Friday, November 09, 2007 - 05:04 am, by: Tume Penttinen(Matsuda)
Hi all!
A couple of weeks ago, after careful consideration and reading about Soarers, I went ahead and took one for a test drive.
Now the car is mine and I take it that I don't need to explain how it felt.
As the subject says, I'm from Finland. No polar bears and igglos. Just Santa and Moomin trolls.
Anyway, my car is 1991 model JZZ30 GT-TL with manual tranny and I just turned to 50 000km on the odo today. Needless to say, apart from a few scratches and busted driver's side window it's in mint condition. I'll post some pics later maybe..should anyone be interested hehe. I'm going to drive it on snow too!
Friday, November 09, 2007 - 11:23 pm, by: Tume Penttinen(Matsuda)
Peter Nitschke wrote on Friday, November 09, 2007 - 02:43 pm:
Tume, what are "Moomin trolls"?
Having a busted drivers window doesn't sound good.
Be careful on snow, heavy rear wheel drive cars get very tricky when conditions are slippery.
I thought that maybe some people knew, since everyone in Japan knows Just a children's animation.
With 'Busted' I mean that the regulator is probably broken. I've red about it but haven't yet had time to check it out properly.
I used to buy KE70 Corolla DX's for winter-fun so RWD cars aren't a problem, nor is winter and snow. But thanks for the heads-up!
Dave Billings wrote on Friday, November 09, 2007 - 04:42 pm:
Do you have a choice!! LOL
Yes, actually I bought the Soarer for winter driving, because I don't want to mess my ps13 silvia on the salty roads. Now I feel that I shouldn't mess the Soarer either..hehe. But it will serve me during summertime as well.
Shame too I don't have an LSD. According to Cusco, a 1991 manual TT doesn't exist so I guess it'll be a while before I'll find one, hehe.
Snow-covered bone-stockness.
EDIT: Haven't yet got the hang of this BBS system. And thanks for the warm welcome!
Saturday, November 10, 2007 - 10:09 pm, by: Jan Christiansson(Janoc)
Does many people in UK use winter tires? I don't think so because the snow melting away after a day or so. In Sweden I had a Chevrolet Malibu with winter tires on and that was no problem, so I don't think there should be any problems with the Soarer.
Dave Billings DieHard Louisiana SC 300, Manual Transmission
Sunday, November 11, 2007 - 06:13 am, by: Tume Penttinen(Matsuda)
Well so I visited a smaller city a bit north from my hometown and there was a parking lot covered in snow. Naturally I took my Soarer for a spin (literally) there and it felt pretty consistent and logical. Just like all the other Japanese RWDs I've driven. So I think I'll be having lot's of good time with it even though it snows.
Going to have it inspected for road use next week and I'm probably going to need some paper on the emissions. Anyone have friends at Toyota?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 12:59 am, by: Joshua Majoinen(Smartbase)
Nice car there
When I lived in Finland I noticed my mates used to put weights into their car trunks to give them more traction to the wheels in the winter. Needless to say it must be fun driving around on snow and ice.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 06:13 pm, by: Tim McMullin(Dirty380)
I just drove today in snow for the first time with my soarer. IT WAS HORRIBLE! Sport tires and 325 HP do not mix well with snow If I could give you any advice it would be to NOT drive your soarer in the winter. Too dangerous.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 09:56 pm, by: Nelson Ramirez(Bignelly)
I live in the northern part of japan and it snows like a beast here!! Just this past week we got 16" of snow and my Soarer TT does great in the snow....for now.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 02:50 am, by: Tume Penttinen(Matsuda)
Well, if it's the first time ever on snow, with summer tyres and soarer..I bet you'd feel scared. But remember that I've been driving on snow for several months every year so it's not a big deal. And yes, I bought a set of Pirelli's Winter Carving (whateverthenamewas) so I think I'll be ok. Only thing that's bothering is the lack of LSD since open diffs tend to offer all kinds of - mostly unpleasant - surprises. With an LSD you know your rear-end is gonna break traction so in that sense it's more predictable.
Well, I'll post some video footage as soon as we get some snow so stay tuned!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 08:36 am, by: Troy Burtis(1toy2nv)
It's -15 degrees celsius today (That's 5 deg for you Dave). First time drive in the snow for my Soarer today. I set the height to 'high' and it drove great. The trac control really keeps it straight on acceleration! On the books my car makes only 260 hp so it's real easy to drive in the snow. Here's my tobogan!
Previous
to a lifetime of happiness in your Soarer. You've made a great choice. Especially with the GTT-L. Have fun!!! And post pics when you can.
If I could give you any advice it would be to NOT drive your soarer in the winter. Too dangerous. 
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....
