Stagea RWD vs Stagea 4WD??

[Brazen]

Hi guys - thanks for being so helpful so far!

Just about to finalise stuff for buying my new Stagea... but just seen advertised today 2 newly complied 2000 year Stageas - but they are RWD (2000 year ones starting to come through yay)...

Now as Ive said before I am fairly lost when it comes to cars - so would love your thoughts on pros and cons, and an opinion on what ud buy if u were me out of the following choices... ALL under 50,000kms and pristine condition...

1. 1998 Stagea 4WD stock standard

2. 2000 Stagea RWD with 18inch Nissan 5-spoke 350Z rims and only 15,000kms... EXTRA $4000 purchase price probably over 1998 one

3. 2000 Stagea RWD stock standard with factory electric leather seats/woodgrain etc ... prob extra $4000 over the 1998

I can obviously see the differences not related to RWD / 4WD ... for the price of Option 1 + $3000 for a good set of rims/tyres/lowering I could just buy the newer one with 350Z rims, or the electric leather seats one and wait a year to afford rims (and always be a year behind on affording other mods)... so thats more a personal choice (but would still love to know your preference) - but I am most wanting input on the 4WD vs RWD and year of manufacture pros and cons...

Feedback over weekend before its too late on the current deal would be MUCH appreciated... what are the pros and cons u can come up with 4 me to mull over - weight / performance / parts & servicing / safety / future resale / etc etc?????

My intended applications are for moderately modded engine daily city driver - kids in the back - with the (very) occasional towing of a small box trailer or MAYBE (not a decisive factor) a small boat in and out of boat ramps and of course SAU cruises!

Thanks!!

Adam

[tigerleo62]

I personally would go with the 4WD as that is an important part of what makes it 'different' to me... otherwise it is a large heavy wagon albeit with a turbo Though I guess the RWD wagon would be lighter than the 4WD...

Not that it rains in Perth, but the forum reports I have read of the 4WD's handling on wet roads leaves most other cars for dead, so when it does rain here you would probably be pleased that you got a 4WD then...

Also, I guess if you are thinking of towing a boat from a boat ramp then the 4WD would be choice.

If you have the 4WD and you want just RWD then you can simply pull a fuse - but if you have the RWD and decide you want 4WD then you are stuffed.

[Brazen]

Thanks Tigerleo ... Hmm yeah ur right - it is a lot of what makes the difference to me too... Im obviously buying a stagea and not an R34 Skyline for some family/ safety/ practicality issues... so makes sense to stay with 4WD but I dunno - resale on 2000 model?? hmm. For most uses RWD only would be fine wouldnt it (just rain etc) - still TRC and ABS... plus would have more off the line with 170-odd less kgs seeings I aint going to mod heaps maybe that would be good for a bit ofextra GO... aargh... more input please!!

Ohh - and are u dead set serious about being able to get RWD by pulling a fuse?? So if I want a bit of fun when its just me out and about with no kids I could pull a fuse and get the torque shift etc to get the rears spinning?????? Then plug it back in again???? Edit - phoned tune shop here and said while possible not recommended - better to get a new computer to program a changeable set-up for RWD only torque...

[Brazen]

Oh and got some more input in favour of the 4WD - IF by any chance several years down the track I want to do a 26DETT conversion... drop straight in with 4WD atezza - but dam sight harder to do with a RWD... hmmm really starting to lean towards the 1998 4WD... but still tell me if theres other factors I am missing!!!

[Pva_Glue]

There is Autech STegea @ albany Hwy Skippy imports.

[Tommyk]

no question about it.

go the AWD

[mcnamg]

from what i have read and heard just pulling the fuse can cause damage. just because you have turned of the attessa system there is still a mechanical connection.

[Lone]

Im interested as well to see what bad effects having the fuse out could do to the Stagea, I wonder but doubt it would be safe enough for being on a dyno?

[Jay95R33]

Nope, you can't just pull the fuse There is a mechanical conection that needs to be disabled.

I've posted up a way of disabling the fwd in the Stagea's in a different thread, and I'll be testing it today when the car is up on a hoist (if the tyre shop has a spare hoist for 15 mins ).

If this doesn't work, the only other way would be to remove the front drive shaft.

J

[Sk0pe]

So something like the G.R.I.D Dash Dancer ETS wouldn't do the trick?? That's GOT to be easier than removing a drive shaft...

[Terminal]

surely removing the front drive shaft would just make the car sit there and spin the dif. wouldn't you need to remove the drive shaft and then lock the front dif?

[Jay95R33]

The GRID system would work perfectly, but would cost a heap more. Would be good if your taking it to the track though

Terminal - I 'think' the max split is 50/50, so the front diff would just spin but all the power would be going to the rear wheels cause the fronts would have no load at all.... I think that's how it works anyway

Late today I'll try the 'pull the plug, pump the brakes 5 times' to get it into 2wd mode and see if it actually works.

J

[mcnamg]

either way terminal i think we have just proved that its whole lot harder to get the awd stageas to stay in rwd than just a fuse.

[Lone]

Jay95R33: Good stuff, Ill be interested to see how it all goes

[Sydneykid]

Stageas ATTESSA'a are the same as R33 GTR's, they always have pressure in the hydraulic system. It is one of the reasons why the R33 GTR's are quicker into 4wd than R32 GTR's. So when you pull the fuse, you remove electrical power from the ATTESSA but there is still residual hydraulic pressure pushing the clutches together. Forget about wearing out the ATTESSA on the dyno, they just drive off the rollers.

The drive shaft that you remove is the one linking the ATTESSA unit with the front diff. You do need to block the hole in the ATTEESA when you take out the driveshaft.

I have not seen an ATTESSA controller that allows the residual pressure to be bled off. So I think they still would drive off the rollers. They quote 100% rear drive, but I haven't seen it.

Best way.....use a 4wd dyno.

[Jay95R33]

My god it's hot here. Hovering around the 39 degrees mark !!!

Anyway, just got back from the tyre place (big thanks to tyrepower Tuggers. They let me use their hoist for 20min and didn't take the 10 bucks when I offered it to them).

OK, this is what I did and what happend.

Got her up on the hoist, pulled the plug uder the dash, started her up and pumped the brakes five times. 4wd light on dash started flashing which is good. Popped her into DRIVE and took the handbrake and foot brake off. Only the rears were spinning which is good.

Rev'd her up to about 40km/h and the front tyres where JUST turning. I'm talking about 1 rotation every 2 seconds !! I slowed it back down to zero km/h and got the fella there to put his hand on the tyre to see how much pressure was needed to stop it from rotating.

Rev'd it back upto 40km/h and it took just about no effort to stop the right front wheel from turning. He certainly wasn't trying hard anyway.

So I thought I'd turn it off and plug the plug back in. Done that, turned her back on, back into DRIVE, handbrake and foot brake off. Just idling the fronts were spinning as fast as the rears (no load etc..) and reving it to 40km/h saw them both spin up just as fast.

I didn't get the bloke to hold the front wheel while it was in 4wd mode

Soooo, from that I would say that it works. Remember that the factory Nissan R33 GTR workshop manual actually states that this is how to put it into 2wd mode.

But I'm also not sure how it would go reving to 150km/h on a dyno !!

It's your call I say. If your unsure then get them to pop the front drive shaft out and at least you'll have piece of mind.

But next time it rains I'm gunna go for a spin in 2wd mode

J

[Jay95R33]

The method I used is outlined in this thread;

Have a read through all of it.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=52486

[mcnamg]

i thought that this was ok for short periods of time but prolonged used in 2wd mode can cause some damage to the system someone correct me if i am wrong something about wear on parts that arent powered but still connected :confused:

[Jay95R33]

Yepp, I've been thinking about this. For dyno work I'll probably get them to pull the front drive shaft, but if I need 2wd (for some stupid reason) and going to be driving it ie. front wheels turning, I'll use the unplug and 5 brake presses way.

Best to be safe than sorry. The last thing you want is a $2000 bill to rebuild the clutch packs in the centre diff.

J