Cali spec VR4 for Tad?

I'm going to be looking at a VR4 from California soon. I'm confused about difference on the VR4 between fed spec and cali spec, are they the same? Its a 95 with 77k miles for 13k, been in cali for all but 2 years (when it was in NE garaged and not driven much). I've been shooting emails back and forth with the guy for a few days and he seems real nice and knows his stuff. He decided to sell because he's moving back to cali and he thinks he's out grown it lol.

Just make sure the car dose not have rust spots.

Its got a few paint chips on the bumper but the bumper is made of plastic so its fine, and I know a place that will fix them up for real cheep. I've never heard of these cars having problems with rust.

Yo Thourun, where in Cali is the guy from? And when (if you are) are you gonna come here? Cause if you're close by, I'll try and meet up with ya if you're not in too big of a rush. Hehe :)

Well i know becasue of the weather over in cali i heard there is a bigger chance for the car to have rust spots. But it depends were in cali is it. Near water or away from water.

Good Luck

isnt the california spec 3000gt just have more emissions equipment and emission monitoring because of the more strict emission tests over there???

That's what I thought, I think they may lose 5-10hp due to the stricter emission laws, don't know about torque

Taken from 3sx:
"The distinction of Fed-Spec versus Cali-Spec actually has nothing to do with where you live or where the car came from - they all came from Japan! ;-) It has to do with emissions laws and how they changed over time, and the difference actually is in what year they are...

Federal Spec: As a general rule, all of the 91-93 non-turbos are federal-spec, have only one main catalytic converter between the downpipe and exhaust, have only one O2 sensor mounted just before the main cat and after the flex section, and the downpie connects directly to both exhaust manifolds.

California Spec: 96+ are Cali-spec. These cars have small "pre-cats" immediately off the exhaust manifolds as well as the main catalytic converter, and have 4 O2 sensors. This pipe connects to the pre-cats, and includes the necessary O2 sensor plug on the front part of the pipe. The 3SX pipe kit includes a O2 plug to plug the hole in the rear of the pipe by the main cat.

94-95 Cars: The 94 and 95 cars are mixed between Fed-Spec and Cali-Spec so you need to check before ordering to determine which model you have."


As far as vr4s, I think they all had the precats...so the difference was the 02 sensor number and placement. The 96+ vr4s OBDII ECUs were more environment-friendly, and monitored the exhaust, EGR, and whatnot with stricter standards by using 4 O2 sensors, whereas the 91-93s only had 2. (If I got something wrong about the 1st gens, someone please correct me).

all 91-93 N/A's are fed spec
94-95 N/A's were mixed between cali and fed
96+ N/A's are cali spec
all TT's are cali spec

the difference between the cali spec and fed specs are that the cali specs have precats and have an EGR valve, all for emission purposes.

Ok, thats exactally what I thought. Thanks guys, Damn I can't wait to have a VR4! Now I have to find a sympathetic inspection place hehe.

And Slade, the car is here so I don't have to go to cali, even though it would be cool since I have never been that far west.

good luck in getting that vr-4 its a lovely car! i think my next car will be either a vr-4 or a trans am. only problem with the vr-4 is that its a real gas guzzler but i get a bit more miles to the galon on the trans am and a nicer sounding motor. but the down side is of course that the american cars (at least here) is that they are always braking down

Hotshot8792 is your trany couping with the large ammounts of hp you have?

but the down side is of course that the american cars (at least here) is that they are always braking down

:iceslolan I'd like to see the response that would get in the Muscle Car forum! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Thorun, what color is she? is she still all stock? out-grown it? WTF is he gonna get a buick and some medicare or something?

Its red, all stock, recall done, and I think its funny that he think he's out grown it too lol.

If anyone's interested, here's the autotrader add (and remember I got dibs on it!).
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=176147066&dealer_id=&car_year=1995&make=MIT&distance=100&max_price=&model=3000GT&advcd_on=n&end_year=2006&min_price=&certified=n&address=02421&search_type=used&advanced=n&start_year=1981&color=&cardist=22

Looks just like mine. My only question is why he replaced the tranny and clutch at 30k...I mean, obviously the synchros and clutch and t-case can go, but at 30-40k??? That seems pretty early to me. So even if it is replaced with a fully new trans, has the rest of the car taken a ton of abuse?

I asked that question and he didn't know because it was that way when he bought it. He told me that only the synchro went bad and, I guess he just fealt like getting a new clutch and the recall done by the dealer at the same time. Some of the guys on 3SI from my town said that they might come help me check it out, I'll take it to a mechanic for shure before buying it though. I just have to find one, does anyone know how to find a mechanic that would know about this car and I can trust lol? My parents always just go to the dealer and I have a feeling that they would charge a lot and there's no garuntee they know a thing about the VR4.

ask the local guys on 3si, that is your best bet