Toyota Levin Question?!

Barricade-S281

Hi,

this post is for a friend.

Is a Toyota Levin AE111 (the late 1997 - 2000 model) classed as a high performance vehicle? I have tried on several occasion to do online insurance quotes for one and they won't give them to me. This usually indicates the car is a hig performance vehicle and cannot be driven by anyone under 18. But I don't think that the Levin could be a high performance car. It sure doesn't look like one anyway. Just looks like a decent looking sports coupé. Anyway does anyone know the answer to this. My mate is 18 and has a full license for the last 3 months. And if anyone is wondering why I keep putting up posts about different cars its because my family has a link in the car import business so we get in an array of different cars all the time!;)

So help us out here guys...

E92

Well the ones with a supercharger are 170 bhp, that would be fast. The non supercharged ones have 120 bhp, which isn't bad at all for a 1.6.

I'd say the supercharged ones are considered to be a 'high performance' car(by the insurers).

And with the new changes to the Learner licence/permit and the possibility of there being power restrictions on a person with a learner permit etc if your friend is going to get one, it would want to be fast before the police state bars you from doing so.

mthd

yeah most (or all?) insurance companies class them as high performance

5500

The 1.6 20v non s/charge is factory quoted as 170 but i've never seen one make that on a rolling road,more so 150bhp at the fly.

Either ways it's classed as a high performance car,same grouping as sir civics

Kimbot

E92 wrote: »

Well the ones with a supercharger are 170 bhp, that would be fast. The non supercharged ones have 120 bhp, which isn't bad at all for a 1.6.

I'd say the supercharged ones are considered to be a 'high performance' car(by the insurers).

And with the new changes to the Learner licence/permit and the possibility of there being power restrictions on a person with a learner permit etc if your friend is going to get one, it would want to be fast before the police state bars you from doing so.

All levins are supposed to be around 165 when they come from the factory. I have seen a few get about 156-160bhp standard.
Don't know where your getting the 120bhp from mate cos thats a good bit off what they are.

E92

I stand corrected. Got mixed up with the AE86(that did have 120 bhp)!

160 bhp as standard for AE111(black top engine).

It might well have 160 bhp but that looks like a very slow engine to me!

119 lb ft at a stratospheric 5200 rpm!

And 160 bhp at 7800 rpm.

There is a price to pay for having so much bhp from a small engine and no forced induction and that is no torque low down the rev range and having to rev the balls off it all the time!

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

There is a price to pay for having so much bhp from a small engine and no forced induction and that is no torque low down the rev range and having to rev the balls off it all the time!

You only have to rev the balls off to get access to peak power. Torque is average for a 1.6 and as such they're a doddle to drive.

colm_mcm

problem from an insurance point of view is the type of buyer that drives it and the amount of accidents they have. It's not particularly fast, but still very risky from their point of view.

E92

I wonder have they the same issues with security as the EH/EG Civic i.e being able to open/start one using virtually any key possible.

colm_mcm

security would be the same as any JDM toyota. i.e non existant!

If I didn't have a top alarm on my car, there's no way I'd leave it outside the house. Japanese domestic market cars generally don't have double locking, immobilisers or unique fit stereos.

zilog_jones

Well the AE111s are newer cars than the EH/EG Civics (which prob aren't much worse than any early '90s car security-wise, i.e. they are all awful), and I assume they got factory immobilisers at some stage - that didn't seem to happen as early with JDM models though, compared to here (they were made mandatory in the UK in '97 so most cars sold here seemed to get them too).

E92

Are the Euro versions of JDM cars better security wise are were they all the same?

I mean is an Irish spec EH Civic any better at deterring theives than a JDM one for instance?

zilog_jones

Well I was just saying about how immobilisers became pretty much standard on Euro models by '97, which apparently never became commonplace in Japan (didn't see colm_mcm's post before). I'd guess there's little or no difference with Japanese cars before then, except maybe the ones not built in Japan (Nissans and stuff). Besides keys and a removable or coded stereo, they had feck all security.

5500

E92 wrote: »

Are the Euro versions of JDM cars better security wise are were they all the same?

I mean is an Irish spec EH Civic any better at deterring theives than a JDM one for instance?

Yup,the uk/irish spec will more than likely have a thatcham cat 1 alarm/immobilisor.

80% of the alarms i fit would be to jap import performance cars,and i've yet to come across one with an alarm on it let alone immobilisor,thats ranging from civics/integras to skylines,rx7's 350z's and everything in between.

zilog_jones

EG/EH Civic is the '91-'96 model (EH = hatch, EG = saloon, I think), so I doubt it'd have an immobiliser - AFAIK they were only introduced with the EK ('96-whenever).

Barricade-S281

security on JDM is **** because car crime in Japan is "below radar" ie nearly non-existant. thats why they dont come standard. I have an alarm ready to be fitted to the car aswell as a touch screen DVD/MP3/MP4/FM-AM Radio player (7" monitor). Its sweet. So dya reckon I'd be able to get insurance on one if I get it? I'm a grand driver. No claims, accidents, non cocky attitude, obey speed laws and stuff etc...Just into cars. What dya think? I do suppose that i could just ring up a few places but i thought id get other opinions.

Cheers Guys

Atomic Pineapple

Barricade-S281 wrote: »

I do suppose that i could just ring up a few places but i thought id get other opinions.

Cheers Guys

all depends on your sex, age, ncb, licence type, years held, location, job

you have to ring up insurance companies yourself and try to get the cheapest quote.

levin95

well it really depends like im 17 prov licence. i was driving around a month and bought a 20v levin! got insurance, paid an extra €277 for 11 months!! they are not slow cars, a lot faster than a sir civic, and only a tiny bit slower than a type-r integra

eringobragh

Quinn don't even have it as an option on their online quote LOL

hopchop

levin95 wrote: »

well it really depends like im 17 prov licence. i was driving around a month and bought a 20v levin! got insurance, paid an extra €277 for 11 months!! they are not slow cars, a lot faster than a sir civic, and only a tiny bit slower than a type-r integra

Are you seriously trying to say that a 20v levin is nearly as quick as a type R Integra, do you have any clue? Also its just about as quick as an SIR definitely not quicker than one! ?Get real mate!

E92

ITR 189 bhp(DC2), 20V Levin(AE111) 165 bhp, the ITR should be the quicker car no doubt about it.

Henry Ford III

levin95 wrote: »

well it really depends like im 17 prov licence. i was driving around a month and bought a 20v levin! got insurance....

How much p.a? I'd have thought such a car would be uninsurable for a 17 y.o. on a provisional. Who underwrote the policy?

levin95

quinn, my own name, my own policy and it was €2700 for the year!
its been up against a few sir's beat them all (private road of course!) and only lost by 2 car lengths from a type-r! was delighted wit it! i havent too many mods on her! btw the bz-g 20v are 165bhp and the bz-r are 175bhp but the bz-rs are slower to 140kph because of the gear ratios.

kona

levin95 wrote: »

quinn, my own name, my own policy and it was €2700 for the year!
its been up against a few sir's beat them all (private road of course!) and only lost by 2 car lengths from a type-r! was delighted wit it! i havent too many mods on her! btw the bz-g 20v are 165bhp and the bz-r are 175bhp but the bz-rs are slower to 140kph because of the gear ratios.

where is this private road???!!!:) i wanna know, coz im sick of 50kmph!!! i wanna see exactly how fast my car cn go.
levins are nice cars, they have great suspension, but not performance cars by any means,dont they have drum breaks on the back???, no modern performance cars will have drums.
are you sure about the sir?? they will bury any civic up to a sir , but i find it hard to believe that you destroyed a sir, considering, BHP/ton of both cars.

E92

A Levin is in essence a Corolla Coupé. The proper name for the car is a Corolla Levin, and for a good reason too.

Kimbot

levin95 wrote: »

quinn, my own name, my own policy and it was €2700 for the year!
its been up against a few sir's beat them all (private road of course!) and only lost by 2 car lengths from a type-r! was delighted wit it! i havent too many mods on her! btw the bz-g 20v are 165bhp and the bz-r are 175bhp but the bz-rs are slower to 140kph because of the gear ratios.

BZ-G and BZ-R are both the same engines so they are both suppose to be 165BHP standard!!
Its very rare that they will run that 165 standard on a rolling road in this country.

Kimbot

E92 wrote: »

ITR 189 bhp(DC2), 20V Levin(AE111) 165 bhp, the ITR should be the quicker car no doubt about it.

198BHP is what a DC2 is!! And hell yeah its a quicker car than a levin. Had both against each other a while ago in Mondello and the DC2 chewed the Levin apart.

E92

jonny24ie wrote: »

198BHP is what a DC2 is!! And hell yeah its a quicker car than a levin. Had both against each other a while ago in Mondello and the DC2 chewed the Levin apart.

Thats not surprising, a DC2 is designed to be an out and out sports car, a Levin is a sexier looking family saloon.

And UKDM DC2 ITRs were 189 bhp AFAIR. The DC5 ITR has upto 217 bhp.

JHMEG

JDM DC2 is 200PS on 100RON. KE DC2 is 190PS on not 100RON.

As E92 says, a Levin is a family saloon turned coupe. Not a bad job tho, even tho the Japanese didn't really like them.

They would be quite close to the SIR in performance.

levin95

na discs all round m8! n i dunno like that teg i was against could have been a bit ****ed... cos it did sound fair rough lol! but it is quicker than a sir but i do have a bit of tunin done... and its a secret private road

HungryJoey

E92 wrote: »

I stand corrected. Got mixed up with the AE86(that did have 120 bhp)!

160 bhp as standard for AE111(black top engine).

It might well have 160 bhp but that looks like a very slow engine to me!

119 lb ft at a stratospheric 5200 rpm!

And 160 bhp at 7800 rpm.

There is a price to pay for having so much bhp from a small engine and no forced induction and that is no torque low down the rev range and having to rev the balls off it all the time!

VVT my friend! These are made to be reved the balls off them!

These easily push out 160/170BHP stock (I know people who own them). To me, that is pretty impressive for a 1.6L engine and sounds pretty nice too with a decent intake, especially for a N/A engine.

You can't say that this doesn't sound nice:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ss7s1uceZgg&rel=1



Hj

Henry Ford III

levin95 wrote: »

na discs all round m8! n i dunno like that teg i was against could have been a bit ****ed... cos it did sound fair rough lol! but it is quicker than a sir but i do have a bit of tunin done... and its a secret private road

What did Quinn say about your mods? :rolleyes:

Kimbot

Henry Ford III wrote: »

What did Quinn say about your mods? :rolleyes:

I'd love to know the answer to that aswell. I want a levin, 25years old, 4 years no claims and on a provisional and quinn said they will not touch me for insurance on a levin. So I am wondering how a 17 year old with a provisional and no noclaims can get insured on one for 2700.

kona

has to be said that vvt is a fantastic idea, in my opinion better than a V-tec

JHMEG

kona wrote: »

in my opinion better than a V-tec

Fair enough, but how do you reach that conclusion?

E92

Isn't VTEC essentially the same as Toyotas VVTL-i system?

Meaning that a VVT Levin is technologically speaking less advanced than VTEC.

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

Isn't VTEC essentially the same as Toyotas VVTL-i system?

Same end result tho the mechanisms are entirely different. Unfortunately VVTL-i has been discontinued as it doesn't meet Euro 4.

E92 wrote: »

Meaning that a VVT Levin is technologically speaking less advanced than VTEC.

Considerably, as is VVTi.

E92

HungryJoey wrote: »

this doesn't sound nice:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ss7s1uceZgg&rel=1

You're right. It doesn't sound nice.;)


This is much more like it, and it sounds much better in real life than on YouTube too! Also with VVT.

For a properly good engine note, nothing beats a straight 6:D!

JHMEG

E92 wrote: »

For a properly good engine note, nothing beats a straight 6:D!

The cylinder configuration has nothing to do with it. The best sounding cars are cars that have been engineered to sound good.

This German video has a few good sounds on it (and a few essential ones missing), my fav being the Merc V8 near the end; lovely low down growl, but can rev a bit too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM0SGOS4eqU

levin95

Henry Ford III wrote: »

What did Quinn say about your mods? :rolleyes:

ah nothing really like! only got a few new ones recently so ill be ringin up soon to tell them
When i rang up they said i cant get insured on it untill im 21 with a full licence but i told em i already had it bought and my car was sold so they insured me