Thinking of buying a vzr... Have a few questions

R

robinbobin

I have been looking to buy something that's not common to see on the road of the uk, I have seen a few imports that are my range,levien,s15na,starlet,celica ss3, But i am really interested in the pulsar vzr. But i am finding it very hard to do any research on them as they seem to be rather rare in the uk.


So if you guys could be so kind to answer some noob questions i would be very grateful

First Is how hard is it to get replacement parts?

Next is engine tuning, I take it the common upgrade after all the minor stuff it to change the cams as i cant see them getting much more than 170-180hp without doing full rebuild

Last is seeing as i want one from japan would it be best to look at the vzr autech?

Also is there anything else i should know?
 
Replacement parts are fairly easy to come by. The only difference really in the car compared to a UK spec GTi is the engine and ECU. They are even quite easy to get parts fro as VZRs are more common in Ireland.
The SR16VE engine is 175bhp from the factory. With tuning and various other parts you can increase this to near N1 standards circa 200bhp. That is keeping it n/a, with a VE+Turbo you can expect a lot more bang for your buck.
The Autech version has a different engine to the VZR. It's a highport SR20DE which makes almost the same poweras the 1.6VE engine. The best engine for modifying and general use is definitely the SR16VE. The scope for power on those is far greater due to the increased flow of the cylinder head and the variable valve lift and timing.
They are a relatively rare car in the UK however they are pretty indistinguishable from the UK Gti spec unless you really know what you're looking at. If you want something that isn't common in the UK there are other cars that would be more discernible as JDM imports. I speak as an owner of a Series 1 Stagea. The number of people who know what it is are few and far between but I do get into some really good conversations with people over it every so often.
My personal choice from your list above would be a Toyota Levin/Trueno. The 20V engine is great out of the box and the handling packages available with superstrut and even non-superstrut will give you a quick and great handling little Jap rocket.
 
Its actually very difficult to extract much power from the 1.6ve engine, increasing the capacity to 2 litre is the best way, it can be done relatively cheaply, the biggest expense if you don't get carried away with a rebuild (ahem) is tuning, though there are some very good options available now. Nismotronic for one.
 
Basically wasting your time trying to eek more power out of the 16 as Sam said. Everyone that owned one in Ireland had a go and came to no avail. The common thing everyone done that they found most effective was changing the final drive as in comparison to a Honda the gears are relatively long. That and there were plug in ECU's "Powerland" which I think did very little for the car itself but really expanded the VVL range and made the car much more enjoyable all round.

If I was starting out with again I would sort out a proper mappable ecu like the nismotronic that sam mentioned and get it mapped for the 16ve in the mean time then I would assemble a simple 20ve at home by that I mean crank and rods n1 pistons and standard everything else drop it in over a weekend and get that mapped then and just be happy with it.

A lot of people got really carried away (myself included) in tweeking that and getting another little part etc it's good to know where to stop.

If your buying one import it don't bother with a lot of the rubbish that's around. The good ones rarely change hands and when they do they generally aren't marketed it's a tight enough community.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom