, apologies to admin if this is in the wrong place, please move it if it is :2thumbsup just looking for some info realy, I currently own a Subaru Legacy but i'm i'm looking at getting a VR-4 saloon and was just after some info on what they are like on a day-to-day basis and what they are like running cost wise. if anyone out there has owned or does own a Legacy, how do they compare? main things are what sort of fuel consumption can you get from them, and how practical are they as i have a small (soon to be expanding!) young family, what are they like for getting spares and such.
any help will be realy aprreciated as these are one of my favourite cars but need to make sure that it would be the right move to make the switch.

thanx again
John

[miller]

Have a look at this for direct legacy v galant comparison

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27776&highlight=legnum+legacy


oh crap video is gone off you tube/Grrr /Grrr /Grrr /Grrr

[ScoobyMonkey]

hi miller, tought i might find you on here lol. have seen that before, one of the reasons i'm looking at the VR-4 now!

[elnevio]

Brad'll tell you that you can get 85mpg out of a VR-4. Expect 20, and you can't go far wrong. I was averaging 15-17mpg on the commute.

I for one think that the VR-4 is a brilliant daily driver, with the only dampener being the above-mentioned fuel economy.

Parts - well, this club is the place to be. There are quite a few bods who break VR-4s and parts are generally available. Camskill stock quite a lot of new parts too. And for the odd item, Mitsubishi mean stealerships can often come up with a surprising price or two (at both ends of the scale!).

Practicality - the Legnum is very good for this, being an estate. As for the saloon, it's not too bad. The boot is quite big, but the space isn't the easiest to use, like most saloons. If I'm reading between the lines correctly, you already have a young child, with number 2 on the way? In which case, you'll be carting around full pushchair and all sorts of paraphernalia when you go anywhere, like steriliser, feeding stuff, nappies, toys, and so on, and on and on.... :baby: So the saloon will probably cope - but it's not necessarily the easiest.

A few people on here have direct Legacy/VR-4 comparison experience, and often the preferred vehicle seems to be the VR-4. Of course we're all biased! But as a forum, this place is pretty objective too, as well as being one of the friendliest on the 'net.

HTH

[ScoobyMonkey]

cheers both, the info so far has realy helped! and yes elnevio, i have a 3 yr old and one on the way around june/july next year (not even told friends/family yet, your the first people to know lol) just hope the deal comes off as it looks likely i'll go for it now. as for the space issue, i used to drive a renault megane so most saloons are loads bigger and the eldest is almost out of pushchair so will only need to be carting 1 around hopefully, so all is good on that front! my main concern was the parts situation which was a bit difficult with the Legacy, also the OC forums is a bit "cliquey" which doesnt make things easy for getting info either, looking around here seems a lot friendlier!

[elnevio]

If the VR-4 is looked after, it is generally unproblematic. Even so, big things like spare engines and gearboxes can be fairly readily sourced over here.

We used our V6 saloon to go away for weekends/Christmases a few times. It was pretty much always rammed. Things like travel-cots take up so much space when you've got a pushchair, and everyone's bags. The sensible option (at the time) was to take the Astra estate we had, but... well, you know... So the kids had to make do with presents and bags stacked around them on the back seats!!

[Physician]

Hi John,

As I'm in Leicester you are welcome to go out for a run if you haven't actually been inside a VR4 .......

Send me a PM with your phone number if you would like to meet up sometime.

Richard

[ScoobyMonkey]

hi richard
cheers for the offer! unfortunately the deal looks to be dead at the minute, the guy who was selling emailed me about my car asking if i was interested in a swap then said he wanted mine plus 2K! not gonna happen lol. also after some research i think the v6 sport may suit my needs more so as soon as i sell mine i think that may be the way forward!

John

[HMG1K]

Welcome alonmg ScoobyMonkey!

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to space - Galant VR4 saloons over regular Galant saloons (say Sport, V6-24V etc) are the VR4 saloon's rear seats are fixed so there's no split-fold seats and the head rests are built into the rear seats. The other varient Galant saloons are split-rear seats with detachable head rests.

[ScoobyMonkey]

cheers for that, if i manage to get one i think it will have to be one of the V6 Sport models based on that, realy do need the split rear seats and did'nt realise the VR-4 didnt them!

[Fully]

Yer I have both, subaru legacy and galants VR4's. My partner perfers to use the vr4 as its more economical on her purse, than the suby.

[HMG1K]

cheers for that, if i manage to get one i think it will have to be one of the V6 Sport models based on that, realy do need the split rear seats and did'nt realise the VR-4 didnt them!

And don't rule out the later V6-24V Elegance, like mine - just like the V6-Sport but with a different name.

The only difference is you could get some V6 Sport saloons with sunroofs where as the Elegance or the 2.0 Classics didn't have them, not even as an option. Leather was an option on the Classics and the Sport / V6 Sport but standard on the later 2.5 V6-24V Elegance.

[Nick Mann]

Also don't rule out the wide-ass version. Estate VR4s (AKA Legnum VR4s) do have split folding rear seats.

The V6 will be cheaper to run, but the lack of 4WD spoils it for me now I have owned a VR4. Before owning a VR4, the V6 was a very good car! :P

[ScoobyMonkey]

well, the vr-4 fell through /Grrr now looking at a 1999 v6-24. only thing that concerns me is it has done 108K miles with FSH and apparently has a "whine" in 1st on the auto box:undecided just wandering what anyones thoughts on this were, is this going to turn out to be a major issue? which being an auto box i assume would mean expensive. also what are the average MPG figures for these, the seller says around 35MPG

cheers
John

[Kieran]

Careful - the V6-24 auto is known for the input shaft splines and Torque converter splines shearing. Usually there's no warning but around the 100k mark is when we see them go (if they're going to).

A 'whining' transmission isn't usualy a symptom of this, but it's not a good sign.

[AncientOfMu]

I struggle to get mid 20's out of my V6-24 Auto but then she doesnt get a lot of long journey driving.

Couple with the fact I drive it like it was stolen.......

[bradc]

35mpg is indeed possible. I have a Jap spec 4wd V6 and I have had 35mpg out of it on long trips a few times, but 30mpg is more likely in normal driving.

[Johnny_Cashed]

On a loooong 600ish mile round trip I averaged 42mpg out of my V6 manual, but on my daily short trips to work and back I get about 27mpg.

[bradc]

410km yesterday, 25mpg, and yes all open road driving :) I was having fun :D

Today I did 540km and got 38mpg, sat on 60mph the whole way and didn't trash the car at all, think I went above 4000rpm once!