I want YOUR advice - Help me buy a car!!!!!!!!!

[Drunkenmonkey]

i noticed the reduced vod on spotme's and it seemed to haul alot more

[Guest r0ksta]

vod?

[Guest]

valley of death

-smurff

[Drunkenmonkey]

the swap over between primary and scondary turbo

[Guest r0ksta]

How does adjustable suspension work?

[Guest]

 r0ksta said:

How does adjustable suspension work?

really ??

google it

-smurff

[Guest r0ksta]

In subarus I have no idea how it works, ie so what does it mean then>

[swiftbrad]

hmm, um.. suspension that is adjustable? *out on a limb ere*

[Guest r0ksta]

but how do you/where do you/why would you want adjustable springs? do they give a better ride or a more harder or is that the whole point that you can adjust it? any probs with having adjustables in it? why do they have to be certd?

[Drunkenmonkey]

adjustibles can be hight camber damping adjusting, unsure why they have to be certed, how.. by using an certain spanner you can change hight damping is you stiffness which is by a little knob, camber is a bit more serious generally dont by wheel alignment,

[Guest r0ksta]

So with that first one I had listed, it has adjustables and its been certed so does that bode well or ill?

[Guest]

Personal experience... i don't know if anyone has said this before but... DO NOT in any circumstances go to Bxx Rxxxt Xars... I've been there with friends so many times non of the sales know anything whatsoever about cars and their cars were all in so many surprising ways

[Guest r0ksta]

Yea they do come across as your usual used car dealer quite pushy. Have not heard many positives about them.

[Guest]

adjustable suspension- has to be certed, and the first one is. that is a plus, since that was the more expensive way to lower the car that you were interested in.

many people complain about the VOD- valley of death- the point when the primary turbo runs out of puff before the secondary kicks in. the later models (facelift) seem to have improved up on the earlier versions, though not as well as the S401 did. I have a '99 B4, and I don't mind the VOD. I like the twin turbo system. but we all have our own individual preferences. I would suggest you go to a few car yards, and drive a few of them (both facelift and non) and see what you think.

also- i thought you said you wanted the half-leather interior, which the facelift car you are looking at does NOT have. I'm not a fan of the cloth, but maybe it looks better in person?

[Treecrusher]

Facelift has a better engine, newer interior and different wheels. For the price you want to spend I would only look at a facelift. I bought the BH legacy (non facelift) in my signature for $6,500 with 128,000 ks over 6 months ago now, so if you spend up around the 9/10k mark for a non facelift expect the car yard to offer you in the region of 4/5k as a trade in. You will loose money on a facelift as well but IMO probably not as much.

Rule of thumb, non facelift with around 100,000 - 130,000 ks you should pick up for around $7k. Facelift with same ks I wouldn't spend more than $11k. Those will be private though and you will find a lot of people think their cars are worth more, but find it really hard to find a buyer (i.e. people with their cars on trademe for 6 months trying to get $10k for a car thats worth $7k).

[Guest]

 r0ksta said:

So with that first one I had listed, it has adjustables and its been certed so does that bode well or ill?

I don't think it bodes either way. If someone has fitted adjustables to the car they've done it for one of many reasons e.g:

- cosmetics

- bragging rights

- to set the car up for some track use

If they did it for cosmetic reasons, then they have more money then sense

Bragging rights are bragging rights

If they did it for track use that isn't so great but it may never have seen the track and even if it did, it is likely it was looked after.

And to clarify, adjustable suspension is mostly the same across all cars as in a road car, it is normally an aftermarket modification (hence the need for certification to make sure it is safe). As a minimum, adjustable suspension allows you (using tools) to change the ride height, spring pretension (so how firm the spring is) and damping level (how firm the shock absorber is).

Normally you'll set it up once and then not mess with it, especially as you have to jack the car up, whip off the wheels and use tools to adjust anything.

Now, about the infamous VOD.

The Legacy's of that era have two smallish turbos. One (the primary) is used all the time and it runs out of puff somewhere around 5000rpm. Before then, the secondary turbo is not being used... there are two valves isolating it from the exhaust gasses and the intake system.

At around 4500rpm, the computer opens those two valves. When this happens, the primary turbo slows down a little bit because all of a sudden, 50% of the exhaust gas used to spin it has another turbo to spin up... the secondary. So for a short period of time, the primary turbo slows down and the secondary is getting up to speed. During this time, the amount of boost produced drops so the amount of power the engine produces drops as well.

In a straight line, that transition is pretty quick, especially on the revision D engines. The problem (and the nickname) comes from when you change gear while the system is trying to make the transition between primary and primary + secondary turbos at ~4500rpm.

If you driving around and you shift up a gear at 4500rpm you'll encounter the vod. Basically you lose most if not all boost. If you shift at ~4000rpm you're fine as the computer hasn't opened the valves to get the secondary going. If you shift at ~6000rpm then the transition has already happened so both turbos are spooled up when you shift.

There are a few ways to reduce this effect, one is to use a Zerosports sequential controller to move that changeover engine speed either to an engine speed you don't use much (so maybe you like to change gear at 4500rpm around town, you could move the transition to 4800rpm so you don't hit it). I suspect that pushing the transition to higher rpm also makes the transition shorter.

Another option is to get an aftermarket computer (all models) or tune (revision D's only) as they can reduce the feeling of the transition in a straight line (they can't really fix the 'shift into it' problem.

The third option (and one frequently discussed on this forum) is to do a single turbo conversion. This involves removing the two smaller turbos and fitting one larger one along with the engine computer to suit. Because there is only one turbo, there is no transition so no vod. The downside to this is you don't get any boost until later in the rev range (say 3000-3500rpm instead of 2000rpm). Oh, and it takes a bit of work because you have to source a whole lot of parts, pull the engine out etc.

Does that all make sense?

[Guest r0ksta]

Hmm yea I get you, still not convinced that its going to make a huge diff to me whether I go for a facelft/non factlift.

I still like that first black RSK B4, then the next would be hmmm I dont know. Really keen on a black or white one.

[Guest r0ksta]

hey can I check out anyones RSK B4 tomrrow just for a look around or one of yous could take us for a ride?

[Guest r0ksta]

Im still keen on this one even though its non facelift:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=274669297

why?

ticks my boxes, has towbar, exhaust, adjustables/lowered/manual, black, tints, relatively low kms.

Will be checking it out and getting it VTNZ/AA checked.

These are the other front runners in order of preferance:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=274981631

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=273784714

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=275816413

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=274513876

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=262975549

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=276886081

[Guest]

I actually think the pricing is all to high and the bumpers on the 2002s are damn ugly.

Why is it your looking at the Legacys if you don't mine me asking?

[Guest r0ksta]

Gosh, I dont care about the pricing overall really, those are the vehicles Im interested in and I want a legacy because I want one? Is that not enough?

[Guest]

WTF calm down you dick i was only asking, you wanted our opinion and i gave it.

[Guest r0ksta]

 sharktale said:

WTF calm down you dick i was only asking, you wanted our opinion and i gave it.

Great attitude. Yea, opinion on the vehicles that I have put forth, not on why I want the car in the first place.

[Guest]

 r0ksta']

[quote name='sharktale said:

WTF calm down you dick i was only asking, you wanted our opinion and i gave it.

/quote]

Great attitude. Yea, opinion on the vehicles that I have put forth, not on why I want the car in the first place.

I'v given my opinion on links you've put forward and you take offence!

I ask you a simple Q and you take offence. If price is not an issue and you still want a legacy buy a S401.

[Guest r0ksta]

I want to buy a RSK coz I like the shape and its only a temp thing until mid 2011 when Ill be throwing to the dealers on a new bmw so the RSK is just for a little fun.