Family Man

[viator]

hey all its been a while since my last post but i have tryed to get online when ever my missus will let me we have decided to start a family after our wedding next year and it has been brought to my attention that a family car preferably with 4 doors would be a good idea. i have seen the toyota aristo around town and i have been told they come in twin turbo form but are still a comfortable family car cruiser any opinions would be greatly appreciated. i have only been using my skyline to go to work and back home again so i think this might be a good comprimise.

Edited March 1, 2008 by viator

[GTR-32U]

Aristo is a great choice....Depending on the Model , They do come with the 2JZ Supra engine....May also be worthwhile checking out some of the later model Toyota Chasers also..They are a very sporty looking 4 door with heaps of potential as well..Right wheels tyres and lowered look mega tough

[viator]

also where can i get one? import or yard sale?

[GTR-32U]

Most likely an import yard..I know there are a few on Parramatta rd...They havent been on our roads nowhere near as long as Skylines and other imports...So they are still pretty much the new kid on the block here...Check with a few of the importers in your area though...Most of the ones I have looked at tended to be in far better condition than most other imports probably due to cars being newer and sold to a different kind of buyer....

[ToMMaH]

What the hell? how did someone come on a Skyline forum and get told to buy a different car ???

4 door skyline is the go for ya

[Red7 Racing]

Yep.. baby rides in the back of my 4 door 33 - it's the perfect compromise for the need of a useable back seat vs something fun & sporty for me.

Only problem is the wife complains I spend more time working on the car than I do with the baby!!

[viator]

Yep.. baby rides in the back of my 4 door 33 - it's the perfect compromise for the need of a useable back seat vs something fun & sporty for me.

Only problem is the wife complains I spend more time working on the car than I do with the baby!!

i am not to keen on the 4 door skylines, r34 is pretty cool but cant afford a gtr i think this would be a better and more reliable hopefully

[Red7 Racing]

With an Aristo, you will get stuck with an Auto - and they are horrible inside, such a bland interior. Same goes for the chaser.

You can make a 4dr 'line look bloody good - 33 or 34... there was a hot looking 34 for sale on here just the other day. Not only that but RB's are pretty damn good for reliability.

For me it came down to salary sacrifice on a new WRX wagon, a Legnum VR4 or the Skyline. WRX was just going to cost too much.. and they're too common.. VR4's have rust problems, and hard to get parts. 4 Door Skyline had to be the answer, and I'm bloody glad I went with mine.

[viator]

when it comes to the interiour i can have it reapholsterd change the stearing wheel and put the gizzmo's i have in my skyline into the aristo it wont be bland after that lol i wonder if aristo's are stolen just as much as skylines? i am always worried about that when i am at the shops or in the city. i want a gtr 34 but until i save up my penny's i have to think of the family

[PWND]

Maybe also have a look at the Mitsubishi Legnum

They seem to be good value and are apparently great performers.

All that said, never have been in one, only read a few reviews....

[Lil_Bobby_260]

You could look at the Nissan Stagea. Best of all worlds - especially if you go an autech version - 260RS.

Also, you could get the Aristo as a Zi4 - 4WD V8.

[Col-GTSX]

Legnum is the sleeper of the decade...

Saw one run a 12.88 at willowbank 3 weeks ago at a tnt and the owner said he had only done minor mods...

They come in a 2.5L V6 twin turbo... Pretty strong too ive heard, but yeah it looks like a mini stagea, would be compairable to a RS260 stag in terms of performance on paper...

The car that did a 12 second pass has 188kw at all fours, obviouslly they are light and 4wd to boot... Not to bad on fuel either...

Family cars and performace can go hand in hand, i dont care what anyone says, 4 Door skylines are the same car as a 2 door in terms of ability to become monsterous...

That all said if I were starting a family I would not care how fast a car goes or how good it looks, all id care about is saftey...

[infamous]

That all said if I were starting a family I would not care how fast a car goes or how good it looks, all id care about is saftey...

True that,...... get a Volvo instead.

[TezGT-R]

Buy a big huge massive toyota land cruiser, a car trailer and strip your 33 for track days. The missus still gets a family car, your safe cos you can monster truck everything else on the road, and you still get to own a 'line.

[dangerous_daveo]

Hate to sound like Mr sensible. But if all you are going to do is be driving it to and from work, and on the occasional faimly picnic. Get something cheaper and more reliable. That doesnt have extra stuff that can break over and above a normal car. Not like you are going to be going fast with your kid in the car anyway.

[70YRB]

well 4 a start supra's have aristo eng in them as thay came out 1st and from experiance i have gone from 1 of the cleanest and quick r32's around and i have a aristo now. it was the best choice i have made. it is a very reliable car, is pimp as inside, comfy and power shit's over the liner [stock aristo that is] and u do very liltle mods and goes even better, i have a fmic,boost tap,zorst and make just over 220kw and is very good sleeper people still dnt know what thay r and whats in them it's awesome 2 beat other cars especially clubsports.

on a finally note it is a good choice and parts r ezy 2 get hold of if u want 2 look at some go 2 www.jzs147.com.au there is few realy nice 1's up 4sale

p.s i have fixed like 5 broken liners over the last year,incl mine and im over braken rb's thats just my 2 cents

[R334door]

. Not like you are going to be going fast with your kid in the car anyway.

Indeed.

But at the same time if his baby isnt in the car he can the oppurtunity to give it a squirt if he feels the need.

Id look at a chaser cause they come in manual and 1jz engine.Aristo's are only autos but 2jz, both turbo, personally i'd go the chaser but only for the manual.

Try here to look at some pics and some ideas for you.

http://www.prestigemotorsport.com.au/searc...e&andor=AND

And here...

http://www.prestigemotorsport.com.au/searc...e&andor=AND

[r33cruiser]

GO THE ARISTO BABY!!!!!

fkn blew my mind when i drove one

Power: 205.94 kw (276.04 hp) @ 5600 RPM!!!!!!!!!!

Torque: 431.49 Nm (585.07 ft lbs) @ 3600 RPM

linesky

POWER: 187kw@ 6400 rpm

TORQUE:213 @ 4800 rpm

Edited March 2, 2008 by r33cruiser

[Demoniak]

Legnum is the sleeper of the decade...

Saw one run a 12.88 at willowbank 3 weeks ago at a tnt and the owner said he had only done minor mods...

They come in a 2.5L V6 twin turbo... Pretty strong too ive heard, but yeah it looks like a mini stagea, would be compairable to a RS260 stag in terms of performance on paper...

The car that did a 12 second pass has 188kw at all fours, obviouslly they are light and 4wd to boot... Not to bad on fuel either...

Family cars and performace can go hand in hand, i dont care what anyone says, 4 Door skylines are the same car as a 2 door in terms of ability to become monsterous...

That all said if I were starting a family I would not care how fast a car goes or how good it looks, all id care about is saftey...

Hi Col,

Yeah i am going though the same thing as the OP atm.

After a saftey certificate on monday my r33 will be gone and i was looking for a bigger car but still fun. I did some research myself as well

THe legnum i almost had the paperwork down to the the import. However after reading on www.clubvr4.com and www.ozvr4.com :

1. Hard to get after market parts for ( limited choice, apexi dont even make a pod for em )

2. THe factory pipework makes it hard to do much at all to the engine

3.The turbos are quite small and it was discussed and stated that a TD04 or a single TD05 (evo turbo) was actually more powerfull then the twin ones in it atm ( so why bother with twin)

4.Its not as spacy as i thought.

I took a 1998 EC35 VR4 legnum for a test drive about 1 week ago, it was a 1998 series 2 model one, leather interior blah blah and a manual. It honestly had not as much guts as i thought it would.

also after looking at dyno sheets on the stock legnums, it only makes about 140-150 kwz at the wheels which was only 10kwz more then what my stock skyline did when it first got on the dyno.

I also got to test drive a 1993 Astrio 3.0 ,on the inside it felt like i was driving a bloody camry. Also handled like it too. it was a 1993 and yeah twin turbo.

It didnt really have much pickup and felt lacking on the handling.

Havent really got to research too much into it, but since the parts are close to the supra im sure parts are available,however i just dont like em, bit roomier though but the seats would need an upgrade if you want to fang it around corners.

I took a 2005 model XT luxury forester ( manual) for a test drive too about a month back, it had enough space for a +1 family but wow.. thats a wrx engine? it was GUTLESS.. i mean i know its a 4 not a 6, but damn i mas as well of been driving an X-Trail.

It was all nice and NOT an import, but i wasnt prepared to make that much sacrifice on power ( although i will admit it could handle well). Im sure with some mods it would go harder, but im comparing apples to apples here. I have been test driving stock ones.

Yeah took a 2006 Model Nissan X-Trail 2.5 for a spin too, bit bigger, bit roomier, no power, harder to handle.. to me thats a soccer mums car.

So after much consideration, the way im going is a RS-V 1999 StageA, and i dont think i need to tell you if the GT-T r34 skyline equivilant is worth it

Ill do 2 lists.. one for cost, one for power top to bottom.

Power:

1. StageA RS-V

2. Aristo

3.Legnum

4.Forrester XT

5. X-Trail

Cost:

1.Forrester XT (around 25k for what i wanted)

2. X-Trail (around 20k for what i wanted)

3.StageA (around 15k for what i wanted)

4.Legnum (around 14k for what i wanted)

5.Aristo (around 12k for what i wanted)

before i get corrected on costs etc, please look at the year models i test drove and quoted prices on. Also all of those were imports bar the forrester and xtrail

I know its a lot to read but i hope its helped a little mate.

[Spook's_Skyline]

i bought my 4 door years ago as i promised wifey id get something 4 door for the family down the track

well, teh family will be here in the next month or so, and the skyline is all set to roll for its family duties (baby seat goes in this week)

gonna buy wifey a forrester as well, just so everyone is happy