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what else besides VR4

i am a bit noobish, i know trucks well and have worked on em, and now i want a project car. something older than 5 years, and thats not exactly a very common car (ex: mustang, WRX, etc. i am not shy from working on it...

i do live in colorado so it needs to be high altitude friendly, and preferably a 4WD or AWD. i have heard quite a bit about both the galant and 3000GT VR4s, and have also been thinkin about the mazda RX-7 (since its so light the RWD wouldn't suck so bad)

really the question is... what else is there, that can get beefy, unique, and also handle snow, dirt, ice, etc...
 

Terry Posten

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Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
9,009
Location
Davenport, Iowa USA
Turbo cars work best in high alt conditions.

If you want to play on poor surfaces like snow, gravel, etc... look for cars that have "Rally" backgrounds.

The 3K VR4s get pricey and really don't hold mods as well as the DSM or Galant VR4 platforms.
 

Find a gvr4........if you have no luck finding a decent one for a good price, you can pick up an AWD TEL(talon, eclipse, laser) easily. There a dime a dozen. If your wanting unique, and rare....it's a no brainer.
 

I have a 2004 Subaru Forester XT as my other vehicle. It is not common (well at least around here), has an STI engine (with a smaller turbo, intercooler, and a few other things).

It is just as much a sleeper as the GVR4 if that is what you are into.

It is 6 years old, so I believe it qualifies. There is a car payment, but it is very small.
 

^^ Sounds like your trying to sell it.
You know subi's with the wrx motors have MHI turbo's? Subaru with help from mitsubishi.......thats great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif
 

Heck no I am not selling it.

It is part of our "system". My wife drives it around in the winter with the kids when the roads are bad or during the summer.

I do the same with the GVR4.

Both run snow tires in the winter and extreme summer tires in the summer.

My DD is an Escort GT. My wife's is a Town and Country.

This way we keep the miles and wear off of both.

This arrangement seems to work pretty well when you don't have any family or friends to give you a hand.

Stop pocking fun at my Subi. OP isn't asking about GVR4's anyway, he is asking about alternatives. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif

We are ballers with poor people's STI's and EVO's (I know it's the Evo 0 but that's how I see it). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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DR1665

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Oct 19, 2005
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4,642
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Iowa City, IA
3000GT VR4 is nice, but fairly complex. It's heavier and less practical. A GALANT VR4, on the other hand, has 4 doors, a decent amount of ground clearance, a more fuel efficient four cylinder engine (that has been known to make over 1000hp in qualified hands), is easier to work on, shares a lot of powertrain components with the aforementioned, dime-a-dozen DSM, and has a racing pedigree steeped in off-tarmac performance, all while being practically invisible to thieves and police.

These are classy little cars with a lot of potential. It's nice to know you drive one of likely less than 2000 of a particular car in the entire country, yet can talk shop with other owners around the world. This is a very capable, globally recognized vehicle.

Now, if you want something more akin to your truck experience, I might suggest a Volvo 240. There's plenty of room under the hood for your choice of V8, turbocharged or otherwise, you can mate your V8 to a T-5 transmission, which allows for countless options through mainstream hot rod suppliers, and it's RWD. Added bonus, the (original) Volvo comes from the land of ice and snow, so it's built to handle those conditions right out of the box. Odds are good that there are three or four on Craigslist near you right now for under $1500 that run. You can snag one and get EVERYTHING you want off the iPdusa.com website for under $2000. Granted, it can be odd spending $2000 on a car you got for $500, but they are wonderful cars that just grow on you.

Hope to see you in a Galant soon, though!
 

thanks for the reply's! the gvr4 still sounds awesome, but the only thing that sort of keeps me shy from it is i am a man who likes torque... HP is cool n all but i much prefer the pull off the line rather than the top speed, and its my understanding that miss GVR4 is lacking in that department.

so... with that out there... what could i look into for a torque monster?

the volvo 240 does look nice! i will do some research on her today and tonight and see what i think!
 

JSchleim18

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Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
4,801
Location
Long Island, NY
If you want torque, you could easily build a 2.3 or 2.4 for these cars. That'll be plenty of torque. Even so, I've seen people put down 350whp/350 lbs of torque. So the torque is possible.
 

DR1665

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Oct 19, 2005
Messages
4,642
Location
Iowa City, IA
Quoting jazz4001:
i much prefer the pull off the line rather than the top speed, and its my understanding that miss GVR4 is lacking in that department.


I'm afraid you've been mislead on that one, sir. RWD cars can hook up off the line, but AWD doesn't waste time and power spinning tires. Even my 99% stock GVR4 will get up and move if I launch it right. It's pretty exhilarating, actually. Slip the clutch smoothly, but quickly, from about 3000rpm and a Galant will get the jump on just about anything I've ever come across. With maybe $1000 in mods, you can have a completely docile GVR4 that has no problem putting over 300 to all four wheels from a dead stop quite soundly.

Just saying. Volvos are still cheaper and more versatile, though.
 

belize1334

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Nov 18, 2003
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3,316
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Bozeman, MT
If you REALLY want to get in DEEP into a torque project...get a ST-165 or ST-185 (1st / 2nd gen Toyota All-Trac) and swap the 5vz-fe v-6 out of a Tacoma. It mates to the AWD trans from a RAV-4 and and, miraculously, it fits in the engine bay and even lines up with the Drive-Shaft tunnel. You'd need custom wiring harness and full EMS, custom engine mounts, and custom drive-shaft so it's not a particularly cheap swap...but it would satisfy your AWD Torque needs.
 

SmoothCustomer

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Jul 6, 2008
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3,319
Location
Lexington, KY
Does anybody now what kind of potential a Starion or Conquest would have? I would think high because it's fairly light, rwd and 2.6L turbo, but they also make like 165 hp stock which is incredibly lame. Anybody know?
 

boostingwild

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Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
462
Location
new york, ny
starion and conquest are okay cars. they lack in fuel department. they have a two injector setup and makes it hard to get big power out of them. you would have to convert to a custom mpi setup to get decent setup without having to worry about maxing out the fuel.
 

4thStroke

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Oct 22, 2007
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1,864
Location
Vancouver, WA
Quoting Dbossman:
You know subi's with the wrx motors have MHI turbo's? Subaru with help from mitsubishi.......thats great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif



They are IHI turbos.

Many guys upgrade to MHI turbos.
 

GVR-4

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Apr 22, 2002
Messages
2,610
Location
Asheville, NC USA
The Starion/Conquest engine is rather low tech and is akin to a tractor engine. IMHO.
 

Still mitsubishi turbo's.
I beg the differ on the torque comment. Are cars come with more torque than hp.
 

4thStroke

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Oct 22, 2007
Messages
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Vancouver, WA
How do you figure IHI = MHI?

Subarus generally make more torque than Mitsus.

I had a Forester 2.5XT for a while. I miss it. The 04/05 had the STi engine. Many STi parts swap over, such as most suspension comoponents. Theyre fun cars, but I chose to go Mitsu for a car to go fast in.
 

Not sure about WA, but in WV there mitsu turbos! There's a subi crew here I'm semi aquainted with is why I'm aware of this fact. Both sti's are sporting mitsu turbos. The two wrx's are also......all from factory. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 

now i have heard about that 4wd not losing traction off the line, but what about after the first ten feet? my interest isn't so much beating someone else, but just to personally feel power, not whiplash...

how would you mod the VR4 different to get more emphasis on torque?

a little off topic, whats the difference between 4WD and AWD?
 
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