Toyota LEVIN ......plz REPLY

DriftR

Going buying a new car this week or next but jus cannot decide on which one... The main one i have considered is the Toyota Levin, i have previously owned a coupe civic 1.6 vetec.. Preferably the levin is more appealing just wondering if theres any one out there who owns or has owned one and has any feedback good or bad......I am goin to spend about 11k so if theres any other nice cars in that price range i would appreciate any suggestions.. the only thing is i dont want anything too powerful for insurance and running costs reasons..:)

Thanks

colm_mcm

IMHO insurance on Levins is too expensive compared to the actual power most of them have.

projectgtr

affraid i dont own one so i dont have alot to say about them, i was interested in one for a while, but out of the box there was a few issues that was pointed out to me

--the seating is set too high (well for me)thats the first thing you will notice from changing from the civic
--again "out of the box" the power isnt great specially compared with the typeR
--the super strutt suspension is suposedly expensive to fix if it goes wrong

is 1.6cc your limit?
if your looking for a sub 2L why not a Type R civic or integra Type R

im a honda guy myself so im biased towards them,i know all i pointed out was the problems but i know they are a good platform to tune, this has been proved time and time again in japan (just youtube them) but out of the box id take the type R any day.

*EDIT*
Sorry man i just made the assumption you were talking about the levin AE111, if its the AE86 iad have to change my mind, just let us know

Glanza V

I dont see the appeal to these myself but thats my opinion. The gearbox is known to be weak in them. Also insurance will cripple you. The power figures are no where what they say on the tin.

DriftR

is 1.6cc your limit?
if your looking for a sub 2L why not a Type R civic or integra Type R

_________________________________________________________________
I was talking about the AE111 anyway thanks for the info.. My limit to spend is about 11k or 12 at the most but insurance will prove a bit of a problem if i go for anything more than a 1.6... Checked the insurance on a levin and was quoted 3000 but id say i could get better if i shop around... I wouldnt be too fond of hatchback civic but the integra would be alright i presume u can get a 1.6 type R integra or are most of them around 1.8??? Im probably making a bad choice buying any of the cars im mentioned above as i will be doing quite abit of mileage for the next year. But the coupe civic i had was gorgeous and was reluctant to sell so i dont want to be going down hill too much concerning looks and power.

Any other suggections apart from the ones already mentioned.. would of luvud to have got an altezza or IS200 and i could get around the insurance side of things with that but with the petrol id have to put in to eat id be living on peanuts for a year....
My last option will probably be a tdi golf there a nice enough car but jus dont have that sporty look i like..

hope sum one out there can shed sum light on this dilemma

CHeers:)

5500

ITR's only come in 1.8 up to 00 and 2.0 after that

Theres a 1.6 integra thats non vtec but wouldnt be as powerfull as the levin.

I drive a vti civic and find the levin definitly down on power,feels more torqy compared to the civic but just feels kind of asmathic to drive!

If your going to be doing alot of backroad or pothole driving s'strut suspension will drive you nuts!There nice looking cars from the exterior but like most jap's there insides are fairly plastically fall apart.

Id hazard a guess though you'll regret going from the coupe civic to one!

layke

I can give you some good feedback on a Levin engine and what it's capable of doing (pending on how far you want to go with modding it). A friend of mine drives a Toyota Corolla with a 1.6 Supercharged Levin engine under the hood. He has added a front mounted intercooler, LSD, Twin exhaust (There are other things done to it but those are the main).

It EATS juice at least €20 a day but if I put that beast on a drag strip it would blow anything away.

One thing though the wheel bearings keep going in it because of the power and the car seems to dislike cold starts but crikey it's fast at only 206bhp it would smoke a Civic or teggy off th eline (That said once you hhit 3rd/4th gear things start to change).

So yes they are a good car if your going with something different but power wise, you'll need to mod it a bit to compare to a Vtec honda engine and when you do your fuel economy just goes right out the window.

MarkR

Drove one for a little while, steering's a bit heavy. Not that fast for the hp it has. Best advice would be to take one for a good spin and see how you like it.

Andrewf20

MarkR wrote:

Drove one for a little while, steering's a bit heavy. Not that fast for the hp it has. Best advice would be to take one for a good spin and see how you like it.

Probably light on mid range punch / torque for the 1.6L, power all in the top end instead.

dade

I drive a 98 AE111 Trueno.

I won't go into the speed or power or anything as others seems to have it covered but from an insurance point of view mine wasn't too bad. last year cost me €770 fully comp. 32 Male 2Y NCB and married so that may have been a factor. But considering I was driving a 1.25 fiesta previous and was quoted €570 on the fiesta for the year when i changed over IMO it's not bad for insurance. And I have the missus on the car as a named driver and she has a provisional license 3 years and has never been on her own policy.

stan56

I drive a levin myself and i cant praise it enough, it was 1114 for the year insurance (i'm 20 3 year named driving experience) And power wise mine will match any vtec civic,(it has induction kit, decat and muffler system). Basically mine isn't modified much and can match and even overtake civics that aren't modified much either. What I'm trying to say is there isn't much if anything between Levins and vtec civics from my experience anyway

projectgtr

hey stan what model levin have you got? bz-?

back to the main question if 1.6 is your limit the Civic SiR2 is your only man (bar the type R) the SiR2 will leave the equivalent Levin for dust both on the straights and the twisties, the only thing you have to do now is start liking hatches

stan56

projectgtr wrote:

hey stan what model levin have you got? bz-?

back to the main question if 1.6 is your limit the Civic SiR2 is your only man (bar the type R) the SiR2 will leave the equivalent Levin for dust both on the straights and the twisties, the only thing you have to do now is start liking hatches

Its a BZ-G

projectgtr

man thats a sweet insurance price for that levin and your age who are you with? yeah your levin should take pretty much all civics bar the SiR and the Type R, they have alot of potential some ive seen from japan are amazing, i nearly went for one but the SiR just seemed to beat it at the post, proberbly the fact i drive an EG allready, think ill allway was have one in my drive.

bluemachaveli

Have a 97 Levin myself. Fairly quick but is pipped by a v-tech civic. I love the car, insurance is costin me 1300 wit quinn direct. The cars fairly low and i have to say i love the handeling. Stuck to the ground at high speed. For 11k u should pick up a mint car.

projectgtr

yeah the top end of the civic takes it allright. but it will take pretty much any of the sohc civics. i love the shape of the levin to be honest as soon as i sat in a bz-r i just sat too close to the roof and im no tall guy (5`10-5`11) that was killer, im so used to sitting on the floor in my EG and i love it. i thought maybe it was just that one car but i tried another and it was the same. i know you could prberbly get a set of lower profile rails but it just turned me off.

hope i dont sound like im putting the levin down, its a great car and it has my respect its just not for me

j2dab

Get something different. Maybe a MK2 Golf G60. Classier then a Levin and insurance with Quinn when 21 is below 1500.
Levins are all over the place