Rs Four S Vs. Caldina Gt-t

[Stooge007]

today, my mate in a Caldina GT-T (with aftermarket exhaust, and unknown other mods) handed it to a white RS Four S with FMIC and unknown other mods at the TLGP (i was next to them both in my Pulsar, lol)

i drove the Caldina the other day and it's a pretty quick car

i guess our 1600+kgs is too big a penalty???

fwiw, i have a stock RS Four S and it feels nowhere near as quick as the Caldina

discuss

[_Ryan_]

3SGTE is a nice little motor.

There was a good comparo posted somewhere.

Do you want a smaller wagon, smaller motor and more chuckable car? or do you want a more useable wagon, well known RB and the GT-Tourer wagon Stagea?

If you want a sports car, buy an Elise, if you want a car that can fit a fridge in the boot, yet drive like a large car, enjoy your stagea.

I would stick to the stagea simply for the RB, a well known motor, and something I have owned a few of.

[Stooge007]

i'm thinking of selling my Pulsar, and getting someone like Iron Chef to import me a black S2 Caldina with sunroof

then i can have the best of both worlds

[QWK32]

caldina fails in the looks department. kinda like a tarago had a kid with a GT Startlet. and as ryan said, a smaller wagon, not really big enough to serve as a wagon, they're more like a sporty grocery transport. You can enjoy the specials from Catalogue AU brands after driving to the store.

in stock form they make slightly less power than a stagea, but also weigh less. stagea's are fair slugs as stock and still even with basic mods, the 4cyl probably responds better the basic mods than the 6cyl?

stagea's power delivery is also very smooth, caldina being a 2ltr would be more noticeable when coming on boost and hence it would feel quicker.

i think it comes down to weather your a nissan or a toyota person, i'd say its nearly the same kind of relationship as the ford vs holden one. i like nissan, i've owned a few, and specifically RB powered ones, so IMO the stagea is the go.

Edited January 12, 2010 by QWK32

[180fan]

When I was first looking at Stageas, I took a Caldina for a drive to see how they were. It was fun to drive, felt like it had a bit more poke than the Stagea, but I couldnt stand the interior, and it felt very cramped inside, it somehow managed to seem even smaller than my Pulsar. Part of the reason I went for the Stagea was because it would be more comfortable for daily driving.

[Brandon]

Woah. Nice comparison. I find the Caldina look rather good on the outside though (find it looks more like a stretched corolla or a wish), thats the newer ones though.

[Stooge007]

caldina fails in the looks department. kinda like a tarago had a kid with a GT Startlet. and as ryan said, a smaller wagon, not really big enough to serve as a wagon, they're more like a sporty grocery transport.

in stock form they make slightly less power than a stagea, but also weigh less. stagea's are fair slugs as stock and still even with basic mods, the 4cyl probably responds better the basic mods than the 6cyl?

stagea's power delivery is also very smooth, caldina being a 2ltr would be more noticeable when coming on boost and hence it would feel quicker.

i think it comes down to weather your a nissan or a toyota person, i'd say its nearly the same kind of relationship as the ford vs holden one. i like nissan, i've owned a few, and specifically RB powered ones, so IMO the stagea is the go.

beauty is in the eye of the beerholder

and compared to my stock RS Four S, and also given the fact that the stock Caldina does not deliver peak torque until 4400rpm, my mates Caldina is surprisingly linear in terms of power delivery

i think weight is giving us the biggest disadvantage

i'm neither pro or against Nissan or Toyota, i'm pro performance

the Stag suits my needs better at this point in time, due to the bigger boot

i wouldn't say no to a Caldina sitting beside it in the driveway though

[JayMei]

Ive beaten 2 caldina's and lost to none

im happy

[Hank Scorpio]

The Stag's weight wouldn't have done it any favours. Chuck some semi-decent money at the RB though and the Caldina won't stand a chance. The reason the Caldina was driving so fast was that he didn't want the Stagea driver to look in and check out his sh*thouse interior

Put them both up against a similarly modded Legnum and watch as the Mitsi heads out in front.

However put them up against a 260RS with boost restrictor cut and a 'zaust and watch it show them how its done

[stageaharts]

Is it the 4G63 in the Legnum? 4G Mitsi lineage is great to this day, I used to have a Lancer GSR and loved it to bits, but that late 90's family face and 'edgy' styling on the Legnums (Similar to the late 90's Magnas, early Pathfinders etc etc) is so tired now, I'd rather get kicked in the face by a golf shoe

Early Caldina is shocking to behold IMO, later one is not bad though, looks more like a mini MPV than a Touring wagon. Shorter wheel base with similar height gives it Tarago'esque profile.

Edited January 12, 2010 by stageaharts

[chad bob]

Last time I was at the strip there were 3 to 4 GT-T Caldinas, they were running low 16's to high 15's on a rather slick track surface. Comparable times to the Soarer V8's.

Not particularly impressive, the Stags that I did see run were sitting in the mid to high 15 second bracket, so I'd have to say that its quite an even match, hard to tell TBH.

[horrace]

Legnums run a twin turbo V6 don't know then engine code though

[iamhe77]

Is it the 4G63 in the Legnum? 4G Mitsi lineage is great to this day, I used to have a Lancer GSR and loved it to bits, but that late 90's family face and 'edgy' styling on the Legnums (Similar to the late 90's Magnas, early Pathfinders etc etc) is so tired now, I'd rather get kicked in the face by a golf shoe

Early Caldina is shocking to behold IMO, later one is not bad though, looks more like a mini MPV than a Touring wagon. Shorter wheel base with similar height gives it Tarago'esque profile.

Nope. Not the 4G63.

Legnums run a twin turbo V6 don't know then engine code though

Yes they do. I believe it is the 6A13.

Edited January 12, 2010 by iamhe77

[atomaly]

i looked at all the options before settling on the stag.

caldina. looks too much like a torago, and not that much space / shitty interior (guitarist gear would be tight fit) (cant get manual either???)

would have been interested to see what a "chaser" wagon would have looked like

legnum. looks okay.. goes well.. but parts not so easily available like the RB25

M35. i didnt really go heaps on the styling, but they can look okay with some work...... and i wanted a manual, and parts not exactly common like the C34.

now i just gotta wait for the GT-R wagon to be commissioned.

Edited January 13, 2010 by atomaly

[lachlanw]

fail

define "handed it to"

and what use are we to discuss how "quick" your stagea feels to you.

caldinas are "quick" in the same way a wrx feels "quick" . pity about the agricultral 4wd system they both use ........

[lachlanw]

according to net caldina is 175 hp /ton

my calcs stagea 1620kg and 286 hp makes 176 hp per ton

[_Ryan_]

There is a difference between "quick" and "fast".

Gearing and power/weight, and the power/torque curves all effect this. They are two very different cars, with two very different routes.

Try comparing a Celica GT4 to a GTR or an imaginary AWD R33.5 GTST

[pyro-ns]

a good friend of mine was looking at caldinas a while back. we went to compression test three in the same day (2 were in the same workshop, another one was at a yard) and all of them had at least 2 spark plugs which were wet with oil when we pulled them out.

the odds are astronomically high that we could hit three in a row, on the same day and it not be a design fault. so my mate found a legnum in good condition and bought that.

the legnums run small turbos though, smaller than a T25 from memory?

[GoldZilla]

Yep, small turbos on the "Legumes," and any servicing work would be a PITA to do - replacing spark plugs is apparently a job which requires removing the inlet manifold.

FAIL!

[nickcorr]

Yup.. Same as a Magna... Hence platinum plugs (100,000km life) for the rear bank of cylinders, under the manifold, and normal plugs (30,000k) for the front...

Had a mate who when his magna was serviced wondered why there were only 3 plugs listed in the parts fitted...

Yep, small turbos on the "Legumes," and any servicing work would be a PITA to do - replacing spark plugs is apparently a job which requires removing the inlet manifold.

FAIL!