What Is A Good Family Car For 4 People?

[R TUNE]

IF you dont mind going with out power.

Think toyota camry, i have one as a daily now and it's good for a family plenty of room in the back and the boot is huge.

as for power, i have seen people turbo them in the states or and eng swap could be done?

[_Ryan_]

i bought stagea over a commo. it can cart a car load of adults for hrs in comfort. rear seats recline, sunroofs are pimp.

fuel economy isn't bad at all. dump/front/cat/catback are essential, with the catback being the least noticeable. 34SMIC on a series 1 does the job, or FMIC if you must. keep it in good nic and get 400 or so around town, 550+ on the fwy.

-Ryan

[GTR-N1]

I would also consider the Legnum, Liberty/Forester wagon (by STI is good...seen them cheap, but of course your budget is not that high).

Agreed +1

Got my '06 Forester XT for $20K (incl Rhino rack & pod)

So your budget can afford the '04 XT (follow-on from the GT) still with the turbo'd SG9 engine for $15K

Pros

1) One of the most popular soft roaders where the kids can look out over other cars

2) WRX in disguise

3) quicker than the '09 XT

4) only needs a 22mm rear sway bar for decent cornering

5) depreciation is low from here on

6) fuel consumption varies according to your right foot; 11l/100Km - 16l/100Km

7) fits a few bikes in the back

8) in demand and easy to re-sell later

9) upgradable bolt-on propellers

[Iron Chef]

My Dad has a Forester and a Legnum and I can tell you which one he prefers to drive

OP, I forgot to mention M35 Stagea - $15K would land you one if you imported it yourself, and I rate them over the Legnum. Ideally a Stagea 260RS would be the choice, because you could bolt on any leftover bits from your GT-R haha

[Black Widow]

Agreed +1

Got my '06 Forester XT for $20K (incl Rhino rack & pod)

So your budget can afford the '04 XT (follow-on from the GT) still with the turbo'd SG9 engine for $15K

Pros

1) One of the most popular soft roaders where the kids can look out over other cars

2) WRX in disguise

3) quicker than the '09 XT

4) only needs a 22mm rear sway bar for decent cornering

5) depreciation is low from here on

6) fuel consumption varies according to your right foot; 11l/100Km - 16l/100Km

7) fits a few bikes in the back

8) in demand and easy to re-sell later

9) upgradable bolt-on propellers

I'd have to agree here.

The GT/XT Forester is a fairly sturdy piece of machinery. Definitely has the guts, and has plenty of room.

Like Terry has suggested, i would probably look for something around the 04-05 era, as they will more than likely be in your price range (or if you get lucky and find someone selling a cheaper MY06+ then go for it!)

For your reference, this is the MY05 model:

This is the MY06 model:

[Marko R1]

forester is nice, my mate had the xt turbo with suede heated seats - very quick & he thinks almost matches his current 04 wrx

[jrm]

What about taking a note from the latest HPI - Toyota Crown Estate Athlete V?

[Birds]

Yep my vote is for a home grown shit box too.

So many +'s cheap cheap cheap

But I can understand if you dont want to be seen in one

Meh...you blend in with the crowd anyway. Almost every family on the road is driving them around and there's a good reason for that

How often are you going to be carrying your family in the car and cornering through the twisties / drifting? All you need is some traffic overtaking power / torque on the go, of which there is no shortage in the large displacement family cars. Want something extra? Go V8 LPG...better economy than any Jap wagon you'll find.

Marc the problem with our preaching is the import fan site...some people here have only ever known Jap...they don't know the comforts they're missing out on!

[Peter89]

well, since i still currently drive a VN wagon, there is a noticeable size between that and a stagea. I found rear leg room (im 6'2") in the stagea a bit small and rear boot space is at least 30% less.

Im sure a stagea is better to drive however, space wise, the older commodore wagons are bigger.

[Iron Chef]

What about taking a note from the latest HPI - Toyota Crown Estate Athlete V?

Still at least 12 months away from being able to be imported

[pixel8r]

Dont get the s1/2 and M35 stageas mixed up. When people are complaining about rear seat legroom, they're talking about earlier stageas. (I've owned both) The M35 has another ~11cm of rear legroom (which is a lot). I'm 6'1 and when I sit comfortably in the back with my legs out in front there's still another 5-6cm in front of my knees. How much more do you need? IMO its very close to a ford falcon as far as space goes. I've got a rear-facing baby seat in mine and it fits no problem. Still plenty of legroom in the front seat. You wouldn't comfortably seat 3 adults across the back seat but then I've yet to see a car that will (4wd's included - most of those are actually thinner than a falcon/stagea).

Boot space in the M35 is up there with the falcon. Dont be fooled by the VE commodore wagon - its bootspace isn't much more than a sedan due to the very sloped roofline. So its really between the falcon and M35 as far as interior space goes, and I can tell you which one I'd prefer to drive. The M35 is quicker than the latest falcon (which doesn't come in a wagon), although not by a huge amount. Thing is the VQ25 engine doesn't have the most aftermarket parts available and there's no manual option either...and the auto sucks a little bit for fast shifting (ie. it cant).

However the ride that the stagea delivers is pretty nice. Given the price at around 15-20k, you really cant beat the value for money of a stagea M35.

However, for performance, you can obviously get exhaust, bigger turbo, the VQ25DET does work with the e-Manage ultimate I believe, you can get a shift kit for the auto box, and at least 200awkw is possible without sacrificing driveability. Its a bit trickier than with the RB engines since #1 the VQ25 is rare, and #2 the ecu tends to take over a lot more, making it more difficult to modify, although not impossible. Its already got a front mount intercooler (which you could replace with a larger one if needed).

I'd say either a M35 wagon or 4WD would be where its at, otherwise one of the other wagons mentioned may offer better performance at the cost of a little bit of space.

some of the downsides of the M35 are:

- its drive-by-wire, which sucks. the throttle response is not the same as with a cable, although you may not notice so much until you increase power.

- the auto gearbox is about the laggiest i've come across (only on kickdown, its reasonably fast changing gears when accelerating).

- needs a bit of work to make it really fast, but its not too slow in factory form (unless you happen to own a 700hp GTR in which case lets face it - anything else is slow)

oh, and if you buy a stagea you get to stay on this forum. The guys and girls in the stagea section are the nicest bunch of people you're likely to meet on any forum.

[mad082]

Meh...you blend in with the crowd anyway. Almost every family on the road is driving them around and there's a good reason for that

How often are you going to be carrying your family in the car and cornering through the twisties / drifting? All you need is some traffic overtaking power / torque on the go, of which there is no shortage in the large displacement family cars. Want something extra? Go V8 LPG...better economy than any Jap wagon you'll find.

Marc the problem with our preaching is the import fan site...some people here have only ever known Jap...they don't know the comforts they're missing out on!

yeah i realise that. my next daily driver is going to be a commodore wagon.

as for the people who are recommending a forester wagon, how many of you have ever sat in the back of one? i have and it's pretty cramped. would be ok if you only have kids, but if you were taking adults i wouldn't get one. leg space sucks majorly. commodore/falcon/magna are about the only cars i can honestly say that i can comfortably travel in the back seat on trips over about half an hour.

[bozodos]

VN 5 litre, wagon or sedan, earlier models are fkn squishy in the back like your average import.

Or a VT sedan, acres of legroom, and they don't have the 'rustic' feeling as much as the earlier commos.

[Iron Chef]

For the record, I have a Territory as a family car - very very practical, and great to drive, but also starting to fall apart in my hands having done all of 80,000km...

[iplen]

I would have a Stagea again in a heartbeat. The only reason I got rid of it was that I spent too much money doing up an old Subaru Wagon, and only bought Stag as a fill in (Hindsight would have torched the Subaru, and just bought the Stag) Plus a condition of me getting a GTR was that it would be my 1 good car...

Downsides:

*Fuel economy which can be made alot better with ecu tune, 20l/100 in town 12l/100 highway (standard Auto series 1)

*Small brakes

*Manuals are hard to find, and the auto contributes to fuel usage

Upsides

*Space

*Comfort

*Value

*Performance (after 60k/h)

*Features

*Lack of attention they draw

*Shock

*Handling

*Sunroofs (would never buy one without dual sunroofs)

*Insurance for what you get

Some truths from owning one, Parts are piss easy to get (If you ever need them, which is less often that an aussie POS) Take your VIN to Nissan dealer, order part. Or come on her and get in contact with this massive support network and get your parts

The money you spend on fuel, (Not much less than a Falcadore anyway) You save in what you get for your money

DO NOT BUY A CHEAP ONE WITH A LOW ODOMETER

Get used to saying "No it is a 300hp turbo Nissan, but yes it does look like a Volvo"

Quick Summary and possibly inaccurate

Series 1 96-98 RB25DET 4 speed auto or 5 speed manual- Fog Lights and Headlights in one unit

Series 2 98-02 RB25DET NEO 4 speed auto with tiptronic setup, 5 speed manual- Fog lights seperate in grill. Neo engine is apparently a heap better on fuel than above example

Autech 260RS R33 GTR wagon

All are designated C34- as they are actually based on the Cefiro (waits for flaming if incorrect)

M35 2002-2007

check the Stagea Forum

***PLEASE NOTE I DO NOT GUARENTEE THE ACCURACY- BUT I STILL F-ING LOVED MY STAG IF THE INFO IS ACCURATE OR NOT***

(Got my car at 112k, got rid of it at 160k, at which point it needed new CV boots and an auto service, in the time I had it I replaced Fuel, Oil, Coilpacks and Tyres)

Edited December 3, 2009 by iplen

[180fan]

C34's are based on the Laurel from memory, and the standard S1's didn't have any manual versions

I have a S1 C34, and it carries 5 adults around fairly frequently. I'm about 6'3 and need to have my seat all the way back to drive comfortably. This means there isn't very much leg room behind me.

I picked mine up with 130k km's, put about 7k on it since then and havent had any real problems at all. It's mildly modded with catback exhaust, fmic, pod filter and coilovers, and is very easy and comfortable to drive.

[Sean W]

Typo? or are stageas just that good?

I would have a Stagea again in a heartbeat. The only reason I got rid of it was that I spent too much money doing up an old Subaru Wagon, and only bought Stag as a fill in (Hindsight would have torched the Subaru, and just bought the Stag) Plus a condition of me getting a GTR was that it would be my 1 good car...

Downsides:

*Fuel economy which can be made alot better with ecu tune, 20l/100 in town 12l/100 highway (standard Auto series 1)

*Small brakes

*Manuals are hard to find, and the auto contributes to fuel usage

Upsides

*Space

*Comfort

*Value

*Performance (after 60k/h)

*Features

*Lack of attention they draw

*Shock

*Handling

*Sunroofs (would never buy one without dual sunroofs)

*Insurance for what you get

Some truths from owning one, Parts are piss easy to get (If you ever need them, which is less often that an aussie POS) Take your VIN to Nissan dealer, order part. Or come on her and get in contact with this massive support network and get your parts

The money you spend on fuel, (Not much less than a Falcadore anyway) You save in what you get for your money

DO NOT BUY A CHEAP ONE WITH A LOW ODOMETER

Get used to saying "No it is a 300hp turbo Nissan, but yes it does look like a Volvo"

Quick Summary and possibly inaccurate

Series 1 96-98 RB25DET 4 speed auto or 5 speed manual- Fog Lights and Headlights in one unit

Series 2 98-02 RB25DET NEO 4 speed auto with tiptronic setup, 5 speed manual- Fog lights seperate in grill. Neo engine is apparently a heap better on fuel than above example

Autech 260RS R33 GTR wagon

All are designated C34- as they are actually based on the Cefiro (waits for flaming if incorrect)

M35 2002-2007

check the Stagea Forum

***PLEASE NOTE I DO NOT GUARENTEE THE ACCURACY- BUT I STILL F-ING LOVED MY STAG IF THE INFO IS ACCURATE OR NOT***

(Got my car at 112k, got rid of it at 160k, at which point it needed new CV boots and an auto service, in the time I had it I replaced Fuel, Oil, Coilpacks and Tyres)

[iplen]

Typo? or are stageas just that good?

No seriously, just fold the back seat down... open the sunroof to keep cool but keep too many peeping toms away..

P.S. 180fan, you in bathurst?

Edited December 3, 2009 by iplen

[180fan]

Yeah mate, I am. If you are too then I'm pretty sure I've seen your R32 around a few times

Edited December 3, 2009 by 180fan

[SUBL1ME]

what is insurance like on the Stagea's? Might be another consideration.