New, NZ

Hi all, Im Mal from south island new zealand. Not a current VR4 owner but had one many years back when i was young and less wise. My current vehicle has become past its used by date so im on the lookout for a replacement.

I had a 2007 Legacy GT auto a few years back until the wife decided it was too small :angry: and was browsing for another to relace my current POS. I came across a 97 legnum VR4 which brought back memories of my old one. It seems not too bad. Has 227K km but the trans apparetly has been rebuilt @156K current owner has had since 199K cam belt had just been done. And at around $4K seems like a good buy. LGT are minimum $5k for same year and newer ones (03-07) 7-8K.

My only concern is availability of parts my old vehicle did around 11L/ 100km so from memory the leggie would be around the same its all open road driving unless i put my boot in it which maybe likely from time to time.

Has anyone had any experience with the havok engineering ecu upgrade chip? Seem really cheap on ebay

Hello!

/Welcome

I've no experience at all of that chip, there aren't many on here from NZ any more. If you are happy to tune then it is possible to tune the stock ECU, although a 97 is more limited unless you find a newer car to steal the ECU from. Parts wise there are lots of options in the UK - most things are able to be bought or have an alternative supply. I'd be surprised if it is significantly more difficult in NZ, although I guess import costs could be worse if you have to order more from overseas.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

I recently purchased a 97 Legnum from Japan with 32000K currently being shipped to me in the US. Does your 97 Legnum have a metal or plastic ECU case? Also did you end up going with a Havok Chip? I have been ordering parts from Australia, UK and Japan so far. What's hurting me the most is shipping but find lots of places that still carry parts for the Legnum

Hi @Sparkster63. I have had only one case where parts had to be brought in from Japan, I'm always amazed that the local Mitsi dealer can supply genuine parts from stock for these old cars, sometimes from other branches, sometimes same day from right here.
There should be no problem getting a later ECU as there are very few VR-4's still left on the road, all those ECU's must be sitting on wreckers' shelves somewhere. Remember the Galant VR-4 is the same apart from the body as far as many parts go and there were once quite a few around.
Anyway welcome to the world of VR-4's, I still love driving mine even if it is only short trips around town (it's totally unmodified).