What is the T4R of the car world?

[Crywolf]

Alright, just my last .02 on Vw then I'm done. These cars get a bad wrap when people fail to maintain them at regular intervals then complain when they face expensive repairs. When these autos are serviced properly like all cars should be, they are very, very reliable. This whole debate though is simply the op's preference. If you want T4r reliability and you like the way Toyota's feel, then staying in the family with an Is300 is a good recommendation.

 

[JohnsD90]

tough call..... t4r car equiv? hmmmm

I guess the only car on the road that is reliable, powerful and extremely good on fuel is a mk4 tdi... only the years from 2000-2002.. with the ALH engine. ( the good fast and cheap win...lol)

I modded mine at 350k to 140hp and 240 ftlbs and drove the #$%^ out of it till 550k when a board member bought it. of course everything still worked and it was pulling hard.

Makes me wonder why no diesel cars in north america...

A 1.9 TDI ALH with a VNT 17 turbo setup in a 3rd gen runner would be awsome!

Lol, I would get flamed for it, but it would have to be a VNT 17/22 with Rocketchip stage 5 with power plus injectors and a bigger intercooler with the stage 3 clutch cause the VR6 one won't hold the power.

 

[JohnsD90]

I'll throw out another vote for the IS300 i picked mine up with 32k miles on it and truly pushed that car hard all the way to 114k miles. We aren't talking normal ho hum driving either. That car had been from the midwest to CA a couple of times and to FL one as well. I don't drive slow i will push it to 130mph for LONG periods, and i usually did the drives almost straight through hardly giving the car a chance to rest.

As far as the car in the snow.... would never be my first choice but if you get a set of actual snow tires for it, and know how to drive it won't be a problem. I know people that have done it and i've even limped mine to the dnyo once or twice on bald performance tires in snow and ice. I would suggest looking for one with the "snow package" though as this will not only give you the magic snow button but also gives you the LSD.

Yeah here is another vote for a mkiv jetta tdi, we got 1 with 256k miles on it pushed hard it whole life and it's still going , its been on it's 2nd clutch for 20k now, and it's been chipped and injectors since 80k, and original turbo. Plus it's still doing 35k miles a year, with minimal stuff breaking, just stupid crap, no different than my 4runner.

 

[zcruiser]

guess i dont drive enough to know feel the difference between fwd and rwd. my parents avalon is fwd and the IS is rwd..i never knew until one day i saw the avalon front tires spinning. is there suppose to be a "feeling" between the two?

It's pretty dramatic, IMO. Affects how you turn, primarily. FWD "pulls" you through a corner and the tail follows, whereas RWD pushes the front steering wheels and you then either have understeer (pushes front to outside of corner) or oversteer (brings the tail around more quickly than you'd expect).

I grew up with only RWD cars, driving in gravel and on snow and got a good feel of how a car reacts under slippery conditions as well as intentional drifting. FWD cars are completely different. More stable in snow with the weight of the engine over the wheels, but less "fun" unless you start pulling the e-brake.

 

[CanukRunner]

Good Man TDI all the way.

I had a 1.8t .. and I cant lie to you I beat the car hard but did excellent maintenance.. (20 psi).. I had 5 valves per cylender and not a tick out of place...

Sure the electronics suck.... but thats all solved with the laptop.. if you dont have the lap top......... by something else...lol

I drove a 2010 honda hybrid at work for 3 days and I cant hear my self think over the lifter noise now...lol...

I still think its embarrasing that i can get more torque out of a 1.9 l diesel with $300 mod than our gas hating 3.4l 4runners. Dont you get max tourque at likw 1800rpm too? I wonder if that really would be a better choice... the VNT 17 runs 24 psi and 300 ft lbs of tourque...

Probably still gets 45 plus mpg on the highway!

Thats it it settled .. im putting a TDI in the 4runner.....Now if I could just get 10 grand or so together to make that work........ lol I accept paypal and cash donations.:shrug:

 

[JohnsD90]

Good Man TDI all the way.

I had a 1.8t .. and I cant lie to you I beat the car hard but did excellent maintenance.. (20 psi).. I had 5 valves per cylender and not a tick out of place...

Sure the electronics suck.... but thats all solved with the laptop.. if you dont have the lap top......... by something else...lol

I drove a 2010 honda hybrid at work for 3 days and I cant hear my self think over the lifter noise now...lol...

I still think its embarrasing that i can get more torque out of a 1.9 l diesel with $300 mod than our gas hating 3.4l 4runners. Dont you get max tourque at likw 1800rpm too? I wonder if that really would be a better choice... the VNT 17 runs 24 psi and 300 ft lbs of tourque...

Probably still gets 45 plus mpg on the highway!

Thats it it settled .. im putting a TDI in the 4runner.....Now if I could just get 10 grand or so together to make that work........ lol I accept paypal and cash donations.:shrug:

lol, i was talking with my dad tonight, he said they have an ALH on the ground in the yard at work, he said he'd buy it if he needs it, i really wanna do the swap, but the wiring will be above my ability.