other jdm awd car experiences?

[JDMricer]

hey guys/gals, Im getting tired of driving my accord and can't wait till spring to bring out the skyline. So I've decided to finally upgrade a bit. My plan is to drive to montreal tomorrow night (wednesday) buy a car on thursday and drive it back home. I definitely want something awd/turbo that I can dd and use in the winters but my problem is there is just too many cool cars to pick from. Ultimately it will probably come down to whoever gives me the best deal but i was wondering if anyone has had any personal experiences with any of these jdm cars as far as reliability and what not. Let me know your thoughts.

Here is my possibility list-

1-pulsar gti-r
pros-love SRs, my friend has one, it has been great, zero issues, smooth fun little car.
cons-my friend has one, somewhat of an orphan to get parts for I think.

2-st185/st205 gt-four
pros-3SGTEs are solid, toyota reliability, my friend has a st205 which has been flawless.
cons-my friend has one

3-gc wrx
pros-2.0l engine is one of the few subaru engines that isn't a pos I hear, fairly easy to get parts for I think.
cons-worried about how most subarus are junk and very expensive to maintain.

4-evo II
pros-4g63 is a great engine in theory, pretty rare around my parts, I think its the best looking and I think what I want.
cons-worried they will have the reliability of the other dsms of there time, in other words they are a time bomb waiting to go off. crankwalk?

5-famillia
pros-probably the cheapest of the bunch, nimble, smallest displacement so prob the best on gas.
cons-ugliest of the bunch, kinda hard for me to get excited about it.

[frankiman]

i'd go with the 323 gtr

i had a regular 323 as my first car, even tough its a bit ugly, it was still great to drive
almost bought a familia instead of my 2nd GTR
and its suuuper practical
once drove with 5 passengers (+me)
and you could probly beautify it a bit with a hatch spoiler and a front lip

and imo, this is how they stand in the ''looks'' department

1. toyota http://www.rhdquebec.com/showthread.php?t=10654
2. subi
3. mazda
4. mitsu
5. nissaawrk

[m_melen]

why are you set on jdm? cuz it's jdm tyte yo?
get a 2g eagle talon/mitsubishi eclipse, i work on them every day and they're great. you can hit 1100hp on a 4 cylinder if you ever want to drag it, and its parts are cheap.

if you're really that interested in jap, then get an evo 8. way sexy.

[bobbo]

Not exclusively "JDM" but I've got both an '02 WRX and a '04 Forester and they've been EXCELLENT cars for dependability. I'd have an STi in the garage instead of a Skyline if they weren't such a belly button car.
Parts cost is very reasonable. Shop around a little and you can save a lot of money.
GOOD LUCK!

[Skym]

Nissan Bluebird SSS AWD (rare) with SR20DET engine -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YplGObp4lhg

Nissan P11 Primera AWD (rare) with SR20DET engine -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_6JkEcwg60

Both are good sleeper cars. Make Honda owners go "what the, smoked by a family car" after it pulls away.

Honda do have 4wd station wagon, like shown in this videoclip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ZzqBPz4sY

So they could do the same.

[CDGuy]

Nissan Bluebird SSS AWD (rare) with SR20DET engine -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YplGObp4lhg

Isn't that just an old Altima with no headlights...?

[JDMricer]

i'd go with the 323 gtr

i had a regular 323 as my first car, even tough its a bit ugly, it was still great to drive
almost bought a familia instead of my 2nd GTR
and its suuuper practical
once drove with 5 passengers (+me)
and you could probly beautify it a bit with a hatch spoiler and a front lip

and imo, this is how they stand in the ''looks'' department

1. toyota http://www.rhdquebec.com/showthread.php?t=10654
2. subi
3. mazda
4. mitsu
5. nissaawrk

cool thanks for the input, I will take that into consideration.

why are you set on jdm? cuz it's jdm tyte yo?
get a 2g eagle talon/mitsubishi eclipse, i work on them every day and they're great. you can hit 1100hp on a 4 cylinder if you ever want to drag it, and its parts are cheap.

if you're really that interested in jap, then get an evo 8. way sexy.

if your seriously asking me why jdm, I'd seriously have to ask you why you are on this website and if you have learned anything while you where here.

Not exclusively "JDM" but I've got both an '02 WRX and a '04 Forester and they've been EXCELLENT cars for dependability. I'd have an STi in the garage instead of a Skyline if they weren't such a belly button car.
Parts cost is very reasonable. Shop around a little and you can save a lot of money.
GOOD LUCK!

thanks for the input bobbo!

Nissan Bluebird SSS AWD (rare) with SR20DET engine -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YplGObp4lhg

Nissan P11 Primera AWD (rare) with SR20DET engine -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_6JkEcwg60

Both are good sleeper cars. Make Honda owners go "what the, smoked by a family car" after it pulls away.

Honda do have 4wd station wagon, like shown in this videoclip -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ZzqBPz4sY

So they could do the same.

although I would definitely consider both of those cars, I was in Montreal last week and I'm fairly certain they don't have any.

[Skym]

Maybe the Bluebird is known as Altima in Canada???

CDguy, Altima is probably the name in Japan, etc. Outside those country's, like Australia, NZ, etc, it is known as a Bluebird.

This videoclip confirms they are the same car (Bluebird / Altima) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1QM2QyQ6YA

They raced Bluebird at Bathurst in Australia (1984) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwV7ZTyHY4M

So like Primera, is a racecar in sheeps clothing.

Nissan has alot of cars that were / are racecars.

[Terrh]

DSM's outperform most of those cars for less money and have cheap parts.

Pulsar GTiR's are good (at least my friends is) but terrible on fuel.

[king_cobra]

i have driven most of the models discussed and the only one that gets my rubber stamp is the gc wrx

[bignate]

I just got a ST185 for a winter beater. Fun little cars but feels soooooo SLOWWWWW compared to my GTR. Absolutely amazing in the snow though.

[dah_hunter]

My Favorite AWD car (4WD) is the Evo..

I have, the WRX is a very close second..

I would suggest either.. they are both amazing cars, but fast and fun..

The WRX is worse on gas then the Evo though..

However the WRX AWD is superior to the 4WD in the snow..

Evo has more head Room

WRX has better seats

Evo parts are easyer to get

WRX sounds way nicer

WRX have annoying engagement for there clutch..

WRX look better


I have been driving Evos 1/2 and WRX's for the last year.. i give them both a thumbs up

cant wait for mah Evo 3 to get here.

[CelicaKidd_205]

I just got a ST185 for a winter beater. Fun little cars but feels soooooo SLOWWWWW compared to my GTR. Absolutely amazing in the snow though.

I used to have a ST185, now I have a ST205 and I can tell you that the difference is like night and day as far as power goes. Both are really top notch cars, but if speed is your concern than a ST205 is a really good choice. Maybe not as quite as quick as an EVOII or STI, but having driven both of the others the difference is really not noticeable on the streets. However the Celicas feel much more refined inside than an EVOII and look 10x better than a STI on the outside.

[JDMricer]

My Favorite AWD car (4WD) is the Evo..

I have, the WRX is a very close second..

I would suggest either.. they are both amazing cars, but fast and fun..

The WRX is worse on gas then the Evo though..

However the WRX AWD is superior to the 4WD in the snow..

Evo has more head Room

WRX has better seats

Evo parts are easyer to get

WRX sounds way nicer

WRX have annoying engagement for there clutch..

WRX look better


I have been driving Evos 1/2 and WRX's for the last year.. i give them both a thumbs up

cant wait for mah Evo 3 to get here.

hahah, thanks for the input but now i want both!

[Murphy]

I had a GC WRX for a little while (had to sell one of two cars and the WRX was the one that sold) ... I'd definitely recommend it

Very connected feel to the handling, very precise, heaps of grip, sounds great

Mine was reliable for the time I had it but that wasn't that long unfortunately

Good luck