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Problem - Tongue in Ear

marc2

By marc2,
in Wagoneers

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marc2 Community Regular

marc2

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Hello to all 'Stag' Forum members. I am a new member and can only congratulate those that have contributed for the benefit of others. A very professioanl and responsible approach to many issues raised. Well done and keep up the damned fine work.

I have a small problem in that having sold my S/Wagon (VT 5.7L ++ mods) I am continually suffering from "Tongue in Ear" syndrome.

You see our two dogs travel with us quite frequently and when in the S/Wagon they remained behind the barrier. Now that we are back to a single car I find it terribly difficult driving with a rather large Rhodesian Ridgeback looking at you in the rear vision mirror and giving you a friendly lick of the ear. I need another S/Wagon - enter the Stagea.

On paper, a very impressive vehicle and from reading this forum my initial impressions have only been reinforced as to the tremendous "hidden" talent which is untapped.

My apologies for the long preamble but my question is - has any one had the opportunity to own/drive a 'Stag' and a BA Falcon XR6 turbo? If so what is their 'gut' comparison between the two vehicles? This is the car I currently share with the dogs. As an all round touring vehicle I find it quite comfortable with performance at an acceptable level.

My preference would be to procure a Series 2, auto with a few trimmings.

Any feedback would be appreciated, and the opportunity to view a 'stag' would also be greatly appreciated. I reside in Canberra.

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Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

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Posted
Hello to all 'Stag' Forum members. I am a new member and can only congratulate those that have contributed for the benefit of others. A very professioanl and responsible approach to many issues raised. Well done and keep up the damned fine work.

I have a small problem in that having sold my S/Wagon (VT 5.7L ++ mods) I am continually suffering from "Tongue in Ear" syndrome.

You see our two dogs travel with us quite frequently and when in the S/Wagon they remained behind the barrier. Now that we are back to a single car I find it terribly difficult driving with a rather large Rhodesian Ridgeback looking at you in the rear vision mirror and giving you a friendly lick of the ear. I need another S/Wagon - enter the Stagea.

On paper, a very impressive vehicle and from reading this forum my initial impressions have only been reinforced as to the tremendous "hidden" talent which is untapped.

My apologies for the long preamble but my question is - has any one had the opportunity to own/drive a 'Stag' and a BA Falcon XR6 turbo? If so what is their 'gut' comparison between the two vehicles? This is the car I currently share with the dogs. As an all round touring vehicle I find it quite comfortable with performance at an acceptable level.

My preference would be to procure a Series 2, auto with a few trimmings.

Any feedback would be appreciated, and the opportunity to view a 'stag' would also be greatly appreciated. I reside in Canberra.

Oh dear, a Foulcan comparison, I can relate to that, our Stagea replaced an ED waggon.

Firslty the Stagea cost less than a third what a new Foulcan waggon would have

The build quality is at least 3 times better in the Stagea

I couldn't buy a XR6 Turbo waggon, they weren't available

The Stagea handling is at least twice as good in the dry and about 20 timees better in the wet. The Foulcan waggon was very very difficult to drive fast in the wet.

The depreciation of the Stagea will be less than a quarter what the Foulcan would have been

I have done less than $350 in power up mods so far and the 4wd power output already exceeds the Foulcan waggon 2wd power output. And I am only 1/3 the way on my power up plan.

All the power up and handling parts for the Stagea are readily available, both new and used. Better still, the knowledge on WHAT to do and what NOT to do is easily available.

Any new parts I have needed (cam belt for example) I bought from my local Nissan dealer. Their Consult diagnostics computer plugs straight into the Stagea output port.

Their are a few downsides, the Stagea is comfortable for 4, not 5 like the Foulcan was. It is 2.5 litres not 4 litres, the turbo makes up the difference in max power and torque, but it's still a 2.5 litre off boost. Stageas are unique, so be prepared for questions like "What is that?" or even worse "Nice Volvo". They are heavy ~1650 kgs (similar to the Foulcan waggon) and have 4wd loadings, so don't expect 2.5 litre N/A fuel economy. Modifying the Stagea is 50% of the reason why I bought one, be aware of that if you want to buy a waggon and not touch it. Insurance is a fair bit more ($1300 in my case, with Shannons). No warranty with mine, I imported it myself via a broker, saved $6K and that buys a lot of warranty parts. That, so far, I haven't needed, so it's been upgrade money. The brakes are slightly marginal, personally I would like them to be a bit better to match my power target. That is easily fixed with a set of GTR callipers, decent pads and DBA slotted rotors.

My 20 cents worth:cheers:

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Jay95R33 Grand Master

Jay95R33

Posted
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G'day Marc,

The Stagea's have seemed to catch on a bit..

I'm in Canberra too, so if you want to have a look over mine we can meet up. Happy to take you for a drive around so you can see how it feels etc..

Cheers

Jayson

P.S. - still laughing over the tounge-in-ear syndrome :rofl:

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marc2 Community Regular

marc2

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Oh dear, a Foulcan comparison, I can relate to that, our Stagea replaced an ED  waggon.

Firslty the Stagea cost less than a third what a new Foulcan waggon would have

The build quality is at least 3 times better in the Stagea

I couldn't buy a XR6 Turbo waggon, they weren't available

The Stagea handling is at least twice as good in the dry and about 20 timees better in the wet.  The Foulcan waggon was very very difficult to drive fast in the wet.

The depreciation of the Stagea will be less than a quarter what the Foulcan would have been

I have done less than $350 in power up mods so far and the 4wd power output already exceeds the Foulcan waggon 2wd power output.  And I am only 1/3 the way on my power up plan.

All the power up and handling parts for the Stagea are readily available, both new and used.  Better still, the knowledge on WHAT to do and what NOT to do is  easily available.

Any new parts I have needed (cam belt for example) I bought from my local Nissan dealer.  Their Consult diagnostics computer plugs straight into the Stagea output port.

Their are a few downsides, the Stagea is comfortable for 4, not 5 like the Foulcan was.  It is 2.5 litres not 4 litres, the turbo makes up the difference in max power and torque, but it's still a 2.5 litre off boost.  Stageas are unique, so be prepared for questions like "What is that?" or even worse "Nice Volvo".  They are heavy ~1650 kgs (similar to the Foulcan waggon) and have 4wd loadings, so don't expect 2.5 litre N/A fuel economy.  Modifying the Stagea is 50% of the reason why I bought one, be aware of that if you want to buy a waggon and not touch it.  Insurance is a fair bit more ($1300 in my case, with Shannons).  No warranty with mine, I imported it myself via a broker, saved $6K and that buys a lot of warranty parts.  That, so far, I haven't needed, so it's been upgrade money.  The brakes are slightly marginal, personally I would like them to be a bit better to match my power target.  That is easily fixed with a set of GTR callipers, decent pads and DBA slotted rotors.

My 20 cents worth:cheers:

Sydneykid much appreciated on your fast response - have you driven a BA XR6 turbo? She who must be obeyed loves her Falcon, and I may have to present logical arguments to replace it with the 'stag'

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marc2 Community Regular

marc2

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G'day Marc,

The Stagea's have seemed to catch on a bit..

I'm in Canberra too, so if you want to have a look over mine we can meet up.  Happy to take you for a drive around so you can see how it feels etc..

Cheers

Jayson

P.S. - still laughing over the tounge-in-ear syndrome :rofl:

Jayson,

Your offer is muchly appreciated. I can be contacted on 6251 5977 (w) - we may be able to work out an agreeable time frame for all concerned.

Regards,

Marc

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Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

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Sydneykid much appreciated on your fast response - have you driven a BA XR6 turbo? She who must be obeyed loves her Falcon, and I may have to present logical arguments to replace it with the 'stag'

Yep, quite a few actually, on the road and circuit. Not a bad thing when you get down to it, easily the best XR6 so far. But the build quality is .......................well it's still a Falcon, let's leave it at that.

For the same prices as a new XR6 turbo Sedan I could buy an R33GTR, that's a fair comparison. But a Stagea waggon versus an XR6 sedan is not a true comparison. If you want a waggon, then the Stagea is easily superior to a Falcon waggon, any Falcon waggon.:rofl:

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marc2 Community Regular

marc2

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Marc,

Buy a Stagea, easy as that. If the missus doesnt like it, get a new one of those too.

Ken.

PS, no offence.

RBNT now you have added yet another option into the equation - this is becoming complicated (chuckle, chuckle)

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