Thursday, March 03, 2011 - 03:35 pm, by: Lloyd Roberts(Lloydulation)
Hi everyone,
This is my first post here. I recently bought a 1999 pearl white soarer jzz31. I acquired it through a broker (T.H.Auto Japan) and had it complianced here by a company I won't mention. They charged me a lot and did nothing save for dent my drivers door. Otherwise car is lovely, 83,000 km's, 100% standard and unadulterated.
I had no idea when I bought it what an amazing car it would be. I actually find it has better dynamics than the IS250 (wife's car). Does anyone else agree with me on this front or am I crazy?
I'm going to have a lot of questions so please be patient!
Already I've bought 4 LS400 wheels that should arrive in the coming weeks to replace the standard 15inch turbine wheels on the car. At the same time i've got some ls400 4 piston brakes. According to you guys these will fit.
I'm thinking of taking the car for it's first service at Bond Auto Tech in Botany very soon. I've heard nothing but good things about that place.
Living in Pyrmont, Sydney. Any other soarer owners close by?
Friday, March 04, 2011 - 05:48 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
and well done on finding such a late model to import!
I think a Soarer with well maintained suspension, brakes and steering is highly underrated in its chuckability. Sure, they are no track car - too heavy, too soft - but on a bumpy backroad I consistently seem to be able to catch much lighter, supposedly better handling vehicles (WRX, Integra etc) - often of course its because the hoodie wearing fool behind the wheel has no idea how to drive on a country road of course...
Friday, March 04, 2011 - 06:22 pm, by: Lloyd Roberts(Lloydulation)
Pics of my car in it's current standard form.
I saw the same wheels on a soarer on planetsoarer. That's what gave me the idea. I'll post pics when they come- should be by the end of next week!
I don't drive terribly fast but realised the brakes feel weak when compared to a new car. Also the wheels/brakes were very cheap (At least I thought so- i'm so new to this) I couldn't resist.
Friday, March 04, 2011 - 10:46 pm, by: Matthew Wong(Matters)
I am in the lower north shore and work in the CBD. I have a '96-97 uzz31 v8 in a silver/blue colour. The last of the v8s with dual air bags and updated EMV. I have been bringing it back from a state of neglect. I recently sold my mint '91 uzz31 due to my wife threatening my decapitation - apparently 4 cars are too much! Anyway, now I can focus on my 96.
I have had two late model ES300s and one GS300 amongst a host of others. I have driven plenty of IS250s. The Uzz31 has it all over them in drivability, ease and stability. The NVH is much better too. A mate of mine who has 12 month old GS and RX couldn't work out why he had paid over $100k for each of them when he went for a spin in my old '91.
Welcolme to the fold. I'm sure you will see me quizzing past you on the bridge or through town soon enough. I will look out for your LS wheels.
Saturday, March 05, 2011 - 09:37 am, by: Tom Brookes(Aristor)
I don't know. The standard brakes should be sufficient? Could it be the pads or something else. You gotta think about the cost of installing the brakes..are you going to do it?
Saturday, March 05, 2011 - 02:56 pm, by: Lloyd Roberts(Lloydulation)
I'll look out for your car too Matthew. I'm always going down the north shore, wife works that way.
I'd be interested in how the soarer compares NVH wise to other vehicles. The only thing I notice that lets mine down is it's a bit jarring over bumps- possibly the bushes? We will soon see!
Tom I have no idea how to do the brakes myself. I'm not mechanically minded at all and have completely gone into this blind. I was going to have Nial do this. Now you've worried me though.. How much could it possibly cost?
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31
Saturday, March 05, 2011 - 08:56 pm, by: Vincent Chan(Vincent191)
I will have 4 airbags in good condition becoming available soon. I work in St Leonards. The airbags are still in the car and if anyone is interested you can "test drive" my airbags. NO LEAKS. My car is only showing 42,000 kms. You can judge for yourself the condition of my airbags. I want $800 ono for all 4 and will not separate them.
Where else can you test drive second hand airbags before buying? You can get secondhand airbags cheaper BUT you will not know their condition until after you have installed them.
I love the airbags, they are great driving on the kind of roads that they were designed for. It had been a long and hard decision to change to coil overs but if anyone decide to stay with the airbags I have some good used ones available in the next 3 or 4 weeks. BUT I recommend a test drive before buying.
Saturday, March 05, 2011 - 09:06 pm, by: Vincent Chan(Vincent191)
Most quality new cars have computer assisted brakes in addition to ABS. When I first drove my Soarer after driving my Mercedes I too found the brakes of the Soarer lacking. But after adjusting my expectations / driving style I am now quite happy with my Soarer brakes.
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31
Sunday, March 06, 2011 - 02:58 pm, by: Tom Brookes(Aristor)
Yeh Lloyd. As Peter said you may only need decent pads. And as Vincent says, adjusting expectations helps too.
You can find out how much it will cost to change the brakes but unless there is something properly wrong with your current brakes, it probably isn't worth the cost to install ls brakes.
The NVH between soarer's I have tested is quite variable based on the condition of the components underneath.
I have driven some really smooth ones actually... it was surprising... maybe due to new bushes.
Monday, March 07, 2011 - 09:50 am, by: Vincent Chan(Vincent191)
Lloyd, give me a hint on complaince costs. I am thinking of importing a Nissan Figaro. Is there much involved in complaince for a car registered in Japan??
Monday, March 07, 2011 - 03:17 pm, by: Lloyd Roberts(Lloydulation)
I'll find out how much it costs to change the brakes vs just doing the pads. I don't want to waste money unnecessarily. Thanks everyone for your opinions on this.
Compliancing costs for the soarer were about $2,200. I was unaware of all the other associated costs though that quickly brought the total to just under $5,000 when you include 12 months rego, govt duties etc.
That $2,200 is supposed to include new tires, brakes, fluids. It didn't in my case- compliance shop did very little. Be careful who you use.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011 - 06:09 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
I'd say my Soarer still outbrakes most mid to low end modern cars I've driven - when I first got it it was pretty poor, but new pads and a good flush sorted it out. It certainly outbreaks my wife's Toyota Voltz, which is 8 years younger than it and 300kg's lighter.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 - 07:22 pm, by: Lloyd Roberts(Lloydulation)
Now that I drive one I see them everywhere. Many are in a terrible state though, poor things.
I received a delivery yesterday afternoon. LS400 brakes and wheels. Unfortunately the wheels are not as described. Rather than describe them i'll include a photo.
And what they were supposed to look like.
As you can see to say the very least they are not the same wheels. LOL
The dodgy wrecker laughed at me when I called him. He says he doesn't care. "There's nothing you can do about it" he said.
Au contraire Mr Wrecker. There is plenty I can do about it.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011 - 09:04 pm, by: Matthew Tai(Matttai)
That is pretty dodgy Llyod. Keep us updated on how it goes. There is way too many scumbags in the auto industry from my experience. Almost more than half my experiences I can say have been negative.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 07:12 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
The dirt and corrosion are easily dealt with at home, but even in the low res pics they look like they might be pretty badly curbed, which is expensive to fix. Yeah, what a tosser, throw him under the train if you can.
Also due to the bad quality pics you may not be able to tell they are a completely different style of wheel (ignoring the terrible condition they are in for a moment).
Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 12:07 pm, by: Adrian McGuire(Adro)
they probably did look like the pic before the car was swamped in the Brisbane floods. it looks like good old brisbane river mud that was everywhere after the floods and ill bet they brought the car from one of the wreckers near rocklea that went completly under.
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31