looking to buy, few questions

[andy6883]

hi everyone

i am looking to buy myself a vr4 saloon within the next few months, got to sell my soarer and save some money first. ive been wondering through the forums and ive got a few questions.

Fuel comsumption

i get that i was never going to be great, but 15-22mpg does seem really low, is there any way to get more (ie better sparkplugs, filters etc) than this. currently i get about 29-33 out of my 2.5 twin turbo soarer(i mostly travel on motorway to work). i have noticed some people saying that the gearing in fifth is very low, is that the reason? if so is it possible to change the ratios?

models

there seems to be a lot more estates out there than saloons, have i just been looking in the wrong place, or is there really less? i also notice that the saloons command a much higher price tag, sometimes as much as £1500 more than the equiv estate. is there a difference between the two? is it still possible to get the newer models, ie 2001 2002, as i havent seen any anywhere. also does anybody know which years the last ralliart ones were imported over so i can keep my eye out.

ralliart

as these were imported over by mitsi do they have mile per hour clocks etc, or are they just the same as the jap imported ones?


anything else you guys could tell me would be great

also if anybody is thinking of selling theirs in the near future, i may be interested.

thanks in advance

andy

[Ryan]

hi everyone

i am looking to buy myself a vr4 saloon within the next few months, got to sell my soarer and save some money first. ive been wondering through the forums and ive got a few questions.

Fuel comsumption

i get that i was never going to be great, but 15-22mpg does seem really low, is there any way to get more (ie better sparkplugs, filters etc) than this. currently i get about 29-33 out of my 2.5 twin turbo soarer(i mostly travel on motorway to work). i have noticed some people saying that the gearing in fifth is very low, is that the reason? if so is it possible to change the ratios?

Hi Andy. It is possible to get better fuel consumption but remember that this is a AWD vehicle. If it is an auto it will use more fuel on top of that. I have an auto but I think for manuals at 62MPH you're doing 3000rpm. It is possible to change the gear ratios and has been done by at least one member that I know of ( bradc ).



there seems to be a lot more estates out there than saloons, have i just been looking in the wrong place, or is there really less? i also notice that the saloons command a much higher price tag, sometimes as much as £1500 more than the equiv estate. is there a difference between the two? is it still possible to get the newer models, ie 2001 2002, as i havent seen any anywhere. also does anybody know which years the last ralliart ones were imported over so i can keep my eye out.

More Legnums were produced than Galants, as such there will obviously be more of them around. They are quite useful and handle about as well as the Galants do. There is no real difference between the two except that certain components are not interchangeable (rear doors to name but one example). As for 2001/2002 models, I think that has something to do with your 10 year old import law in the UK? Someone else can clarify that.

[elnevio]

/Welcome2 to CVR4! Good to see you already done some searching! :thumbsup:

Mapping will improve the economy and performance. However, driving a lot on the motorway, at steady sensible speeds, is likely to return upwards 25mpg. I have even managed 28 on a sensible motorway run in my auto. The gearing in the auto is fine, but the final gear on the manual is a little high/low (whichever way round it is!), i.e. higher revs for a certain speed than the auto. Bradc in NZ has changed some of the manual gears for differing ratios.

Yes, there are a lot more estates than saloons. No real difference, apart from the more/less shapely bottom! And of course - practicality...

There are a greater number of earlier cars around - as the ten-year rule put paid to younger imports. Any post-98 cars were brought into the UK from new, or before 2004 (IIRC). Mitsi brought the 'UK' VR-4s in from about '99 to '02. They essentially did exactly the same as any other importer - fog light, MPH conversion, and so on - just a bit of extra rebadging though.

And have a look in the for sale forum! A few members currently have cars for sale.

Hope that helps! Although it's taken me that long to type this, that there will no doubt already have been several replies... :)

[bradc]

Basically what those guys said ^

I've got an EVO 7 gearset in my car with a slightly longer 5th gear so 70mph is about 2800rpm rather than the stock 3000rpm. The autos are 2500rpm at 70mph btw.

If you do mostly motorway journeys then 30mph should be perfectly possible.

As Nev said, the official imports aren't really any different, a lot of it comes down to what options you want, ie gearbox, wagon/sedan, recaros, colour, sunroof, etc.

[andy6883]

thanks for the info everyone. think i would be going for the auto anyway, i think i saw somewhere that there is a paddle shift option- is that true? that would be really cool!

i put several posts on the soarer owners club, before i got one, and never got any worthwhile replies, so credit to you all helping me out!

thanks

[elnevio]

No proper paddle-shift option, I'm afraid. One or two may have cobbled something together though, but I'm not aware of any real progress on a decent paddle shift though.

The tip stick is fine though!

[pitslayer]

Basically what those guys said ^

I've got an EVO 7 gearset in my car with a slightly longer 5th gear so 70mph is about 2800rpm rather than the stock 3000rpm. The autos are 2500rpm at 70mph btw.

If you do mostly motorway journeys then 30mph should be perfectly possible.

As Nev said, the official imports aren't really any different, a lot of it comes down to what options you want, ie gearbox, wagon/sedan, recaros, colour, sunroof, etc.
I should bloody hope so, get done for going to slow at the speed on the motorway

Galoons are harder to come buy, but after owning two galoons(V6s) the Legnum is where its at, just so much more practical day to day, infact it is possible to get 6 goats comfortably into a Legnum something you can not do with a Galoon.

MPG, well I have never ever got mine above 22mpg, and its stock, I seem to average around 16mpg, which is poor. Brads will do 40mpg /pan /pan /pan /pan but normally expect around 20mpg, maybe more

To get them out of the way

Yes you can fit 17s and 18" wheels

The standard ecu will not take and hold a remap, you will need a piggyback ecu to do it

Turn the boost up to 10psi with a boost controller, EBC or MBC either one

upgrade the stock BOV/VTA/Dump valve, before power mods

Brake upgrade is the first thing you should ever do to these, pads/discs/fluid

Brembos will not directly fit a pre 98 car, but will directly fit a post 98 car, you will need 17" wheels aswell

the fluids need to be changed regular with good fluids, autoboxes need mitsi
SPIII or AMsoil ATF

Check the cambelt has been done as its about £500 to get it done

the gearchange on the tip box is backwards for some reason

IIRC all PFL cars(pre 98) come with AYC, post 98 FL`s Type Vs dont, the Type S does

Manuals are rareish but do turn up

Leather is the comfiest seat

Recaros are rare, demand a high price for some reason, good for track

you have missed the first group buy on downpipes, there is another one poss going ahead

£20 membership, gets you a wealth of knowledge in the articles section, amsoil discount, sky insurance discount

Kieran is ginger

best mods to go for. Exhaust, good panel filter keeping standard mitsi airbox, EBC/MBC to about 10psi maybe 12.

There is no bolt on aftermarket turbos for these

There is naff all aftermarket wise for these in the uk, RHDJapan or RPW in new zealandland, and a few others

PFL autos are 260bhp, manuals are 280bhp. All FLs are 280bhp

Most importantly though le chat est sur la table, la souris est sous la table et le singe est dans l'arbre

thats pretty much it

[pitslayer]

No proper paddle-shift option, I'm afraid. One or two may have cobbled something together though, but I'm not aware of any real progress on a decent paddle shift though.

The tip stick is fine though!
I am still working on that Nev, think I have figured out how to do it, just getting it done