Whats the best Galant/Legnum?

[orionn2o]

Was browsing around pistonheads and other sites last night and found some nice looking V6's and 2.4 GDI's for sale.

Some with low mileage some with higher. It just got me thinking, whats the best type of Galant in terms of cost, fuel economy, power, servicing intervals, insurance etc etc.

For example I found this car :

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/588402.htm

Which I thought was very clean looking and obviously much newer than many of the VR4's on here.

Then there's motors like this :

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/520866.htm

Which looks very clean again with low mileage and cheap to buy. And if you prefer the wideass variety you've got this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/468336.htm

Now I anticipate many might say well the VR4 is the best. BUT when you write down the costs over a year. Does it warrant the massive extra running costs for a daily driver?


So anyways, I'm sure people have opinions on this. So let em roll

[bradc]

I have a manual ST-R and love it. It sounds fantastic, has a reasonable bit of power and still has 4wd. With a few suspension mods and a full manifold back exhaust system it would be able to keep right up with auto prefacelift VR-4's and none of the turbo issues which is appealing for a daily car. Also won't be stolen!

I do like that wagon you linked to, pity the UK ones were all FWD

[MKJones]

When I was looking to buy, I found that for my circumstances the best for me was a V6 Galant with a manual gearbox.
The running costs aren't much more than the 4 cylinder versions, and are a lot less than the VR4`s
You still get good performance & acceptable fuel economy( I usually get 33mpg, the worst was 29, the best was 36)
So to my mind the V6-24 with a Manual box & leather.

[ANTHONY]

i thing the main reason people have a VR4 is just that,its a VR4. i had a 2.0 sport it looks like a vr4 to anybody who was not in the know, it was a bit more ecomical, but it was not a VR4

[Nick Mann]

Ask how many people are in a VR4 who have had other versions.

Then ask how many are in other versions after they have had a VR4.

Question answered!

[orionn2o]

Ok so lets assume an owner already has a skyline... however wants a second car to run around in which still looks very pretty!

[HMG1K]

Personally I am surprised how many miles to the gallon i get out of my 2.5 Elegance compared to my last 6th generation Galant 2.0 GLSi.

Considering the increase in thirst and engine size to my old 2.0 litre, I get the same miles out of the same sized petrol tank on my 2.5 with my usual driving style as before...

I was ready to get a VR4 before settlling for what many call a VR2 - even ready to swallow the extra servicing costs that come with a VR4. As I wanted a saloon the biggest downside for me was the rear seats are fixed in VR4s by split and fold in the other varients - having a split and fold seats had come in handy 3 times in the last month ferrying home 9 foot long (yes NINE) timbers and an outside door - all with the boot firmly shut!

[Nick Mann]

Legnum VR4s have split folding rear seats. You are just looking at the wrong body style!

Matt - If out and out performance is strictly off the shopping list, then my recommendation would be a manual V6. I know others would disagree, but the manual V6 has plenty of torque, reasonable fuel consumption, plenty of refinement and a very smooth and nice sounding engine.

[Nevman]

Mine doesn't split and fold

[HMG1K]

Legnum VR4s have split folding rear seats. You are just looking at the wrong body style!

Matt - If out and out performance is strictly off the shopping list, then my recommendation would be a manual V6. I know others would disagree, but the manual V6 has plenty of torque, reasonable fuel consumption, plenty of refinement and a very smooth and nice sounding engine.

Yep - was looking for a saloon - as I said in my post!

Certainly agree with Nick with the manual V6 points - the 2.5 engine always is positively commented on in magazine reviews from the time, which you can read online.

[KiwiTT]

A Review

[HMG1K]

A Review

Ouch - what a review!

[KiwiTT]

Ouch - what a review!

It is what convinced me to get a VR-4, i.e. no compromises

[Kieran]

A Review

That review would have been more pleasant to read if the Journo had extracted his head from his arse before writing it. Everyone's entitled to an opinion but his is just wrong on a whole new level of wrongness.

As punishment he should have that 6G GTi that he keeps harping on about confiscated untill he writes something that isn't a load of bullsh1t.

Grrr.

Back on topic...

Both the GLS and the V6 are good cars. The GLS is cheaper in all areas and is easy to work on. As a 'Daily' it's a better bet than the V6 IMHO. It also doesn't suffer from a couple of V6 troublespots, namely eating gearboxes and breaking traction as soon as the first drop of morning dew touches the tarmac.

I would say the best non-VR4 galants are the 1st (looks like TheVee's) or 2nd facelifts (Sport/VR4 Bumper versions). They look better, the interior is slightly better (HC dials and electric folding mirrors, etc) and the autoboxes were upgraded to tiptronics (and I've not heard of the T/C splines going bang on a tip V6 yet).

One model I cannot recommend - The GDi.

[KiwiTT]

But I loved my 6G GTi-16v and only a 8G VR-4 could really replace it.

[bradc]

I still like my ST-R. Pity you guys didn't get the 4wd versions over there!

[Sydo]

I'd really like to get an ST-R over to Australia sometime..