A 97 Levin?

pudzey101 · 22-08-2011 1:54am #1

Have my eye on a 97 Levin BZR Blacktop 20valve,
can anybody give me any clues what these are like? performance wise, petrol consumption etc

need quick reply ASAP

any help Greatly appreciated
David !

brembo26 · 22-08-2011 2:14am

Hard to come accross one that hasnt had a slap at some stage id say :P

Anyway, heavy enough on petrol unless you drive it easy all the time. Superstrut suspension parts are expensive if any of them need changing which will have to more than likely somewhere down the line. Im having awful hassle at the moment with the suspension but my issues seem too be unique :P

They are reliable, and quick for a 1.6!

The only negatives i can think of really is if you have to change any of the suspension parts.

pudzey101 · 22-08-2011 2:19am

brembo26 wrote: »

Hard to come accross one that hasnt had a slap at some stage id say :P

Anyway, heavy enough on petrol unless you drive it easy all the time. Superstrut suspension parts are expensive if any of them need changing which will have to more than likely somewhere down the line. Im having awful hassle at the moment with the suspension but my issues seem too be unique :P

They are reliable, and quick for a 1.6!

The only negatives i can think of really is if you have to change any of the suspension parts.

are they quick ye:) What BHP is standerd:) one im after is 175:) its non super strut:) i wudnt be driving it on anyway so should be handy on the juice for meself:) overall good car yes?

brembo26 · 22-08-2011 2:24am

yeah they are quiet nippy as standard and when they left the factory there supposed to be 160bhp but that figure is scepticle :P alot of people reckon they probably only had 150bhp at the very most. if its non super-strut it must have had a conversion at some stage because i was under the impression all bzr's had it. I know the bzg's had the normal setup and super-strut was an optional extra?

brembo26 · 22-08-2011 2:30am

is there a link for donedeal or anything?

Midnight_EG · 22-08-2011 2:38am

All BZR's come with SuperStrut suspension!

They're rated as 167bhp from standard, which I'd say would actually be around 150bhp giving transmission losses and wear and tear...

ottostreet · 22-08-2011 2:42am

I've never really viewed them as a serious sports car, pretty low on power, and horrible looking IMO.

I think if I was going for a 1.6 Jap sports car, it'd either be a Civic Vtec or Mirage Mivec.

pudzey101 · 23-08-2011 9:57pm

ottostreet wrote: »

I've never really viewed them as a serious sports car, pretty low on power, and horrible looking IMO.

I think if I was going for a 1.6 Jap sports car, it'd either be a Civic Vtec or Mirage Mivec.

horrible looking!! no way i think there smashing:) whats the 6 speed gearbok like anyway its going to be hard getting use to lol

-Corkie- · 23-08-2011 9:59pm

ottostreet wrote: »

I've never really viewed them as a serious sports car, pretty low on power, and horrible looking IMO.

I think if I was going for a 1.6 Jap sports car, it'd either be a Civic Vtec or Mirage Mivec.

Big plus 1 on that.

brembo26 · 23-08-2011 10:00pm

you might find reverse a bit fiddely at first but you will get it quick enough. a good push to the left and up. thats about it really

pudzey101 · 23-08-2011 10:05pm

brembo26 wrote: »

you might find reverse a bit fiddely at first but you will get it quick enough. a good push to the left and up. thats about it really

haha thanks il keep that into consideration:)think there lovely looking cars:)for the price im getting it at its almost a steal:)

brembo26 · 23-08-2011 10:10pm

ya i think they are lovely looking cars too!

People are finding them hard to sell these days. A clean 97 with test and unmodified would probably only fetch between €2000 and €2500 the way things are gone. I know a lad who sold his 98 one the last day for €2400 because he was sick of waiting around for the right buyer! It had low milage, NCT, sunroof, alarm, rays alloys and it even had the wiper on the back window unlike alot of them

Testament1 · 23-08-2011 10:26pm

ottostreet wrote: »

I've never really viewed them as a serious sports car, pretty low on power, and horrible looking IMO.

I think if I was going for a 1.6 Jap sports car, it'd either be a Civic Vtec or Mirage Mivec.

A healthy blacktop 20v will keep with an SiR Civic, but then again much like Civics it all depends what you get, some are very quick, some are slow as a wet week! As for horrible looking, well thats subjective but I'm quite fond of a nicely kitted Levin and standard Truenos (bar the back lights) are really appealing to me lately too.

When you're looking at one check to see if its smoky and also enquire about whether she burns much oil, at this stage in their lives most will be burning a little oil between services but shouldnt be much of a worry unless shes drinking oil. If its not burning oil its either had an engine rebuild, been extremely babied or the seller is telling lies!

Listen out for knocks from the suspension, as has been mentioned all BZ-R's came with SuperStrut from the factory but over the years many converted them to MacPherson Strut due to the high cost of replacing SuperStrut arms.

Also watch out for crunchy gears as the 6 speed boxes are weaker than the BZ-G 5 speed ones but it should be alright once it hasnt had the sh*t dogged out of it.

Petrol wise they're not bad. I get around 450-600kms out of a tank depending what type of driving I'm doing. If its really gulping down petrol then theres something wrong.

Anyway I think they're cracking little cars and great fun to drive and can be got pretty cheap these days.

Thatnastyboy · 23-08-2011 10:32pm

ottostreet wrote: »

I've never really viewed them as a serious sports car, pretty low on power, and horrible looking IMO.

I think if I was going for a 1.6 Jap sports car, it'd either be a Civic Vtec or Mirage Mivec.

I had a bzg non superstrut 5 speed Trueno for over 3 years, a brilliant car, never had any real problems with it, changed a few bushes and a wheel bearing, apart from a few suspension and braking mods that I made myself the car never needed anything.

Re: Low on power, i must disagree,

I took mine around mondello a few times, my 2 friends had their cars out one of the days: a mirage mivec with small mods, and a vzr pulsar, also with small mods.

My car easily put it up to the mirage & the pulsar on the straights, and was way more stable and predictable on the bends, no understeer, very little body roll too even with standard sway bars. Easily had 3-4 seconds a lap on the other 2. I realise this is just my experience, but they are not underpowered compared to the other 1.6 performance imports. Theyre all basically the same apart from the ek9, and the vzr N1. Preference prevails when choosing one imo.

Looks: Well it's all opinion aint it

Fuel: Used to get anywhere between 380kms - 500kms per tank (55 litres or so) Not wonderful, but not bad when there's spirited driving thrown in there too.

The only thing that bothered me is that they dont respond as well to 'bolt on' mods as hondas do, and theres not as much aftermarket support with regard to cams & ecu's etc, but they are available, and there are plenty of tuners in Ireland who can work magic with a 4age 20v once the owner is willing to spend a few bob.

OP I would recommend one without superstrut, coilovers & shocks etc are much easier to source and the superstrut is overrated and unsuitable for Irish roads.

pudzey101 · 23-08-2011 10:38pm

Testament1 wrote: »

A healthy blacktop 20v will keep with an SiR Civic, but then again much like Civics it all depends what you get, some are very quick, some are slow as a wet week! As for horrible looking, well thats subjective but I'm quite fond of a nicely kitted Levin and standard Truenos (bar the back lights) are really appealing to me lately too.

When you're looking at one check to see if its smoky and also enquire about whether she burns much oil, at this stage in their lives most will be burning a little oil between services but shouldnt be much of a worry unless shes drinking oil. If its not burning oil its either had an engine rebuild, been extremely babied or the seller is telling lies!

Listen out for knocks from the suspension, as has been mentioned all BZ-R's came with SuperStrut from the factory but over the years many converted them to MacPherson Strut due to the high cost of replacing SuperStrut arms.

Also watch out for crunchy gears as the 6 speed boxes are weaker than the BZ-G 5 speed ones but it should be alright once it hasnt had the sh*t dogged out of it.

Petrol wise they're not bad. I get around 450-600kms out of a tank depending what type of driving I'm doing. If its really gulping down petrol then theres something wrong.

Anyway I think they're cracking little cars and great fun to drive and can be got pretty cheap these days.

thanks thats a brilliant right up !!:)

pudzey101 · 23-08-2011 10:39pm

Thatnastyboy wrote: »

I had a bzg non superstrut 5 speed Trueno for over 3 years, a brilliant car, never had any real problems with it, changed a few bushes and a wheel bearing, apart from a few suspension and braking mods that I made myself the car never needed anything.

Re: Low on power, i must disagree,

I took mine around mondello a few times, my 2 friends had their cars out one of the days: a mirage mivec with small mods, and a vzr pulsar, also with small mods.

My car easily put it up to the mirage & the pulsar on the straights, and was way more stable and predictable on the bends, no understeer, very little body roll too even with standard sway bars. Easily had 3-4 seconds a lap on the other 2.

Looks: Well it's all opinion aint it

Fuel: Used to get anywhere between 380kms - 500kms per tank (55 litres or so) Not wonderful, but not bad when there's spirited driving thrown in there too.

The only thing that bothered me is that they dont respond as well to 'bolt on' mods as hondas do, and theres not as much aftermarket support with regard to cams & ecu's etc, but they are available, and there are plenty of tuners in Ireland who can work magic with a 4age 20v once the owner is willing to spend a few bob.

OP I would recommend one without superstrut, coilovers & shocks etc are much easier to source and the superstrut is overrated and unsuitable for Irish roads.

what exactly does superstrut do:) will post pics in coming days !!

Thatnastyboy · 23-08-2011 10:51pm

pudzey101 wrote: »

what exactly does superstrut do:) will post pics in coming days !!

Its just a different suspension set up really, uses camber control arms that optimise the wheel angle when hard cornering. the problem with it is it uses two extra arms that control the suspension geometry, these arms have bushes in them that cannot be replaced without changing the whole piece. The 2 pieces are bespoke to the ae111 (levin & trueno) so mr.Toyota charges an extortionate amount for them.

The parts are usually good for 100 thou kms and cost in the region of 700e to replace them all i think..

The shocks are different too, as are the anti roll bars & wishbones, the disks are around 15mm bigger in diameter and superstrut cars come with twin-pot calipers.

I might ad that superstrut is only on the front of the car, the rear suspension set up is the same on all ae111's, and normal corollas from 92-97 (except for estate models) Actually the rear anti roll bar varies in thickness in some models.

A 97 Levin?

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