?'s about VR4 - Not new to cars, but new to 3kGT

[DRCustom]

Hey all, I'm new to the 3000gt scene and I have some questions.

I'll be spending the next few months saving enough to cover insurance and some mods (i'm in college), but I want to learn as much about the car as I can. I'm looking to pay about 6k for a solid VR4 with around 100k (preferrably under)...is this a reasonable expectation?

I'm most interested in knowing the good/bad differences between the years. I've found a lot of information, but I'm really looking for experienced opinions or even if you could just point me in the right direction to other sites. I'm finding more "I wish I had a VR4" sites than ones with good information.

Any VR4 specific issues to look out for when purchasing?
Do these cars seem to start breaking down after a certain mileage?
Are there any vehicle/year specific problems to look out for?
What about reliability issues?
Are there differences in the motors that cause certain years to be able to handle more/less power than others?
(I'm looking for things like in DSM's - the bad early transmissions, the good 6 bolt motors, the later good 4 bolt rear ends, bad habit of t-belts breaking, crankwalk, etc.)

I've always loved the looks, and all the goodies that come with the car are impressive-but are they all functional or just bells and whistles?

I go to the mountians here in Colorado a lot, so the AWD is essential, and I'm a big fan of turbo. I was considering an AWD DSM, but when considering I can get a VR4 for just a few thousand more it just doesn't compare to the 3000gt which seems much more like my type of car. I'm all about performance (just for fun) and saving money, that's all I really need, but the VR4 seems to be a serious car with lots of luxury, and for the price, I'm not finding anything that compares. Do any of you owners sometimes wish you had a different car?

Any info would be appreciated.

[stevo548]

Hey,
There a lot of questions you need to ask yourself when spending that money on your VR-4. First off what year is the car, if your only paying a couple thousand for the car you might be getting a dud, because a good condition VR-4 with under 70,000 miles on it could sell for up to 25,000$ at the delearship. Up until 96 they had the pop up headlights and the funny looking spoiler and only came in the base model which was a double or dual cam (222) horses and the twin turbo(302 horses). After that they jumped up to 96-98 with the eclipse like rounded spoiler and the 99 which I own has a few differences, they include the base(168 horses), the SL (218 horses) and the VR-4 (300 horses). It's quite a nice car and it's more than just looks. It handles great, its a super heavy car with most of the weight low to the ground, that is why it handles so well. But I'm going to tell you I wouldn't try hooking it up so much to increase horses or torque. Because it is so heavy it sacrifices looks and handling for speed. I know 300 horses stock sounds nice but it's still relatively slow on it's feet in the street racing world because of it's weight. I take mine out all the time to show off but when I'm racing I would almost never take it out even with the many upgrades including the NOS that I sunk into it. Hook it up for looks it's the best thing you can do. Throw a nice catback exhaust in there and let the thunder roar, give it some sounds, also put a nice set of chrome 18's on your ride and pimp it around, it's a chick magnet. The car is a beauty so keep it that way and don't waste your money on stupid shit.
-Steve

[youngvr4]

whoa, anything after 93 is 320hp, now unless you live in an area were all the cars run 10's and 9's with street tires then yeah don't take it to the races, but a vr4 91 runs 13.9 in the 1/4 faster than any eclipse can run stock as fast as a 300zxtt and a rx-7 95 and up run 13.5 in the 1/4 same speed as the toyota supra twin turbo same speed as the acura nsx. throw the bpu's on the car and run low 12's faster than a 2001 viper
faster than the ZO6 corvette throw a bigger turbo's on the thing and run high 11's, same speed as the 2003 srt-10 same speed as the Zonda c12 same speed as the mercialgo lambo,(with the exeption of upgrading other stuff to make it run like stronger clutch and trans) my car is at 140,000 miles and its still running like forest gump. yogs had one that was at 200,000 miles and was still running.
hell i love the car, and like i said unless all the cars around you run 10's then the car is a very fast car even with the weight and very very nice looking car.

[428_Firechicken]

i considered buying one of these cars at one time, and id still like to own one, a friend of mine bought a 92 vr4 with 60,000 miles for 12k, great car! very clean and runs great! and i dont know why ppl complain about how these cars perform, they are heavy, but they also come with up to 320hp, and a 13.5 et will smoke just about anything in my town. i would say do it, but you might need a little more cash than 7k to get a good vr4.


if you do really like the looks you might consider an SL, they dont have the turbos, or AWD but they do run the 15's stock.

[DRCustom]

I'm thinking of going with a 94 because if i'm not mistaken, it's the first year that has the 4 bolt mains and forged crank and 4 bolt rear. I'm under the impression that in 94 the car was almost re-introduced to raise interest in the car.
The 94 seems like it also has the most extra junk (don't really care, but could be fun to play with). Is there any other reason besides the higher boost that gives the newer cars the extra (320) hp? I've got nothing against newer than 94, but it's got the improtant things I'm looking for, and the newer the car, the more I'd expect to pay.

High 13's is enough for me to have fun for now, but eventually if I get the cash to start modding, I'd like to be around low 12's and still be daily driven. I'm not so much after the fastest 1/4, I think that's asking a lot of a car this heavy. As heavy as it is, I'd think there would be a decent amount that could be done to lower weight. I've heard good things about the handling, and I'm all about the idea of having control on roads that aren't ideal.

I really like the looks of this car, but that's definitely not a priority, I'm all about the Viscious Realtime All Wheel Drive and 4 Wheel Steering...or whatever the heck vr-4 stands for.

thanks for all the replies, I definitely appreciate it, and please, keep them coming.

[Syk0tic]

lol @ still running like forest gump.

[ikOnone]

yea, a little bit of misinformation here but most of it cleared up.

91-93 is the first generation. pop up head lights, different side skirts and back bumper, hood has the little blisters, front bumper is different. this is what you will probably want given your price range. you can get one for $6000 and even a decent one if you look real hard but to avoid getting a lemon for that price you will probably have to go get it from somewhere else or have it shipped and either way it is costly and a pain to do (i have tried several times, it sucks buying long distance!) i would save up some more money and get a good 93 if i were you. the 93s have the 25 spline output shaft on the transmition and that is a big advantage, they also have the forged crank (i think) and maybe the 4 bolt main but i am really unsure about that. the 93 was the last year with the first generation body style but they allready had a lot of the upgrades in there. they also have the OBD I computer which is a big advantage if you want to datalog. they are also much cheaper, as soon as you get into the 2nd gen range the price jumps. if i were you i would find a good condition 93 near you and look to spend more in the $10k range.

94-98 this is the 2nd gen. this is also when they started to have non popups but i think they did switch the headlight style slightly in 96 as well. they had the same active aero wing as the first gens (very cool) until 97 or so when they switched to the hoop (looks too much like an eclipse for my taste but whatever). they had a lot of the better parts (crank, tranny, 4 bolt main, etc) but the 94s and i think the 95s had a hybrid OBD I/ OBD II computer and it was OBD II after that. these are a lot harder to datalog (if you even can). the thing about the 4 bolt main is that unless you have the fastest 3kgt in the world, the older 2 bolt main should be fine, the crank is a little more worrysome but not a huge deal if you do not put down a lot more power than stock, the tranny issue is big but they 93s (and some later 92s) have the 25 spline tranny as well. also the first gens have a 5 speed that is better geared for drag racing unless you are again one of the fastest in the world and you are hitting trap speads above 120mph. the 6 speed trannys in the second gens have a higher theoretical top speed though.

99 some call this year the 3rd gen. other than having better lifters i do not think there are any non cosmetic changes but these cars look sweet, aggressive rear wing and the smooth almost shelby cobra esq front end make this a car to drool over. they did not have active aero either (i think they stopped that in like 96 or 97). the sl and base 99s have the hoop spoiler though. there are also other small asthetic differences but i won't bother with those. you will not be able to afford one of these though so you will just have to drool with the rest of us.

these cars KILL on the street due to AWD. i do not know what that first guy was talking about but if you take one of these to a street race a lot of people will not even race you because you have a huge traction advantage. they are also very very stable at high speeds due to the active aero and the all wheel steering ( i think they dropped this around 96 as well). 160 in these cars feels like 75 in a camero SS, trust me, i have felt both. they are the heavyest of the japonese supercars but they are really only a few hundred pounds off from most of them, this could be the difference between a tank of gas and laying off the cheeseburgers. they are also so heavy because of all of the goodies likeactive aero, AWD and AWS add a lot of weight, and things like the 70lb driver's seat that has power sliding, power adjustable lumbar support, power side thingies, this seat is awesome but if you really care about making the car lighter, replace it with aftermarket seats, that is a huge weight savings right there. the whole interior of the car is really comfertable (not the seats in the back that are made for parapalegic midgets though) and the outside styleing is borderline exotic. the 2nd getns have 20 hp more but that is just a boost issue (11psi rather than 9 in the first gens) if you really care, get a boost controller for $18 and you will have a (safely) 355 hp car (14.5 psi). get an aftermarket boost guage thought because the stock one is useless and it is no fun to blow up an engine. if you really want to go cheep you can have a reliable 400 hp car for under $100 in modifications.

ok, ok these cars are not perfect though. the transmitions are a big problem but mostly because if yours breaks, mitsu does not have the parts to fix it so you have to buy a whole new tranny for $4k. well you can get the parts and fix it for a few hundred if you are smarter than the people at the mitsu dealership (not hard to do). also the stock shifter shifts like a freekin truck, especially in the first gens, not a very appealing aspect. also they do not have the prooven super high horsepower potentials of rival cars such as the supra, that is mostly because no one has gon that far with them yet though. stock ecu kind of sucks... when you start modding, these cars start getting knock real easy and are quite tempormantal. they are heavy but they are not really as heavy as everyone makes them out to be. just know that if you want to go into corners fast, this is not your car, go get an rx-7 or miata, this is the car that comes out of corners fast, the awd bites in and you take off. also they do not hold their value nearly as well as other similar cars unless you buy a first gen, those prices have somewhat leveled off. this is good if you want to buy but bad if you want to sell.

all in all, i love them. they are relatively cheap, you can get them faster than just about anything on the streets reliably and for cheap (they are damn fast stock too), they look way cooler imho than any other car short of a viper, they have AWD which is great in snow (i live in boulder so it is good for our winter weather), they are very strong cars which is good in the event that you get into a crash (very much unlike a rx-7 here as well), and they are really an all around good car. performance wise, they are kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. they handel well, they can go real fast in the 1/4 or top speed, but they are not the fastest at any. i hope this all helps and if you need further info check out www.3si.org or www.stealth316.com , these are the 3kgt owners best friends and the community of people in the 3kgt world are also a huge advantage for these cars. we have a great group here in colorado ----> www.co3s.org we do lots of fun stuff and everyone is very helpful if you need a hand with something, it is a lot of fun. hope you can join us some time even if you decide to get a poopra... err, i mean supra or something else

[talskinyguy]

wow, thats longer than some essays I write. lol

all good info tho

[ikOnone]

Originally Posted by talskinyguy

wow, thats longer than some essays I write. lol

all good info tho

lol yea, after i wrote that i realized how long i spent on it and i was like WTF?!?!?

well i don't visit this forum much (look at post count) but when i do i try to explain things to the best of my knowledge.

[DRCustom]

Thanks ikOnone.

I won't have a chance to look through all the info right away, but I'm sure I'll have some questions once I do. Right now I don't want a stupid fast car, but I do want a daily driver that can show me a good time. Things like the 4 bolt mains and 4 bolt rears are important to me because somewhere down the line I will most likely build the motor for some big hp, and I'd like to already have the goods instead of trying to hunt them down.

About those late model lifters, can they be used in the 1g motors?

I'm definitely looking for an AWD, and so far I'm pretty set on the vr-4 for the amount of car you get for the price.

Thanks for the great input, I definitly appreciate it.

[DRCustom]

I found a 95 vr4 spyder for 9500, any thoughts?

[ikOnone]

Originally Posted by DRCustom

I found a 95 vr4 spyder for 9500, any thoughts?

i think that 95 VR-4's hardtop that are in good condition generally go for around $13-15k or so. i would think that spyders would cost more. if this car is in good condition, it is a very good buy. one thing to consider though is that the spyders are a lot heavier than normal VR-4's (4000 lbs i think) but they are a super chick magnet

[youngvr4]

yeah and they still run 13.8-7

[Igovert500]

i have a 96 vr4 with 40k, i paid 22k for it but it had tints and upgraded stereo and was in pristine condition. It was worth every penny. The only addition I would add to this thread is that if you are considering huge hp upgrades such as larger turbos and fuel system management, I would aim for a 96 or higher. I believe I read somewhere that with the 94 and 95 vr4 models it is impossible to monitor knock with tuning electronics on the market. (Don't quote me on that) Obviously, this wont matter unless you plan on turning up the boost and milking the car for the higher hp numbers. I maybe wrong, but do some research at 3si.org and 316stealth.com they provide alot of valuable information, as do many of the members here.

[Igovert500]

just realized 2 mistakes, its stealth316.com and everything I said was already stated by IkOnone, my fault