Legnum vs Stagea vs Caldina

[cgunther]

At the last photo shoot location of the Twisty's cruise, we got spotted by one of the writers for testdrivenau, who had recently done a review of some jap wagons.

http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=83
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=85
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=93
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=103
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=110
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=116
http://www.testdrivenau.co.cc/?p=121

Not to spoil it, but the Legnum came last. When you think about it, this is a good thing, as everyone will read this and buy a Stagea instead

 

[VR-04-TT]

Last!? lol not worth reading.

 

[mookers]

Who the hell thinks a Stagea looks better than a Legnum???

They lose all credibility with me by page 2. lol

 

[pu-11-me]

It lost all credibility when I realised they used an under-optioned series 1 legnum..... Worth half of what the caldina would be. For tha same price as the Caldina or the RS4 (Which is a series 2, i'd expect it for $18k) they could've got a LOT more car in a Legnum

And I can't believe they think the Caldina is faster! LOLOL

 

[king_panther]

Yep they chose the bottom of the barrel option for the Legnum (apart from auto). I think they had the result in mind before the testing.

FAGS !

 

[cyber_scriber]

I'm not Legnum biased because I own the sedan variant of it, but that writer needs new glasses if he thinks the Stagea is a better looking beast than the Legnum

When I was in the market and looking at the Legnum, I didn't even bother checking out the Stagea because of how fugly and obese it looked - kind of like a Frankenstein car on roids (the bad ones that give you rage).

The writer does make a fair comment about the Legnum loving a drink. Though I'm guessing some of us would kill for economy of 15l/100klm when fanging it hard!

 

[VR4Rocket]

I am sorry if I offened anyone but the Stagea looks like one of the most ugly cars in the world...even the bug eyed WRX looks better......and the way they drooled on about it just shows the oz infactuation with the Nissans...seems like they don't believe that there are any other decent sports cars out there...actually I really think that all Skylines look really plain....think about it...a Evo 6.5 compared to a Skyline GT-T...hmmmm Evo all the way I am sorry......well just my 2 cents

 

[pu-11-me]

Most of us get that afaik Bruce?

 

[cyber_scriber]

Most of us get that afaik Bruce?

From reading the fuel economy thread, some poor bastards are getting that (15l/100klms) even when they drive like grannies!

I'd be interested to see how my first tank goes. To be honest, I'm not that worried if the economy isn't great. That's a price I'm happy to (literally) pay for the exceptional engine response. It doesn't feel like a turbo car at all - more like a V8!

If I was worried about fuel economy, I would have bought the Caldina and then hung my head in shame

 

[Scottie]

Good thing they didnt see Gary's car there , that was his car in the review.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I drive a Skyline and still wouldn't dare to say that a Stagea looks better!

As for using a Series 1 legnum, how come a Series 1 Stagea didn't get used? :wanker:

 

[bradc]

Page two is ummm pretty special!!!!! I really don't know what to say about that!

As for the other comments, it is possible to fold down Legnum seats from within the boot, but the Stagea system does sound a bit better. The Stagea dash looks ok actually, but the Caldina looks really cheap and nasty on the inside, just like a bottom spec Corolla.


For the performance, it does sound like the Caldina has been modified. Some years ago when my purple VR-4 was stock (and still an auto) I was racing at Pukekohe with a Caldina identical to the one in the article. He had a manual and only once hit the limiter at 180kmh, whereas every lap I was hitting it in the VR-4, and cruised on it for about 4 or 5 seconds before needing to brake. The Legnum performance is spot on, around 6 seconds to 100 and just over 14 for the quarter is fine, but I seriously can't beleive a stock Caldina can do a low 13 pass stock! Witness:

http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic8678.htm (claiming 13.8-14.5)
http://forums.performancecar.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=51953 (around 14 as well)

Heading across to page 6, I can't beleive the Caldina is louder than the Legnum! My only real gripe about Legnums is the wind and tyre noise, I can't beleive the Caldina could be so much louder! The Stagea being quiet and smooth doesn't surprise me though, I would imagine it would be the best long distance cruiser.

The fuel economy is a strange one, I can't beleive how much worse the Legnum was than the other two, but as we know from the fuel economy thread there are cars that never really break below 15L/100km, and so many that are always in the 10-12 range.


Overall to me it still seems that the Legnum is the most well rounded of the 3 cars, and that perhaps the Stagea would compare better to a Commodore wagon due to its size and laid back attittude.

 

[Peter_D]

I recently had a Stagea RS FOUR V in my driveway, the ones with the full body kit, it looked OK but the surprising thing was it's owner was going over both of my Legnums with a microscope saying how great they looked. He said that if he'd know about them he'd have brought one in a flash instead of the Stagea.

 

[qball]

I was after a stagea or any performance wagon but my wife banned me because it was to ugly and 80s volvo like. she loves the look of the leggie though (i guess thats why we own 2 now)

 

[Kenneth]

Everyone has their own opinion, so arguements about which looks better are pretty pointless, especially on a VR-4 enthusiast forum

If the Caldina is lighter and will provide power to 7000RPM, chances are it can (100% standard) out pace the Legnum to 100kph and 400M. Once you start hitting high speed where the wind resistance means the limiting factor is sheer torque, then the Legnum is bound to haul it back.

The fuel economy did sound a bit sick. Totally achievable if you put your foot down everywhere to feel that bottom end kick though!

 

[qball]

It seems that they already knew the result before they started. They go on heaps about the stagea but not much about the other cars. Also look to have spent lots of cash on the stagea and heaps less on the others. When i read other comparison of cars they always try to have the same specs or pricing seems a bit strange no to do it in this case. But in the end it's good we came last and hopefully means we wont end up like skylines and be everywhere and cheap

 

[Tom]

Well it said in the article that they got the Legnum and Stagea for the test from a dealership..

Maybe the dealership only had that model Legnum, or only had that model Stagea.. Or they were biased so they gave them a higher level Stagea and lower level Legnum?

Plus the Caldina being privately owned by someone else, maybe something had been done with it? I don't know..

Oh well! You win some, you lose some!

 

[matchtheclown]

The legnum probably needs it's O2 sensor replaced.

 

[dimi_108]

The legnum probably needs it's O2 sensor replaced.

HAHAHAHAHA true that

Interesting review...

 

[BuzzPuppy]

The best part is the bloke who approached us on the cruise said "but the Legnum finished last..." and all he got was silence as we tactfully figured out what to say next (or restrained ourselves from sounding like rabid fanbois).

It's like going to Bathurst amongst all the V8 fans and saying that the true King of the Mountain is the Gibson Motorsport R32 GT-R (God, Skaifey looked young in those photos when he drove it!)