Im No Longer In The Nissan Stables..

[adamskill]

lads,

so after about 8 years of skyline ownership, and about 12 of owning nissans only, ive purchased somthing else..

i really wanted a wagon. also the mrs drives the car a fair bit too, and she got sick of skylines, always babying them around, and having to be super carefull, ahe wanted somthing more practical, and so did i really.

i really like the look of a tough wagon. nice ride hight, perfect offset and stance, dark tints. to me its the perfect ballance between performance and comfort/practicality, and some what sleeperish.

the main 4 cars that i was looking for were satgea, legnum vr4, toyota caldina, and a wrx hatchback.

searched for ages on forums and carsales, trading post, car yards etc etc, and test drove a few of each 4.

Nissan Stagea- nice big family wagon. and that was the problem for me. just too big. other than that, great car. awesome aftermarket support, plenty to choose from. the auto box was surprisingly nice too.

Mitsubishi Legnum VR4- i really liked ths car. drove very nicely, quite nice interior, good factory performance, but VERY limited aftermarket support. and that turned me off big time.

Toyota Caldina- at the time there was only 1 i could manage to see and inspect, and the owner didnt want me driving it. they may be a good car but the situation was a bit awkward, and the Mrs and i agreed that the shape was not to our liking.

Subaru Impreza WRX- There were plenty of wrx wagons in my price range. i test drove a few. some were quite nice, some were very stock, and some were complete junk. one in particular caught our eye. so we bloody bought it.

its a late 90's model wrx hatch. green in colour, with a 2004 wrx engine and gearbox. its got a few other engine goodies, basically to keep it strong and reliable. late model sti rims, tein coilovers, a few other bits and pieces. out of every car i inspected, it was the cleanest, most well looked after car i saw. the guy who sold it was and older gent, mid 50's and was a complete subaru nut!! he had owned the car from new, and was only selling it to fund a new sti.

i havnt had a big drive in it yet, ive been just too flat out with work coming into the xmas silly season.

i will get some pics, and a bit of a write up about how it really handles and drives when i get the chance.

feels a bit odd being in a subaru, and not a skyline, but its been a good transition so far.

cheers guys, Adam

[Cowboy1600]

I'd love to say nice pickup, but do not like boxer engines one bit.

Each to their own, however. Hope it brings you years of joy....turncoat.

[Silvia GTR]

Haha Traitor!

Rexies arent too bad I guess I still cant get past the myriad of 90's imports though

[starwarz]

Its not a skyline thing its a Sport Car thing.....almost everybody i know who has had 300zx's, skylines and silvia reach a point when the commodore and falcon sound like a good idea lol. Hopefully this disease does not reach me, WRX still heaps of fun.

[adamskill]

There will be more Skylines in the future. and as soon as money permits its a R34 gtr i'll be trading up to, or the mrs can just have the wrx

[10 4]

After today, I have a new found respect for WRXs...

[zebra]

I haven't been in the Nissan camp for a while now...can't say I miss it tbh

Nice buy with the WRX, I do like to rubbish them...but secretly I would love a 1999 2 Door STi

[Cowboy1600]

After today, I have a new found respect for WRXs...

Care to expand?

[10 4]

Got to bash a mates one around a track lol

[GTR-N1]

After today, I have a new found respect for WRXs...

So what you mean is, "If my Skyline is broken down beside the highway, I'll willingly submit to getting into a WRX as I thumb a ride"

Hahaa, my XT has been a good car. I just don't tamper with it except to clean the AFM

[Chris Rogers]

I haven't been in the Nissan camp for a while now...can't say I miss it tbh

Nice buy with the WRX, I do like to rubbish them...but secretly I would love a 1999 2 Door STi

I want a 1986 2 door hatch myself.

subies are fun things just don't do anything silly in it as they like to drive straight into things when pushed.

(mine is the exception)

[Hank Scorpio]

Did you by a Forester GT or a WRX hatch? I just don't consider the hatchback a true wagon in which case a Legnum VR-4 or Autech 260RS should have been purchased

[adamskill]

Did you by a Forester GT or a WRX hatch? I just don't consider the hatchback a true wagon in which case a Legnum VR-4 or Autech 260RS should have been purchased

haha.

it is a wrx hatch. wagon or not, i chose it because it impressed me more than both the legnum's and Stag's i inspected and drove.

im not saying its the greatest thing that ever grace the roads, but compared to what i saw and drove, it was the far better package for my needs, and in very good condition for its age.

[anton_willows]

I had a similar decision with the 'wagon' hunting a few months ago considered all the options above and drove quite a few different cars. In the end I settled with the leggy as I found a low kilometer (68xxxklms) great condition with all the extras.. leather seats, sunroof, woodgrain dash, passengers side airbag, etc etc..

I loved the factory performance, all wheel drive and AYC is just great! Handled like it was glued to the road!

Goodluck with your WRX mate.. Hope it serves you well!

[zoomzoom]

The amount of parts available for the stagea has kept me an owner for 5 years. The knowledge about what parts fit what model stagea is less common than the parts themselves however, so you need to do your homework. Body panels and interior pieces are going to be hard to find replacements for, but engine, transmission ans suspension pieces are everywhere. The stagea is old school technology - RWD straight 6 based platform, which is handy for a workhorse vehicle. Id much rather be working on the stagea's than the legnums engine bay.

[ras1983]

I had a Legnum for a year. Nice car, but when it comes time to find even basic parts, it's very tough going. I came to the conclusion they're too unique a car and decided to sell it.

[Truffles]

The amount of parts available for the stagea has kept me an owner for 5 years. The knowledge about what parts fit what model stagea is less common than the parts themselves however, so you need to do your homework. Body panels and interior pieces are going to be hard to find replacements for, but engine, transmission ans suspension pieces are everywhere. The stagea is old school technology - RWD straight 6 based platform, which is handy for a workhorse vehicle. Id much rather be working on the stagea's than the legnums engine bay.

Well lucky he bought the WRX, a good 14 months ago..

[Mayuri Krab]

Its not a skyline thing its a Sport Car thing.....almost everybody i know who has had 300zx's, skylines and silvia reach a point when the commodore and falcon sound like a good idea lol. Hopefully this disease does not reach me, WRX still heaps of fun.

Its true, I've being saving up for a while now for my next car & initially the list was pretty big with a big variety but now I pretty much just nailed it down to:

FG XR6T

HSV clubsport (last gen)

BF F6

Pretty much just wanted a powerful car with decent acceleration but also more partical compared to my R33 (interior fancy-ness or fuel usage was not a care factor).

[kawasakirider]

Pretty much just wanted a powerful car with decent acceleration but also more partical compared to my R33.

Given the size and weight of your three aforementioned choices, I dare say that each one suits your desire for more particles than your R33. Nice to see you've done your homework.