sy300

I go to the Nissan Dealership (not the dealer I bought the Stagea from) to get the Stagea serviced because I have a mechanical warranty which requires me to get the Stagea serviced/repaired at a licenced service centre. The closest one is the Nissan Dealership, which also gives me a good discount because I'm in the armed forces. Once the warranty finishes, I will service/repair the Stagea myself. The warranty has already saved me over NZ$2500 when I burnt some valves due to the turbo overboosting (wastegate stuck).

I looked around and at different wagons when I bought the Stagea. I talked to a number of guys I know who own Subarus. They all have the same problems - diffs, big ends, oil leaks and turbos. The Legnum looks good, has good power, but the gear box (tiptronic) is shit! I know a number of mechanics who have worked on them and they all say that the Legnum/Galant gearbox just randomly stuffs out no matter how you service it, and then costs you an arm and a leg to repair/replace. I decided on the Stagea because of known reliability, good build quality, size, price and the fact that every wagon here in NZ is a friggin' Subaru or Legnum (think for yourself, be an individual, people!) The Evo wagon is nice, fairly pricey though, and hard to find. Other wagons I looked at were Mitsubishi Libero (GSR wagon), Nissan Cefiro (front drive) and Nissan Primera. I guess we are lucky here in NZ with the range of imports we can just walk into the car yard and buy, no waiting for the boat to come in. On another note relating to reliability, the Nissan CVT gear box in late model Primeras and Maximas is pretty good. But if it does stuff out, it's NZ$13,000 to replace! I was told that by a Nissan mechanic when we were talking about it while I was waiting for my Stagea to be serviced at the dealership. I couldn't believe it, NZ$13,000 is more than some of the cars it's fitted to are worth!

Koya Rush (Shadow Chrome) 18x8 Standard Offset (can't remember number) 235/40 tyres. Car still standard height, standard brakes. No clearance issues at all.

I have just changed the rear struts, it took longer to jack the car and remove the wheels than it did to replace the struts. I did have to use a hammer on the spanner to crack the lower bolts. All up it took about 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour to replace them. R33 rear struts do not fit on the Stagea. The top mounts and springs are a bigger diameter than the Stagea. After much searching, I ended up getting some 2nd hand after market Stagea rear struts, which seem to be an improvment over the originals.

Can't do any mods. It'll void the mechanical warranty. It has to be factory standard equipment. I shouldn't even do it myself, but they'll never know.

I hate: - Goddamn auto - The brakes. Who's bright idea was it to stick a set of Sylvia brakes on a 1600+kg wagon!? - Goddamn auto - The seats. No lumbar or side support. - Goddamn auto. - Constant 'What is it?' from idiot boy 'racers' in 'drift spec' Skylines or Sylvias after I jump them at the lights. - Goddamn auto. - Being unable to do mods due to mechanical warranty (1 year left). On the whole, I can live with the things on the list. I still think the Stagea is one of the best value wagons around.

I love: - The room - 4WD - Not everyone has one (although the other day there was mine and 3 others parked at work! All RS4's!) - Build quality - The look, with a nice kit and wheels. - Price. They are fairly cheap in NZ compared to other wagons. They aren't 'cool' like Subarus or Legnums so are about 3 grand cheaper. I think it is just a good all round wagon and the +'s outweigh the -'s overall.

Has anyone here changed the suspension bushes on their Stagea? It look like my lower rear shock absorber bushes (LH and RH) are flogged and was wondering if anyone has changed them. I thought while I'm at it I might do the whole lot, if one lot of bushes have gone, the rest are probably close. I assume it would be R33 GTR stuff for the front, and R33 GTS-t for the rear, just like the suspension? Are they tough to remove? Can they be removed? Can you buy a whole bush set? Or do you have to buy each bush? If so what are the part numbers (set and/or each)? Any help would be great.

Just scored a set of height adjustable rear struts for, wait for it, NZ$10.00! Got them off Trademe.co.nz. They are used, and they guy reckons they are a bit spongey, so I'll see if I can get them checked out buy a suspension place. They can't be much worse than my tired old factory struts It looks like they can drop the height a fair way (about 2"). I also think that you have to get adjustable struts certified here in NZ. Worse case scenario, the struts are stuffed, and I've got a pair of rear springs for 10 bucks!

Sweet as. Must have been confused with sunroofs. Stupid brain!

I'm of the opinion that it is not good for the clutch pack to drive around on the road with 'S' selected. The Stagea does not have a centre diff. When you go around a corner the front and rear wheels travel different distances and without a centre diff, this puts a lot of strain on the drivetrain. When the wagon is on a slippery surface with 'S' selected, the strain is relieved by the outer wheel momentarily losing traction on the surface. Basically, I would not recommend driving on the road with 'S' selected.

Just a quick question regarding this: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...on-88565305.htm I though genuine RS260's didn't have roof rails. Is this true, or am I mistaken?

I have 18X8 and 235/40's fitted. My speedo reads pretty much spot on (+/- 2km/h). I also am not a fan of the stretched look with tyres. I like it when the edge of the rim and tyre are even. The stretched look just makes it look like you are too cheap to buy a set of proper width tyres (IMHO). I would have liked 245's, but I heard that they don't fit very well on the front.

Maybe it was some special edition by a tuning place. Like the Dayz Stagea. It looked like a factory job.

I wil have to disagree. I have seen 2 manual turbos for sale here in NZ. I had the choice of one instead of the Stagea. The Stagea was bigger and cheaper, so went with it.

I did mine recently and found that I had to crack the bleed plug to get the piston to move back so I could fit the new pads. The other cars I have changed pads on did not need this, the fluid just back flowed into the reservior. Other than that, it was an easy job, saved me about NZ$200. At my last service, they said that they needed doing, and they would do it for NZ$140 + skimming. My front discs did not need skimming so I did it myself.

You can get manual turbo Avenirs. They are as rare as Stagea manuals though. I thought the GT4-Z was the manual?

I can't answer anything about prices (I live in NZ), but I'd have a Stagea over a Subaru anyday. They are bigger, (arguably) more reliable, not every one has one and (at least in NZ) not targeted by thieves. A number of Subaru owers I know swear black and blue that their car is the best. But then you hear about the oil leaks, spun bearings and f%^&ed turbos. Fuel consumption is in another thread. You can expect about 10-12 l/100km on the open road and 14-16 l/100km around town. Gas is more expensive as you can't use 91 (most of us seem to use 98). In summary, you won't regret it if you buy a Stagea, I haven't. Good luck.

Went to the in-laws over Xmas. They live in in a new house which requires travelling over a fairly steep, twisty road. Travelling there the wagon got 11.6l/100km. Hills make quite a difference to the economy. Every time you power out of a 35 km/h corner the auto drops into 2nd and puts you right into boost. Other than that, I drove at 100-110 and nailed it a couple of times to pass slow cars (and to test the engine after getting the mis-fire fixed).

Finally got the whole problem sorted. After the burnt valves got replaced, it still had a slight (but less dramtic) misfire. The mechanic could not replicate it, so I took him for a drive. The miss also came in under high rpm/load. I nailed the car, and sure enough at about 4500, it started missing and felt like it hit the rev limiter. They took the coil packs out and got them tested, all 6 were f%^&ed. Replaced them all, car runs sweet as. On talking to the mechanic, it turns out that my engine was overboosting because of a stuck wastegate. This caused it to be a bit lean (as well as the stuffed injectors) and burnt the valves. This hid the other fault of the coilpacks.

I have only owned 3 cars in my life, all of which had modified exhausts. My Mk5 Cortina had a full Coby 2" exhaust with 2 straight through mufflers. That sounded pretty good until we got rid of leaded gas here in NZ, then it just pinked like a bitch. My '92 300ZX had twin 3" exhausts right through (no cats) a resonator on each and then twin (about) 7" cannons (offset). It sounded great, really deep and not droney. Then I had to get new rear mufflers, and they were alright up untill about 3500rpm, then arrrggghhh it went all kinda high pitched and rattley. My Stagea has a NISMO (I think it was a factory option?) 2.5" and it sounds awesome. A nice burble at idle, no drone and still has a (muted) roar at high rpm. The rear muffler is an oval type and has a 4" tip, it looks good. A good exhaust can (in my opinion) make or break a car. I hate those 'I've-just-put-a-loud-muffler-on-the-back-and-now-my-car-rocks' types. Or those rear mufflers that just look like they've been slapped on and are at a messy angle. Basically, what ever you get make sure you can live with it, and it's done good.

Finally got the wagon back all fixed. Turns out that the a couple of injectors were buggered, causing bad atomisation, incorrect fuel burn and then the O2 sensor sensing un burned fuel in the exhaust, therefore leaning the fuel back. The whole head had to be reconditioned (all new valve seats, etc) and the injectors replaced. Whole thing came to over NZ$2000, but thanks to mechanical insurance, I payed NZ$275. All I ended up paying for was oil, filter and a bit of labour. It sounds different now, much smoother and the turbo whine is less noticable when it's boosting. Moral - DON'T LET THE ENGINE RUN LEAN!

Yay, looks like I'll be getting the wagon back tommorow!! Turns out that it had burnt out a valve, caused by the engine running too lean. Valve replaced and now they are just checking the injectors to make sure that they are all sweet. Might run a bit better, not that it ran bad before the valve burnt out. My fuel consumption might go up now it's running at the correct A/F ratio. Oh well rather pay for fuel than go through this again.

The insurance I got (Autosure) cost NZ$1000 on top of the price of the car, so not a big difference. It has a NZ$125 excess on any claim. It covers pertty much anything, except for consumables like brake pads, spark plugs, etc. It covers the whole suspension (not shocks) and basically the whole engine (incl turbo), trans and most electrical items. It pays out a maximum of NZ$3500. You can get these insurance covers with almost any new import here in NZ. Obviously, it doesn't cover anything that is not factory standard, or if you don't get your car regularly serviced by a recognised mechanic. I will be interested to find out exactly what is wrong with the valves when they pull the head. I gather this is not a common RB engine fault. I have never heard of it happening to anyone.

If you can remember, a while ago my wagon developed an intermittant miss at idle after the engine had warmed up. It went away while crusing normally, but seemed to use more fuel than normal. I changed the plugs, it still did it. It was due a service so I took it in to the Nissan dealership where I get it done. They suspected the coil packs, so checked them out. All good, coil packs fine. Still misfired at idle. The mechanic said that it seems more like a 'cough' than a misfire and could be a burnt valve, so did a compression test and a valve efficiency test. Low-and-behold, inlet on number 1 and 6, and exhaust on number 2 and 5 not looking so good. The wagon is now in the shop for a bit, while they take the head off and fix it all up for me. Lucky I opted for the mechanical insurance when I bought the wagon, eh! It should only cost me my excess (NZ$125) and not much more. Has anyone else had this happen? P.S. I was just telling a guy at work how reliable my Stagea has been, not even a blown light bulb since I bought it. Irony sux!