SupremeMoFo aka Evan // Adelaide - SA

[SupremeMoFo]

Sup all? I'm a new lurker. My story goes, I made the very bad mistake of buying a Honda without investigating through a dealership as to the parts purchase history of the car. So I drive an EG Civic which spews smoke the moment the tacho hits 5000rpm (it also ate its own clutch just 9kms after I bought it. Thankfully the previous owner agreed to pay for the part) which destroys the point of having a 1.6L engine, and VTEC. Oh well. It'll cop a B16A at some point (another 1.6L, but making 127kW, up from 96kW for the D16Y. It still makes no torque though of course). This will all likely be in a years time. As soon as it gets the new engine, I'll thrash the tits off it for a week then sell it for more than I bought it for.

So, I'm interested in a Legnum VR-4 as its replacement. Ticks a lot of boxes - AWD, plenty of power, manuals are relatively easy to find (autos suck. You have no excuses, I'm sorry), plenty of space in the wagon, presumably Mitsubishi reliability, looks MUCH better than the Toyota Caldina and Nissan Stagea (neither engine is very attractive either in those cars, and both are practically auto only. Wouldn't say no to a Autech 260RS Stagea though), etc. At the moment the Civic suits my city only driving but once I finish year 12 and leave Adelaide (good riddance!) there will be much more highway driving in the mix.

So, some vary naice raides you dudes have got here, hope to join you in a years time

Oh yeah, bit about me. I'm 16 (nearly 17), love photography and cars. From the eastern states. Don't drink. (addicted to money though). Work at Dick Smith as a salesguy.

 

[Guest]

Hi evan ... hopefully u get down to a cruise and actually get a ride in a leggy or galant and realise why we drive them .... best car I have ever owned ... and I have had an extremely fast car before ... For the price u can't beat its value.

Enjoy the forums ....

 

[SupremeMoFo]

Cheers! I'll have to do that some time

For the price u can't beat its value.

That's the other part! Manual Stageas start at $18k for a non-Autech.

Oh yeah, one last thing! I presume these cars are powerful enough to run an aircon compressor

 

[mookers]

Oh yeah, one last thing! I presume these cars are powerful enough to run an aircon compressor

Tell me about it! In my old Astina, I used to turn the aircon off when I wanted "turbo boost" ROFL

 

[BuzzPuppy]

The best part is that you don't notice that you have it on

Welcome aboard mate. When you find a manual Legnum/Galant, let us know how long the wait is

Keep us up to speed on the Honda as well... would like to see how it all works out!

 

[SupremeMoFo]

Will do! Here's the Civic, anyway - this was when it had the borked clutch -

The Liberty is mum's recently written off Heritage model, and the Navara is dad's POS work car.

 

[Guest]

Wow, thats some nasty luck you've had with the Civic! Would it even be worth doing the engine conversion? Would you get that much more for it to justify wasting money and time on an engine swap? If it was me I'd save up, sell it as is and buy something else...

I recently bought my Legnum and went through the same choices you mentioned: Legnum, Stagea, Caldina, Liberty, Outback, etc... The Legnum was the only one that really appealed to me.

Only drawback is the lack of aftermarket parts. Then again, the Legnum was only recently eligible to be imported to Aus so it's only be a matter of time before parts start flooding in. Hopfully.

 

[Sydo]

Lucky you're in SA and not Vic - people under 21 are not legally able to drive such a high powered vehicle!

np - nothing wrong with a good automatic. For 98% of my current driving, it suits me perfectly.
Tiptronic works for the other 5%..

 

[JRVR4]

Yeah mate manuals are not that easy to find! And i know auto's will never compare, but tiptronic with a quick shift kit comes close.

 

[SupremeMoFo]

In Vic, even a B16A conversion on the Civic would be pushing the boundaries for power to weight.

Wow, thats some nasty luck you've had with the Civic! Would it even be worth doing the engine conversion? Would you get that much more for it to justify wasting money and time on an engine swap? If it was me I'd save up, sell it as is and buy something else...

I recently bought my Legnum and went through the same choices you mentioned: Legnum, Stagea, Caldina, Liberty, Outback, etc... The Legnum was the only one that really appealed to me.

Only drawback is the lack of aftermarket parts. Then again, the Legnum was only recently eligible to be imported to Aus so it's only be a matter of time before parts start flooding in. Hopfully.

Good question. I have no idea whether it's worth it or not no. The car was $5,600, add $1300 in repairs that gets us to $5600 thereabouts. $360 for clutch, previous owner paid that. So $6,900, $300 cheaper than any other advertised EG VTi in Australia. $2k for a EG6 B16A cut and maybe $4k all installed. The numbers don't add up no. The price as is depends on the buyer I guess. If I could get $7k back for it (probably wouldn't be hard, the Civic has a lot going for it, engine aside) I could easily buy a 1996-7 model Legnum by the end of the year, budgeting around $12k for a good one. Damn. That's food for thought.

As for parts, there's probably a fair bit of stuff available through NZ? There were stacks of 8th gen Galants over there when I went for the WRC last year.

I've played with tipshifts in hire cars we've had (shh. I wasn't allowed to drive them) and they don't cut it for me. Need that 3rd pedal.

Oh, there is one option which I'd take above all these cars - a 3rd gen Outback (99-03 model) with v3 STi running gear. Forged internals, 8500rpm redline, horn...

 

[BuzzPuppy]

We all have to start somewhere Evan.

I was cut out of my first car (1982 restored Sigma SE) two days after completion and I was 18 at the time (not at-fault). Been staying with Mitsi ever since so I can't say "no" to Legnums

 

[pu-11-me]

G'day Evan,

Civic looks cool and its not a bad place to start, but like has already been said, shame about the bad luck! Engine conversion sounds cool and with that sort of kW in a car that light, torque doesn't really matter so much..... Well, as long as you valve bounce it

Don't rule out the auto Legnum till you have had a drive! I have had a range of cars (both auto and manual) and the auto in the facelift legnums is phenominal compared to what i have owned and driven in the past. There is no shift lag in auto mode, the car has great power and torque making the automatic responsive anyway and the tiptronic is an OK compromise..... I searched for a manual legnum for a while (6 months) and i could not find one with what i wanted, in good enough condition or for the right kind of money, then test drove an auto and fell in love!

Anyway, keep us posted on the civic!

Cheers,

Dawso

 

[weeaazz]

the engine swap is a very hard ecison to make,ive thought about it every day for the last year or so,even got books on it, step by step guides and what not,theres so much on it as the 92-95 eg civic has the biggest cult following of any other car in the united states.impressive hugh?

and in total i could get the swap done for about $5-$7 grand depending on the engine choice but it realy doesnt up the sale price of the car by too much,buying a legnum for double that price will hold its value a little better and it mite even be possible to make money if they stay a rare car and dont become the next skyline.

and also,in the wet i cant go over 80k/hr or the wide tyres kinda aqua plane on certain surfaces with such a light car weighing under a tonne.thats another reason why im looking for a legnum,bit more safety

 

[SupremeMoFo]

Cheers guys, plans have changed entirely now... Civic is currently for sale (and garnering a fair bit of interest, despite the relatively high price. probably the 12 months rego). The Legnum is out as I'd have to get it registered here then transfer it back interstate, cost & hassle isn't worth it. Looks like I'll be going back to the Subaru camp with a early gen3 Liberty RX. Not a bad car by any means but seems like poor value after considering the Legnums so seriously. Probably save me a lot of money in the short term. I'll still hang around though, it's a good crew here! =)

James, I gave up on the engine swap because compared to Subarus it's all far too expensive for what you get. A B16A is $4k minimum, H22A or B18C $6k minimum, K20A or K24A $10k+. I can see why they're so popular - fantastic handling, mainly because they're so wide and low, stock - but the thrashiness and uninspiring straight 4 scream just leaves me cold.