thedriver

That's a great comparison. I was looking at the VR4 (manual of course) before I bought my Stagea and personally I would have preferred it, but I couldn't wait for the import approvals. It was looking like another 12 months at least... this was back in April last year. And the one on carsales (in Newcastle) was just overpriced... oh and an auto (avoid the auto!!!). Parts availailability and engine is Nissan's biggest strenghts and very hard to go past. But I'm sure the price and appeal of the Legnum will bring quite a few of them into the country. Hopefull we can rely on some of New Zealand's and the UK's knowledge (check out ClubVR-4) to help them grow. They are a beautiful looking car and on that note, here's some pics from a car that J-Spec was looking at importing... Although, posting these on SAu feels somewhat sacrilegious!

Szemen, I paid $29k for my S2 manual through a dealer - Northshore Prestige Imports. It had an original 46000km on it, no sunroof, but with the TV/SAT nav/climate control touch screen LCD. The manual's are rare and wonderful and the conversion from an auto to a manual sounds like a bitch. Definitely get the car checked out independently ! It'll cost you between $200 and $300 dollars for a full report and it's peace of mind that a warranty just can't compete with. A dealer warranty is only 5000km or three months. And you might not notice everything that is wrong with the car in that time. A mechanical inspection can tell you about brake pad wear, suspension components and tyre alignments, engine requirements and other stuff that you might not be aware of or able to test. Regardless, get them to put a car on a hoist for you and check out: Look for rust around the door sills, door hinges, suspension, engine bay, under the spare wheel and around the chassis. Make sure the wipers don't hit the bonnet and wipers and fluid dispenser work (both front and rear). All lights internal and external. Abnormal wear on the tyres, particularly the inside of the rear tyres. All engine fluid level. Colour and texture of the engine oil and coolant. Ensure all door rubbers are OK. Lose or not snug fitting lights, particularlay on the rear of the car - which may indicate body panel damage or repair. Hope some of that helps. Also, work them on price. Maybe see if you can get a set of aftermarket wheels and tyres thrown in (they might have some that fit from other vehicles), or get them to pay your stamp duty and rego. Work a hard bargain.

Strange but true... The doors on my Stagea S2 lock automatically 30 seconds after the car is unlocked if the doors aren't opened in that time. If a door is opened and closed, then nothing happens. Shame it doesn't lock automatically if the car is left for a few mins. Strange feature though.

Heya all, Was just having a few service items done at Northshore Prestige today and saw they had the M35 Stagea waiting for some last minute compliance work. I'm guessing it's the first in Australia... ??? Took some photos so you could all check it out. Looks like they'll be going through a few of these.

That's what I've got on mine. 8inch would fit with a bigger offset.

The Ventus K104 tyres also have a road damage warranty. If any damage comes to the tyre from normal use, they'll repair or replace free of charge in the first 12 months. I found the Hankook K104s to be an excellent tyre and actually had reason to use the warranty twice in the first 12 months - ran over a plank on the road that was covered in nails and hit a fallen tree branch at high speed that put a balloon in the side wall. I drive my car very hard and I got over 20000ks out of them, most unusual for me! They do get very slippery when they start to get low though.

I get about 450 - 480kms out of a full tank. About 12.5L/100Km. That's in Canberra with a lot of open roads. I've been testing the Shell Unleaded 95, Optimax (98) and the new Optimax Extreme (100). I have actually found the Unleaded 95 offers the best fuel economy, about an extra 20-30 kms per tank. The Optimax Extreme did very little in terms of fuel consumption, but it feels better in the higher rev range (especially on the redline). It actually feels like a should be able to keep revving it out to about 8500rpm. I've also found the Caltex fuel doesn't agree with the engine. I only get between 360 - 380kms out of a tank - about 16L/100Km. I'm yet to try the BP fuels.

The TV won't work because it relies on the NTSC format. You can get around this with either a NTSC/PAL converter or a digital set top box that outputs in NTSC format. As for converting SATNav for use in Australia, you might contact the manufacturer to see if the have any Australian maps. As long as there are local maps for it, I imagine it will work.

Sorry, I've been on a desserted island for the last 2 weeks and have only just made it back to the mainland. I don't have the original tyre placard on my car. I guess it was replaced during compliance. The placard on my door lists: 205/55 R16 tyres on a rim size of 6 1/2 JJ 16 225/50 R16 tyres on a rim size of 7 JJ 16 However my car is fitted with 17" Nissan OEM rims that I have also seen fitted to other S2 RS Four S model Stageas in Japan. I have a feeling there is more info in the compliance documentation so I'll check that when I get back home.

Sorry all, I've been on a desserted island for the last two weeks. The price is for a heavy duty towbar. You could potentially get a bar cheaper than that and Max (Towbars of Woden) does make them. But for a small amount extra, you get a heavy duty towbar with a higher towing capacity and the benefit of the ease of removal.

That is AWESOME. Nice work. Have you got pics of the placement of your STB and Converter? Have you rewired the IR receiver for the STB to the console? Have you got a seperate aftermarket head unit as well?

According to my "manual" the 4WD Stagea S2 Turbo engine (Neo) uses 4.7 litres of engine oil including filter or about 4.3 litres of oil without changing the filter.

Better painted??? I don't think the tow bar is painted at all. I may be wrong. The metal that he welds and fabricates comes as it. As far as I'm aware their isn't any painting at all. A painted towbar would just chip and crack because they are such a high wear area.

There's no need for such passive aggressive comments qikstagea. Here's an extract from a J-Spec posting on a Stagea RS4 V. At an average 15,000 kms a year (although this particular vehicle seems to be averaging closer to 25,000 km) this speedo would appear to be wound back about 100,000km!!!

Will do - thanks. I've also got a friend who can translate, but it would be good to get it up here for everyone else. It seems the GPS possibly can't be converted. I haven't played around too much with GPS / Navigation systems, but i think each navigation system is proprietary and given the Xanavi don't make maps for Australia, it will likely be impossible to convert. Perhaps the best bet would be to connect anoth GPS / Navigation system (TomTom, Navman etc) to the input of the screen... Any other thoughts???

I received this reply today from Xanavi: I'm hoping that I can reprogram the EEPROM and convert all the buttons to English text. Anyone know anyone that can help me with that?

Ian, your's and mine are identical by the looks of it. The S1 and S2 chassis are also the same. If you want one, you'll have to call Max and tell him ASAP before he fits or sends out the last two he has made. Once they're gone he wont have a template to work off, so he'd need your car for a day to measure etc and then a week later he'd need your car another half day to fit. SK and others - Here's pics, predominantly of the underside. If you want some specific ones let me know.

Yep... he thinks it'll do 2500kg max. The tow ball has been removed. Here's another pic with the ball in it. The plug on the left of the ball is for the electricals.

Quick pics of Stagea Towbar Sorry abouty the quality - they were taken with my phone in late evening. I'll get some better pics later with my camera in daylight! Looks pretty nice. Max said that anyone else that wants one will need to be quick, because they are apparently quite difficult to build. At the moment he's got a couple built for other people and he can model them off them, but once they're gone, he'll need a car again.

But you're car looks sooo much hotter in the metal.

VERY SCHMICK!!! Enjoy

Oh the envy the envy... mines only a 99 model.

Terminal is right, they are going to be GREAT. Max has been making towbars for over 20 years and he seems to have it down to a fine art. My S2 is Pearl White - beautiful condition with a DAYZ bodykit! I'll try and get some pics up. Max steels your car for a day to size it up and start the manufacturing and then you can return later in the week for half a day to have it fitted. Very easy. Seeing as he knows what he is doing now, I'd imagine he doesn't need the car for measurements etc anymore.

Includes fitting. Fitting only takes a few hours to remove the rear skirt, attach the towbar and refit the skirt. I'll be away from XMas till mid Jan, so it might be worth you calling Max and arranging a time with him. Tell him you have a Stagea the same as Tee's (that's me) and he'll know what you're on about. MAX IS A BIT DEAF THOUGH, SO SPEAK CLEARLY.

Darrin, I just spoke to Max (02 62885199), he said it will take probably another couple of weeks to finish another towbar. He's not sure about the exact weight, but should be UNDER 40kg. Probably between $30 and $50 for freight. If you'de like to go ahead let me know and I can organise with Max, or you can give him a call and arrange. Tee