I used to own a modded 97 vr4.... In my opinion they are amazing cars. I still love that car to death! I spent a total of around 2600.00 to hit low 12's at 115mph. Personally, I think the interior is amazing, very comfortable to sit in. The only negatives i see is that the car was on the heavy side and the engine bay is very very cramped and sucks to work on it. It is fairly easy to get that car to high 11's... not as easy as an evo but it is possible. You will start spending a lot of money when you want to go past high 11's in that car. Stock vr4 block is a beast.. can handle 600+awhp and has proven to handle that much on a number of vr4's. Anyways, i suggest you drive the car and see how you like it, everyone has different priorities of what they want to do with their cars.

 

I love the 3000 GT VR4. I think it's a great looking car, inside and out. The main turn-off for me, however, is the excessive body weight of about 3800 lbs. 3800 lbs of car just isn't going to cut it in the twisties.

If you're looking for more of a GT or a touring car, I'd go with it. If you're expecting to slice and dice, pass on it.

Between the RX7, 3000 GT VR4, Supra, and 300 ZX, I think the 3000 GT VR4 is the hottest looking of the bunch.

 

The 3000gt is one of my Favorite cars (mainly because of the body style) but your money is better spent in an eclipse awd turbo. The 300gts are realy hard to work on, but my answer would be yeah i would settle for one mainly because of the body styling, and the car is still pretty fast. But personaly I was never a fan of v6.

 

they don't call em lead sleads for nothing.....

 

They look FANTASTIC in pearl white (or this one 3kgt I came across looked like it had pearl white)--almost made me get that over Evo when I saw a used 98 (i think...could've been 97) 3kgt VR4 for sale...too bad dealer was asking for more than the price of Evo

 

I would love to have a 3000GT Vr-4. I think it will be my next car. But in addition to my others though.

But make no mistake, past the initial purchase price, it is not "cheaper" then an Evo. It will cost more to maintain and it will cost more to mod and more to fix when you break it.

But their community is making big strides, so it won't be long before people will stop automatically saying "they're heavy and slow, teh Supra is better in every way, etc. etc."

There are a couple of 800whp+ examples and at least one 900whp+. There's 3.6L strokers and even built AUTOs available now. Very exciting times for them.

BTW, where you are getting clean low mileage VR4's for 5-6 and clean low mileage Supras for 18K most not be anywhere I have heard.

 

Go for the 3000GT VR4 if you can't afford an EVO. That car was my dream car comming out of College. Too bad I coudn't find a low mileage and clean one when I was done. My favorite model would be the 1991 3000GT VR4. That car is ahead of it's time. Awesome and beautiful car. Buy it if you can find a clean one!

 

I had a 98 VR-4. In high school and I remember it was amazing. And when I first drove it I thought it handled amazing. But then my brother bout an IS300 in 2001 and I realized how the VR-4 is not really a nimble car. I could never fling it around like the IS. But I could never run the IS like the VR-4. Now I have the MR EVO and I feel it basically has taken the best of both worlds and put it together in one package. The nice power with the nimbleness.

Honestly the VR-4 is a very pretty car with all the right curves and the kick from it I would say was better then the EVO. And if given the option I would probably buy it again.

 

i had a 92 vr4. loved it! the car was a tank. i when i crashed it. it held up like a tank. heres a pic of it after spinning, rolling, and flipping it @ 80 mph. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/679366/2. what years are you looking @?

 

sorry, i forgot. the active aero is only fun until you go over some dead animal in the road and have the aero get all f'ed up. it cost me some big $ to fix it. i think the system actived @ 50 mph and went back @ 20.

 

Mitsulover625,


If I am you, I would pay more attention to the people that actually owned them since they can truly give you the real aspects.

I currently own a 94 Stealth R/T TT which according to all sources this car shares biologically 98% of its counterpart 3000 GTVR4. Additionally I also owned a 91 Stealth R/T TT which I modded 8 years ago.

First of all and real quick, let me rule out right of way the first gen 3000 GT VR4, their tranny were butter and their transfer case were jelly. They use an unreliable aluminium case transfer case with a soft and weak 18 splint output shaft. First gen are worldwide unfamous for these two mechanical downside. Second gen came with 25 splint outputshaft and a hardcore cast iron transfer case.

With that said, you should have absolutely no doubt that the second gen is the only option and the only reliable way to go. Getrag (combined German and Japanese gearbox maker) redesigned the gearbox on the second gen and they are much much more stronger.

Someone mentioned that the interior is not as good as the Evo.. I strongly disagree, I think the Evos are very plain and simple for a 21st century car instead, I strongly believe the 3000 GT VR4 set a benchmark on interior quality and design for a car made in 1990.

Braggin right? Sure.. here is all the smack:

My 94' Stealth ran equally fast than my Evo 9 and my Evo 8 at the same track bone stock. It ran a 13.9 @99 with 110k miles. I cut 1.80 flat but also keep in mind that I only had to shift twice.

Lets see the dyno:

I made 268whp/316lbtq running only 12psi on a mustang dyno on a bone stock 94 Stealth R/T with 91oct 110000 miles and at 3100ft. Now makes 300whp/338lb/tq with only 3"TB,CAIand a MBC @15psi.

These cars are fast unfortunately Mitsubishi never cared about weight issues so a fully loaded 3000 GT vr4 weights more less 3800lbs. My Stealth weighted 3752lb with low gas and no spare tire ofr floor mats.

Additionally this car is a true nightmare to work on,there is virtually no room and it has just too many tubing and sensors and what not. I recently had to replace the transfer case due to low oil and I also did both cylinder head gaskets(more than 3k in repairs in less than 2 months) but life is good.. . I am currently selling my car and looking for a different substitute.

I personally would not suggest this car for dragracing, no that is not fast but the weight hinders the reliability of the drivetrain, also I truly don't like the transversal gearbox design. The stock Mitsubishi 9b rated at 265cfm run out of steam very fast and you have to buy at least 13g,15g,17 , 19g or a set of DR500 or DR650 turbos to make the car reasonable fast however you can run mid and low 12's with some bolt ons.

I rather suggest buying a first or second gen Eclispe/talon, I owned 3 First Gen DSM and I never get tire of the great performance of these cars. If you have any specific question please don't hesitate to PM me.

my .2c

Carlos

 

Lemme give you some more advice, as I've had a 94 Stealth TT, a 94 3kgt VR4, and a 92 Stealth tt, and now own an evo, along with having had several dsms.


Its a completely different car from the evo. Simply put, its a comfortable, cruising car, with good potential, at a steal of a price compared to nearly every other mid 90s jap supercar.

Some fool said the interior was smaller, not true, its almost a half foot wider than a 2g DSM and considerably more roomy than a EVO. I'm 6'1, 250lbs and fit the evo just find, but its nowhere near as comfortable as the 3s was. Granted the 3s backsit is next to useless for anything but storage, they gave all the room to the guys up front. The interior build quality is vastly superior to either the 1g or 2g dsm and better put togeather than the evo. 3s tts (yes, even the dodge variant), are built 100% overseas and shipped over complete. Qualitys a bit higher for it. The shifter is just f'ing nice on the 94+ up getrag 6. Nice smooth, you wouldnt even know it was a cable shifter.

The weight isnt that big a deal, everyone and their uneducated dog that never really tried to race one harps repeatedly on this fact, without any purpose other than to try to make it sound worse than it is. Most 93-96 weigh about 36xx lbs. Yeah, the Spyder VR4 and the 99 VR4 are pretty damn heavy, but aside from that, the average one weighs less than 200lbs over a supra. Yes, that right, less than 200lbs than the almighty, everyone just has to have one, its so f'ing pimp and even a monkey can go fast in one poopra. Wow. 200lbs.

What do you get for all this weight over a dsm or an evo? Lets disregard the junk retarded junk and elaborate. Lets start with the engine. Late 92+ have a forged crank, nitride coated 4 bolt main bottom end with exceptional quality rods stock. Its not a might as well be forged 2jzgte, but its still pretty damn nice (it gets a bad rep though for durability as the 6g72 comes with idiot punishing 360cc injectors, vs the idiotproof 2jzgte's 550s w uber fuel pump cant blow it up stock fuel). The 6g72, unlike the 4g63 in the evo, does not become lethargic when you turn the AC on, and it offers absolutely nutty midrange oomph with mild bolt ons. Dont bother downshifting like a honda or an evo below 5k, just stop the gas and let those little 9b's give you about 360ft lbs around 3500. More than capable of schooling many cars if given half a chance. The 6g72 responds very well to bolt ons, and can share some dsm parts to make modding very cost efficient (to a point), such as dropping in dsm or evo injectors.

The getrag 6 is f'ing awesome as is the late 92 5 speed. The 91-92 however is trash that came with a potmetal 18spline output shaft that is commonly known to shear off easily. This makes repairs rather excessive as unlike the DSM awd tranny the output shaft is not easily accesed from outside. However, the late 92 5 speed corrected that problem. Simply put the 5 speed is awesome for drag racing for those who dont want to no lift and tranny ******, as 1st gear is very tall and 3rd goes up to high 120s. Thats only 2 shifts to go deep in the 11s. The 6 speed is also pretty nice, but not quite so tall. However, its still almost another gear taller than the evo, as 3d ends where 4th does in an evo, upper 116-118 range. Its got a plantery based center differential, so no spider gears to sling out like the DSM on a hard launch. The 6 speed also included a very beefy iron housing tcase that can withstand some pretty significant abuse, mine took well over 50+ low 1.6 and mid to high 1.5 60fts at the track, not bad considering the weight of the car.

Basically the cars are just a steal, as common misconception is that they are to heavy. I'm glad most wont buy them as they keep them cheap for the enthusiasts who do appreciate them. Im looking to buy another soon as the evo is just a bit to rough a driver for a daily and i miss my stealth. Dont get me wrong the evos a very capable car, the 3s is just a better daily. However, dont kid yourself, it wont ever handle like that evo.

They can easily do mid to low 12s for under 1k in mods, similiar to an evo, and can easily do high 11s for slightly more, also evoish, however, youll do it in alot more comfort and without having to rev the snot outa it. Brutal mid range. I love em.

If you find a nice clean unmodded one, dont hesitate to jump on it. Good clutch and tune up and they will do 12.8/12.9 without any other changes.

 

Good review Phalse! I am amazed about your ability to get inside the Dode Stealth being 6'1". I am 5'9"-5'10" and I have to bend my body just to get in..

A couple of question for you, do you go to 3SI.org? also, do you know who Trevor(96 red stealth R/T is), he runs 10.7@135 on his Stealth in AZ


Carlos

 

300zx turbo

 

1g dsm for the win.