Newbie from Wales (another one!)

[Cyberman]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and am living close to Swansea and thought I'd introduce myself. At the moment I'm driving a BMW E39 530i Sport but am looking to sell up in favour of a Legnum VR-4, and I'm after a bit of advice if possible!

I've tried searching on Google but can't find the info I could do with, so wondering if any of you guys might be able to help!

I've had two Japanese cars before - first was a '98 Nissan 200SX (S14a) modded to around 260bhp, the second was also a '98 200SX (S14a) modded to about 270bhp). I sold the last one around the middle of last year.

The 5er that I drive at the moment is pretty quick, but it has a very refined engine (3.0 straight six) and manages 28-30mpg on average. Now I know I'm not in the market for a VR-4 for the economy, but what do you find you average? How 'tuneable' are these cars? I ask because with my 200's, they required simple mods like de-cat, straight through exhaust, filter, and boost increase (1bar) and that would transform the car into a flying machine! Is it the same principle with VR-4s?
Also, where do I shop around for insurance? I'm 24 right now, 25 in December, I have 7 Years NCB with no points and the car will be garaged and only doing about 3-5k per year - am I going to get raped by Mr Insurer?! As a comparison, I'm paying £550 a year for my Bimmer and that's a group 17 car. The Bimmer will do 0-60 in 6.9 secs - how does that compare to the VR-4?

Also, what mileage are these cars capable of? I do all servicing myself. What should I look for when buying one, and what sort of problems am I likely to come up against during ownership?

Sorry for all the questions, I am getting really excited about going back to a turbocharged jap monster!

Cheers,
Jon

[Nutter_John]

welcome to the club Jon

will try and answer your Q's

standard mods will push you to around 300 bhp , more than this and your looking at bigger toys to control it etc

performance is around 6 sec 0-60 and tops out at 155 ish

The car is a group 20 so i would expect you to need some lube when you phone the insurance companies

What are the cars capable of , well i have covered 50,000 miles in 21 months in mine and it now has 168,000 miles on the clock , I have the boost at 1 bar and drive it quite hard at times , but she loves it

To find out the problems and suggested fixes it is worth spending the 20 quid to be a full member as there is **** loads of good help in the members only area

[Cyberman]

Thanks for the answers John. Are those 0-60/top speed times for a standard car, or those cars with mild mods?
Are there any recommended insurance companies, or should I just try as many as I can?

I'll be looking to pay for membership very soon!

[Nutter_John]

They are the stated 0-60 times, top speeds the same

Modded car should do better , quickest i had ( calculated from 0-60ft time at santa pod was 4.6 )

Try lifesure , a-plan , adrian flux

[Solardavid350]

Hi jon,i`m from around swansea too.
if you want i can bring mine for you to have a good look around and has a boost controller and a few other mild mods and i`ll gladly take you for a spin.
If you check out the showplace you`ll find my car there somewhere.
Hope you get a VR-4 you won`t be disappointed.

[Lillywotsername]

Hi Jon...

As the Nutter has said, the VR4 is a category 20 insurance and will be expensive. You will also have to bare in mind that alot of insurance companies will not touch you until you are 25 due to it being an import, but as you are nearly 25 you won't have long to wait if this is the case for you.

As for average fuel economy that is a tricky one.... mainly due to the fact that most of our members love hitting the loud peddle, but I ( as a woman and mainly drive around town) average about 22-25 mpg but Richy can be anywhere from 15-25mpg. I think this is a every one is different kind of thing... and it all depends on driving style.

Hope this helps a bit.

Lilly.

[BraindG]

If you check out the showplace you`ll find my car there somewhere.
Hope you get a VR-4 you won`t be disappointed.

or click his username to the left of the post, and from drop down menu select view car...

[Solardavid350]

Haha...i didn`t know you could do that.
but i do now,cheers.

[Nick VR4]

Hi and Welcome to the forum

Good luck

[Cyberman]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Solardavid350, I might just take you up on that offer!

Ohh, just wondering as well - do you have local meets for club members?

Jon

[Solardavid350]

Hi Jon,don`t think we have enough members in Wales for local meets and its better for a club meet to see all the other members Legnums and Galants.
But your still welcome to meet up if you want and take a good look around my Galant.

[Nick Mann]

We have been talking about a Welsh A road touring meet for a while, but someone with a good knowledge of Welsh A roads needs to grab hold of the job! But fundamentally, there's not really enough of us in any one area to have local club meets. See my signature for the next club attended naional show.

[Zaid]

As a matter of fact I have seen many Galants in Wales but not as many Vr4's. There is one in our university (Glamorgan) which I see almost everyday, but i dont know if she is a member of the club. Might put one of the VR4 club stickers on her whipers one day! I havent been in Wales for too long but i know there are many nice roads through the valleys towards Brecom Beacons and Snowdania or maybe west Wales? Maybe Solardavid350 can advise!

[Cyberman]

As a matter of fact I have seen many Galants in Wales but not as many Vr4's. There is one in our university (Glamorgan) which I see almost everyday, but i dont know if she is a member of the club. Might put one of the VR4 club stickers on her whipers one day! I havent been in Wales for too long but i know there are many nice roads through the valleys towards Brecom Beacons and Snowdania or maybe west Wales? Maybe Solardavid350 can advise!

The Beacons contain some lovely roads which are just begging for a very spirited drive

[Zaid]

Yes Cyberman, I once got lost while driving from Neath to the Beacons, but ended up going through some very nice roads, and then back through the reservoirs down to Meythr... am sure there are plenty of other roads and I am really keen to discover them!

[Solardavid350]

Yes we do have some very scenic and fastish,twisty roads.but be warned we also have one of the highest ,van, camera,bored cops with nothing else better to do per mile than most of the country espiecally in Dyfed/powys !Anywhere we have a straight bit of road of 1/2 mile or longer you can be guaranteed their will be some camera van or cop hiding and they are bloody sneaky too hiding out of the way till your right ontop of them and they `clocked` you 200yds ago.
i have even seen hidden away tripod speed cameras by the opening to parking places with the van tucked well into the parking spot or trees.
luckily i used to be a small white van guy driving around most of wales alot and know a good few `hotspots` for them.
Some prime giveaways are the nice white squares they paint on the road,other cars/bikes flashing you comming the other way..haha.

but it would good for a nice welsh club cruise sometime that gets us to view some scenic countryside and maybe have a bit of a coast run too.
Maybe late spring/early summer next year?
I`d be willing to plan a meeting point and plan a route, maybe a weekend run with a stopover at a nice reasonable priced hotel for next year, anyone for that idea?