I may be handing in my nissan keys!

[240-porkchop-sx]

What are your thoughts on a 3000gt vr4? I'm thinking of getting one, resaon be they look slick and i was debating the sr swap and realized that why not just get a car with more power and is faster, without dropping 5g's in engine and mods.

So give me your input on what you think. Don't get me wrong i am a loyal nissan owner and love my s13, so don't start flaming me :rl: ! But times change and maybe i should too.

thanx

[cdlong]

i have to work to find anything good about that car, i haven't yet.

i feel like adding more
moderate power
overweight
complicated
pain in the ass to work on
FWD layout
so-so styling
poor reliability, hope your timing belt or oil pump never breaks
small inside big outside
overdone drivetrain, who needs AWD and AWS, my FWS and RWD work perfectly fine

those are my thoughts on the car, i know some will disagree.

[aznpoopy]

Don't get me wrong i am a loyal nissan owner and love my s13, so don't start flaming

lol... you're hardly a loyal nissan owner if you're considering jumping ship. brand loyalty is gay anyway... it's all about your love for the car. i guess if u're thinking of dumping it you weren't that into it to start. IMO (not ragging on you btw) i would pass it off to someone else who'll take care of it and get the VR4.

i'm always looking at other cars and there are a few cars i would jump on if i found a good deal (FC, s13). i'm always thinking about that first new car too (S2K). but i will never sell my s14. too much time has gone into it for me to just sell it off.

[TheSparo]

yea that vr4 weighs like what 4k lbs? thats a fucking lot for a sports car... but hey you apparently dont have your eyes sought on the 240 so go for it

[Wei240]

why don't you drive it and see if you actually like it.

it's heavy, and open up the engine bay to see if you can actually work on it...

[SpeedMonkeyInc]

I have never driven a VR4, but I did drive an SL model, or what ever the middle one is called. Big heavy car. Doesn't feel like a sports car at all, more like an iron and lead clusterphobic touring car. You want a real sports car go with something like an FD. If you do want something big and heavy and fast, buy a Camero SS or Firebird WS6. Those cars are badass.

[brianglawson]

why not a 300zx TT? gotta love em, if i go mitsubishi it would be a 2G eclipse turbo or a Mirage with a 4g63t swap with AWD

[240-porkchop-sx]

Thanks for the input. The reason i am considering the vr4 is b/c i can get a decent deal on it. I am also looking at a 91 300zx-tt, and the vr4 was a better ride of the 2 i looked at. I do agree the vr4 is heavy, but there is more then enough power to pull it around. I am not saying i am buying it, i just wanted some other peoples input on the matter, thats all.
For all i know maybe the sr swap will happen...

thanks again

[pruto]

i dunno, i've heard a lot of good things about the GTO/stealth/VR4, yeah, it weighs a ton, but its supposed to be a bad ass motha and it looks good. It can put down a ton of power without a problem. of course it won't handle like your s-chasis, but neither can z's or supras.

i wouldn't get one just because i don't trust mitsu reliablity. i like the styling better than the 300zx or supra MKIV.

[Mirage]

Follow your mind, not other peoples, who gives a crap if joe fuckstick doesn't like a car, if you do thats all that matters.

Drive the car and see if you like it. People call the VR4 overweight, but the Supra weighs in pretty close, and lacks AWD, and supras are fucking gods to everyone. For its weight, it will still move, and with basic bolt on's it can be in the 12's easy. They handle well, it just feels heavy, its more of a touring than a sports car, but its still moved through the twisties well, decent brakes, and its tall gearing is awesome on the highway, you'll find yourself above 100 so often without even realizing it because its so smooth. Styling is subjective, but I think all 4 body styles (91-93, 94-96, 97-98, 99) are just gorgeous. Oh, and just about everyone will stop and talk to you about it, when I owned my 93 VR4, just about every time I filled up with gas, people would come talk to me about it. and 3si is a pretty decent community to find out stuff too.

[Ghettokracker71]

[QUOTE=Mirage]Follow your mind, not other peoples, who gives a crap if joe fuckstick doesn't like a car, if you do thats all that matters.

Drive the car and see if you like it. QUOTE]

Agreeed,and agreed. If you like it,and you find it fun to drive,work on,etc. then why the fuck not? I would say to first off firgure out what you want/need out of a car,then determine what will do it best. The VR6 is a twin turbocharged 3.0 V6 AWD monster. 5 or 6 speed manual transmission,big ass brakes,shiny wheels,infinity stereo...You can't go wrong IMO.

One thing I do when I an looking to buy a car is how much aftermarket support is there? Can I bolt on a new turbo kit and FMIC kit or am I going to have to fab one up? Find out maintence prices and records. Is it going to be reliable enough for you?


Another idea: Join a 3si forum or two and ask what they say...:)

http://www.3sxperformance.com/

[bkfill]

get a first gen dsm :X

[pruto]

btw, about feeling heavy. its all relative. I used to drive around a first gen integra, it weighs, oh, 2200lbs ish. light as hell. When i first got my s14, it felt like a dump truck. the s14 actually handles better and is faster even in stock form, but it just felt different and less nimble and need to be adjusted to. after a few months i felt at ease with the heaviness and the bigness. And 4k for a sports car? all the friggen benz sports cars seem to weigh at least that, and some how they compete against the lighter bimmers. some people even perfer the heavier, larger benz cars. I don't think personally i would enjoy a heavy car, but thats just MY preference. Hell, 3000GT guys would argue that their car is much more of a sports car than the 240sx. And before 3 years ago they were much more popular. Of the Japanese "supercars" the 3000GT/Stleath lasted the longest on the market, probably sold more than the Z or MKIV.

[s13Dr1ft]

VR4 is a strong car, Heavy but that can easily be taken care of. VR4's are not FWD..They are AWD.
Even a stock one pulls like a mother fucker. One of the fastest cars ive been in is a 98 VR4 with 17g Turbos and it was a monster. they are a pain in the ass to work on but not nearly as bad as at 300ZX TT

In all truth id love to have a VR4. But in all reality you will save more money on doing the SR swap. Plus even if you have a stock VR4 Mitsubishi wont touch it warranty or not. We had so many VR4 guys come in becuse Mitsu will not touch those cars.

I wouldnt take a 2G DSM either becuse they crankwalk way too easy. If ya want a mitsu product get a 1st gen GSX. or get a second gen and drop a 6 bolt into it and you wont get crank walk...But you will spend more time fixing any DSM more then you will with a Nissan =0)

[skatanic28]

im not sure if this is the case for all of them, but a kid on the street next to me used to have one. in the 5 years he had it he went through 2 trannies. its not the first ive heard of mitsu tranny problems so i would definately check that out. other than that its a pretty nice cruiser. good power, clean styling, and a little heftier so you dont get so tossed around.
for that kinda money i would look into z32's, but i just dont like awd much.

[heated heavy]

car is fugly

[Bbandit]

a friend of mine has an 11 sec VR-4, that car is sweet. Comfy, yet fast.. although sluggish handling-wise..

[nismo skyline]

y not a wrx?, turbo power, awd, ezer to work on. isnt as sharp looking as a 3kgt though

[TheSnail]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Expencive crap. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I had a dodge stealth and I got a coupon that was "sparkplug change" for:
-4cly = $10
-6cly =$15
-8cly =$20

So I go up there and add 20 bucks extra for there best spark plugs. They tell me to be back in an hour. So I go walking around for an hour then come back only to find out the havent done anything. They told me that they wernt even thinking when I told them it was a Stealth. And they told e since they made me wait an hour for no reason they would change the spark plugs for $420! I was like "what the fuck !" So I call the dealership, and they tell me for them to change the spark plugs would be $500! If you dont belive me call dodge or mitsu right now. It turns out that you have to take off the intake manifold and a bunch of other shit just to change the plugs. So I never changed the plugs, instead I raged the shit out of it, I mean really raged the shit out of it untill one of the gears started eating through the tranny, eventually making a perfect 4inch circle cut out on the transmission caseing. So to get a tranny was a bitch. a rebuilt one from dodge was 7400$. so after I looked for a tranny for 3 months, I found one in a florida junkyard for 1800$. Once I got that I sold that curse as fast as I could and got a 240.

[Ghettokracker71]

^-WOW! THanks for the headsup...I'll never get one of those things,damn.

[NismoSilvia270R]

VR4's are not FWD..They are AWD.

not fightin, but the engines still transverse...meh :-/

gotta love the longitude setup :D

[s13Dr1ft]

Yea they have tranny problems like Eddie Murphey gets arrested for pickin up trannys.

Nismo- i know what ya mean, The SL and other versions are FWD the VR4 is the only awd.

[iyceman]

I've ridden in them once or twice, although I haven't driven one yet. The weight is obscene (3,800 lbs for the most common, which I think was the '96 VR-4) and they're incredibly expensive. The engine bay is cramped and hell to work on. From what I can tell the money involved in making one fast enough to off-set their Miss Piggy composure puts them not far from the realm of a Supra TT, although I might have heard wrong. Personally if you're interested in AWD pick up a 2000 Imprezza RS and drop the EJ20 from an '02 WRX. :naughtyd:

[TheSnail]

Dido to the EJ20 idea.

[iyceman]

Not to be disrespectful, but I think it's ditto, unless you're referring to a bad pop-singer.

[TheSnail]

Hey, she not that bad!

[brainfood]

This is something I can help you with
I owned a VR4 for 3 years. 1991 with 120k miles on it. I have worked on countless 3kgt/stealths and have built quite a few motors. My mom and dad both own a vr4/stealth tt. They are great cars and comfortable as hell. Mine had full built motor, stage 3 heads, cams, cam gears, bigger valves, valve spring kit, custom ross forged pistons (built to my specs), bigger turbos, all the usual bolt ons, 720cc injectors and other fuel mods, arc-2, JIC-Magic Coilovers. It was a beast a damn fun car. It was heavy but with the jic's the chassis is so stiff that it would lift one tire off the ground when one of the front tires was in the gutter and the other on the sidewalk. It handled amazingly and was road raced (still is) about 2 times a month. The car is a great car but the more money you put in it the bigger the headache it becomes. If you get one keep it BPU for a while it should be plenty of power and it will be nice and comfortable. Best part is they are cheap!!! and working on them isnt as hard as it looks. I ran a [email protected] (I am pretty sure that was the mph) with intake, downpipe, and boost controller (only set at .85 bar not 1 bar like it should have been) and a slipping clutch. So they can be very fast out of the box and I never lost to camaro's or ws6's the car is quicker than almost anything on the street with the awd. Make you decision on what you want not what everyone is telling you. If you have any questions I can most likely answer them shoot me an email [email protected] or check out http://www.3si.org/

[kandyflip445]

About a year ago when I was on a plane trip back home I met a guy buying a VR-4 from a guy from where I live. I asked him if I could drive it, not thinking he would actually let me, but he said I could if I could show him how to get to a gas station and get to Highway 50. So, I got to drive it. !!!!!! Really fun for the stock car. Sure, you can feel the weight difference between that and our 240's but it has SO MUCH potential too. That car they put in SCC that was a convertible was a bad representation of 3000GT's especially the VR-4's. If I had the money for the car AND insurance I'd get the 3000GT.

[240-porkchop-sx]

I think what he meant about fwd layout is that the engine is mounted like is fwd..ie sideways. So what is the potential of an sr20det in terms or 0-60 and so on? I'm not a number buff, but all the stats i found of the sr20 are different. I popped the hoods of both zx and vr4 and determined that to do average maintance the vr4 would be hell...but the zx was a close second.
i'm having doubts about either of them

[wanganwonder]

i'd shy away from buying a vr4. they do not have the best reputation in terms of reliability. my friend just bought one and within a week the clutch was gone. that in itself was not a reliability problem- just an old clutch. what he found out upon getting it replaced, however, was that his tranny was shot and it was going to go the instant he dropped his new clutch hard at all.

so definitely get it checked out by a mechanic before you buy it. chances are, it's been driven HARD.

[240-porkchop-sx]

Well, my vr4 phase has past...i was second guessing the deal, then some otehr guy bought it. So no loss!

So im looking for an SR now, while i was browsing the forum some people recommend an rb25 instead. Does anyone know if to swap to an rb if i need to change the rear end? diff and drive shaft....or is it as 'straight forward' as an sr?

This is a long shot but has does anyone know any shops that do sr swaps in central canada?? I called some local places and they said they can do it, if i can provide the engine with a wiring diagram and some extra kwon....they said roughly 1500 to swap... and i'm guessing a front clip (SR) would run about 3500-4500 CDN$..so looking at about 6k...sound about right to my canadians in the far north?

thanks

[MakotoS13]

here's what i've seen regarding them:

-great performers if you want to spend the money
-they look killer

cons?

-they are hell to work on
-they break a lot
-they if someone works on it for you deep pockets are a must
-AWD means you have two more differentials to worry about and when they break (cause they will) you'll have to fight like a mofo to get ANYTHING done on it.

i considered all cars before the 240. ya can't really beat its part selection, platform, and overall performance capabilities for the buck.

but hey man, if price is no object go for the mitsu. it'll just cost and break a lot more.

[Jeff240sx]

Car's sold. No worrys though. The Getrag 6-speed blows in 50-60k miles on 90% of them. Maybe the other 10% granny shifted it.
And seeing as you're on a 240sx board asking about motors, I'd suggest searching. If you want to ask about other cars, thats fine. Ask about motor swaps (or replying about them) and I will lock the thread, as it has gone off topic (Trading car, not trading motor, is the topic.)
-Jeff