I just cant put mine finger on LEVIN BZR...

ShadowHearth

hey lads, i was not a big fan of Levins, but lately i started to look at them a bit more seriuosly ( planing to give mine car to mine misses next year and buy somrthing sporty and with no suspension )

Can you tell me small bit about these cars. I just know that The BZR models got about 170 PS from 1.6 engine and 6 speed gearbox. Now on paper it says: 60mph in 8 secs. This is impressive for 1.6 engine, but on alot of vidoes they accelerate like crazy! And really fester then 8 secs! And those cars look prety much stock...

I heard they really nice in hadling, but can they go fester then 8 secs (60mph)? And what mods would be suitable for them? I heard black top engines cant be tuned alot, that they are going allmoust on theyr limit allready.

Sorry for english, i am not irish nationality.

martydunf

There a grand car and yes it is said they produce 170bhp but you wont get that kinda hp running it here on "irish" petrol. Thats there H.P they get when they run on jap fuel.

also another thing to note about the Levin's( think it only applies to the BZR) the super strut suspension is an excellent suspension system handles brilliantly round coners and all that but they are very expensive to maintain,

There not really suited to the Irish roads tbh as they tend to wear out too often and need repacing often and the struts don't come cheap, some people got quotes from toyota of around €300 for the strut....cud be wrong but I know its an expensive suspension set up.

ShadowHearth

martydunf wrote: »

There a grand car and yes it is said they produce 170bhp but you wont get that kinda hp running it here on "irish" petrol. Thats there H.P they get when they run on jap fuel.

also another thing to note about the Levin's( think it only applies to the BZR) the super strut suspension is an excellent suspension system handles brilliantly round coners and all that but they are very expensive to maintain,

There not really suited to the Irish roads tbh as they tend to wear out too often and need repacing often and the struts don't come cheap, some people got quotes from toyota of around €300 for the strut....cud be wrong but I know its an expensive suspension set up.

Well sounds good, thought these irish roads will kill it . Specially if they are sensitive at it . Btw they all non-turbo. righT?

omb0wyn5ehpij9

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Well sounds good, thought these irish roads will kill it . Specially if they are sensitive at it . Btw they all non-turbo. righT?

Yeah they are all non-turbo's

ShadowHearth

Bryn wrote: »

Yeah they are all non-turbo's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss7s1uceZgg&feature=related

i foundthis, not is this stock or tuned up, guys. What doyou think?

Acceleration is unreal... i think this is km/h spidometer, but still..

Tony Broke

Nice cars and all, but do you not think they are a bit over priced?

If you offer a Levin owner under 4k for his 12 year old yoke, he looks at you funny :P

Alot of them have been through the wars and cars over 10 years will have the usual wear and tear.I would be looking at something more modern like a 1.8 192bhp 04 Corolla for 8k or something similar myself.

They have the same 1.8 VVTi-L 192bhp engine found in the Celica T Sport. The only thing is that they don't look much different on the outside from the 1.4.This could keep the knackers away from it

With a bit of tweaking your talking over 200bhp easy.

martydunf

Tony Broke wrote: »

They have the same 1.8 VVTi-L 192bhp engine found in the Celica T Sport.

I never knew that the levin had the same engine as the celica t-sport....
its hardly vvtL-i is it? the L stands for the higher Lift cams...i doubt the levin has that engine now correct me if I'm wrong

maybe you meant it has the vvt-i engine?

copeyhagen

Tony Broke wrote: »

.I would be looking at something more modern like a 1.8 192bhp 04 Corolla for 8k or something similar myself.

They have the same 1.8 VVTi-L 192bhp engine found in the Celica T Sport. The only thing is that they don't look much different on the outside from the 1.4.This could keep the knackers away from it

martydunf wrote: »

I never knew that the levin had the same engine as the celica t-sport....
its hardly vvtL-i is it? the L stands for the higher Lift cams...i doubt the levin has that engine now correct me if I'm wrong

maybe you meant it has the vvt-i engine?

he said 04 1.8 corrolla

ShadowHearth

heh problem is i whant car to look good aswell. And i am really not in to corrola lads :rolleyes:.

Next year i am planing on getting one more NCB, so i will be able to get insurance for performance car.

I will give mine clk200 to mine misses. And by myself something more sporty. ( thats the plan so far)

I will be looking at 180sx, s14, scooby WRX/sti. And just recently levin cought mine eye attention aswell.

Now i need car only to get to work a few miles, and just for some pleasure driving. If i will need some long trips, i can allways take misses car

martydunf

have you considered an evo?

now thats a real perfomrance car!

ShadowHearth

martydunf wrote: »

have you considered an evo?

now thats a real perfomrance car!

even with car market crash i wount bit in one . i really would like around IV / V not older .

I would be affraid to take older ones. And the newer ones costs small bit too much

Puff Puff Pass

The AE111 Levins a great car - very quick and you'll get to 60 in less than 8 seconds, more like very early 7's.

they've a Lim Slip Diff which helps it off the line, the super strut suspension is great but its guaranteed to break after once it gets to high mileage and very expensive to fix so give a listen out for creaking or clunking from the two front wheels. Drivers side problems seem to be the most common.

They came with 2 engines, the silvertop and the blacktop, with the cam cover colour representing the engine type.
The blacktop being the more powerful engine. They are both 1.6 Twin Cam VVT engines

If your buying a BZ-R, its got the blacktop engine and the super strut suspension as standard as well as other extras. if its the BZ-G, the superstrut was optional as well as the silvertop engine.

Best thing to look out for would be a BZ-G with the blacktop engine and no superstrut suspension. I looked after mine like a baby and it still went. it cost 2k to fix so bear that in mind.

Crackin car though - I miss it!

--Kaiser--

I drive a BZ-R, I havent timed myself on 0-60 but it'd do it in 8 secs easy, maybe 7.5, you'd give most other 1.6s a run for their money.

The handling on these yokes is something else though, the combination of LSD and the SuperStrut means it's stuck to the road, great for cornering, fantastic fun to drive with the 6-speed gearbox too.

You hear a lot about SS needing to be replaced, nothings gone wrong with mine yet (touch wood ), just be mindful of speed bumps (and irish roads )

In terms of Mods, apart from changing the exhaust system there isn't a lot you can do to them without spending big bucks on high lift cams etc.., the engine is already pretty well tuned

ShadowHearth

cheers lads, but that suspension really woring me the part of the road to get to mine work is really really bad, its only 500m. but i have allready damaged it . Amd with levin i will just destroy it .

Apert from that, it would be awesome choice, 1.6 would not choke me on tax, and i think insurance would be smaller then s14 or 180sx...

Thx again for all that info so far, still looking forward to hear from more owners!

cps_goodbuy

since others are suggesting, how about a celica or mr2?

ShadowHearth

cps_goodbuy wrote: »

since others are suggesting, how about a celica or mr2?

tbh i do check some mr2s but mk2 ones. They really nice looking 2 seaters.

Thought what about theyr maintance costs? This placment of engine in the back, not giving extra pain in hole?

If we started about them, can you explain me about theyr marking, T-bar etc... If i will be looking for one, it will be turbo model anyway, and which ones are turbos lads?

Celica should be lovely car, i specialy love interior, but outside they look plain boring .

martydunf

stick a trd bodykit on a celica then they defo wudnt be so plain looking!:D
(if u can get ur hands on 1 dat is!;))

p-nut

all levins came with blacktop engines, its the fx gt corolla that came with the silvertop, a seriously rare car to find in good nick these days. Superstrut is one of the best suspension setups ever to be factory fitted to a car, but as said will no doubt go wrong, especially on irish roads, and can be very expensive to fix.

OP, would you consider an fx gt corolla? As i said, same engine as a levin, more room, more inconspicuous and classier, no superstrut so less to go wrong, and cheaper insurance...

--Kaiser--

Sorry to nitpick, but the above is not true, some Levins came with the 4A-GE 20v Blacktop or the 4A-GE Silvertop, some came with the 4A-FE 16v and some came with the 5A-FE 16v (i think this was on the 1.5 ltr bottom of the range model)

Dolph Starbeam

As said the super dtrut suspension is good but will fall to pieces on our roads and its uber expensive. Not great looking imo and front wheel drive:p

SteelyDanJalapeno

I have an s14a at the moment,
similar lookin car to the levin, about the same performance, plus its rear wheel drive, and there's plenty of mods available for them,

just as another option if you go off the levin.

Here's mine for example:

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=81675&cat=2

cps_goodbuy

ShadowHearth wrote: »

tbh i do check some mr2s but mk2 ones. They really nice looking 2 seaters.

Though what about their maintance costs? This placment of engine in the back, not giving extra pain in hole?

If we started about them, can you explain me about theyre making, T-bar etc... If i will be looking for one, it will be turbo model anyway, and which ones are turbos lads?

Definitely the mk1 or mk2's!

Models, well, Depends!! You have the uk market, or jdm's, I'd say try for JDM as they all make slightly more power. Either a gt-turbo rev3 or higher or a g-limited beams. Pop the bonnets and take a look at the engine

Depends, older mr2's do require a little work in the long run 89'sto96's I'd say. I'm expecting 5 years without having to have anything done with mine. (vitals done) I got toyota to worry about it... :eek:then I got the bill! Normal maintenance is fine.

The novelty of the t-bar wears off, coupe / sunroof versions I feel are best, less body flex and older t-bars can leak. All develop slight wind noise around the wing mirrors but there is an easy fix to it.

If I had the choice I'd go for a rev3-5 turbo or rev5 beams redtop like above.

Try to stay away from the highly modified examples as their engines will probably have a short life, and check for serious crash damage! However almost all mr2's have seen a knock or two, mostly from knocking kerbs :P Tail happy little beasts, snap oversteer etc, and unbodykitted examples turn heads in a good way

oh and celica 190's develop the bolt prob between 00-02, and early examples can get a little spoiler/boot rust, and hub rust. 140 is regarded as entry level

my 2 cents :pac: and only my own opinion

any Q's I can be pm'd mate

Dolph Starbeam

^ Ye what he says, i have my rev3 turbo, nearly standard, pulls like a train, mad power. I had an n/a tbar before and the tbar does lose its novilty, olus most of them leak so you always have a wet backside:o

I got mine in from England, JDM version, for less than 5 grand and there is lots of ones going cheap. But i'd definatley recommend checking out www.tbdevelopments.com/forum or www.mr2oc.co.uk for some buying advice

Loads of upgrade parts and a few being broken so lots of parts available. Lovely car to drive to, and does get quite a bit of attention.

If you do get one you can join us on our drive across the Wicklow mountains next year, i think we had 9 mr2's at it earlier in the year:)

Dolph Starbeam

Avoid the likes of this http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/777950.htm


And go with one like this http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/737014.htm

That one i actually bought my car off him, top bloke, owns an mr2 drag car for tbdevelopmets.

martydunf

Horgan wrote: »

I have an s14a at the moment,
similar lookin car to the levin, about the same performance, plus its rear wheel drive, and there's plenty of mods available for them,

just as another option if you go off the levin.

Here's mine for example:

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=81675&cat=2

is it a turbo? i cudn't see a levin having the same performance as an s14a surely? unless the levin were to be heavily modified?

SteelyDanJalapeno

its a non turbo,

non turbo's put out about 165 - 170 brake,

with a little few breathing mods mine is about 180

SteelyDanJalapeno

sorry op bout going off topic!!!!

Yeah in my opinion levin's are great motors, but as said previously that suspension can be quite expensive if anything happend at all.

cps_goodbuy

Anyhow, my mr2 is 4 sale if any interest or mr2 Q's, I can be pm'd

Oh hey, since there're a few mr2er's here, I may be buying a 98yr beams to break in conjunction with Beams, mr2oc forum and a carolina custom shop.

Linky http://www.mr2.com/forums/beams/Toyota-MR2-36576-possible-breaking-beams-rev5-mk2-not-my-car.html#post391071

Edit: +1 to both Horgons comments, Sorry for going off topic!

Edit: Might as well mention mandalay and other club members are developing a rotrex supercharged beams redtop! giddy with excitement! redtop is 200ish brake, jumping to 300ish?!

ShadowHearth

hey, dont worry about off topic, thats what i like about forums, people give ideas and discuss. (dont know if i spelled it corectly )

i like levin, but as you said lads. This suspension wount last long, and i dont whant to have anathor money sink . I have enought crying from mine CLK200. Its worse then a small kid to look after....

Mr2 and s14 does sound good. ( i was thinking of s14 in first place).

What do you think about 180sx lads? would that be really expencive to have? They really look nice, and 2.0l turbo engine will do its job. And i do love interior of them...

And any WRX/Sti owners? And is it safe to buy 96/00 ( old school model) ?
After what i have seen, its better to stay with UK models, right? ( that jap petrol porblem)

And if we discuss, what do you think about subaru b4? really nice looking yokes, but again, this petrol thingy...

p.s. i really dont like corrola its just so comman... And you have to admit, Its more nicer to look at mr2/s14/scooby then on corrola

cps_goodbuy

A stock looking 180 may be nice but I feel that too many um.. "look like trash" if you know what I mean Don't know anything about the sti/wrx's or subaru's. Never really appealed to me.

Petrol issue - Toyotas: For many JDM toyotas (since we're talking about it 93yr+ mr2's) using standard petrol over here is fine, the ecu compensates and retards the timing, there are also knock sensors, you get slightly less power when running 95octane. Any imported & highly modified (especialy turbo) will need to be remapped, unsure of the process with their ecu though.

Older toyotas (89-93 Mr2's) may need to be taken to a tuner for checking running 95octane, but I know of a few that have run 95octane straight with no problems over years

Been through a bunch of ideas, including a istandalone ecu with 3 presets, for things including E85 etc, combined..... na, for another forum!

I think you may be happy with a 2lt turbo, but replacing anything turbo can be a lot of money, Almost bought a astra bertone 2 turbo, found out that the aircon wasn't working and the turbo hadn't ever been touched, mileage was just touching when it would need to be refreshed!

Edit: In my opinion, you may not be happy with a nonturbo silvia 14 or 200sx, but there are a lot of cars out there n/a that are super!

cps_goodbuy

Just thought to add:

I've had my MR2 up for sale as a certain old skool JDM has caught my eye I become giddy thinking of her!

So can any of you Mr2 guys give me any advice as it is relatively specialist car (rev5 Beams 1999year, probably the only beams 99 in the country) and while there are potential buyers in the uk and america, uk pound has been decimated and amercan import laws stops me selling it there. :mad: