1800 4WD Caribs?

[B1NZ]

SO has anyone had any experiences with these? Am looking to trade in the boy racer STI and get something more suited as Im getting old now haha

SO what are they like? Reliabilty? What sort of gas milage would you expect? What is the 4WD system like? How do they perform say compared to the 1600 caribs?

Basically looking for a weekend driver/ski mobile, something I can throw gear in and go, Also would need to be able to handle a few slippery roads with snow ice and takes skis/snowboards

[GTTpower]

Tend to hold their value well compared to the fwd variants, full time 4wd similar to the non-turbo caldina's and imo 7A>3S-FE Should handle the snow fine.

[sergei]

SO has anyone had any experiences with these? Am looking to trade in the boy racer STI and get something more suited as Im getting old now haha

SO what are they like? Reliabilty? What sort of gas milage would you expect? What is the 4WD system like? How do they perform say compared to the 1600 caribs?

Basically looking for a weekend driver/ski mobile, something I can throw gear in and go, Also would need to be able to handle a few slippery roads with snow ice and takes skis/snowboards

I believe they have an open centre diff with locking option. All other diffs are also open. Thus they are somewhat useless in 4WD department unless you are (slightly) stuck in the dirt. There is not much difference between 4WD carib and 1.6 counterpart. I would even go as far as the 1.8 4WD is slower than 1.6.

[fuel]

Yep they hold their value better, but still not worth as much as the BZ-Touring wagons, but certainly worth more than the basic 1600cc FWD models.

Fuel milage is about average, they have a fairly small tank in them and the rate the fuel gauge needle drops down can be alarming at first, but once you get used to it, it's not too bad. Expect around 10L/100km on average combined open road and around town running. I find you need to work the engine a little to get it moving at a reasonable pace as it seems to lack a little low down torque which the 4WD system saps up.

I find the ride to be a little on the 'tinny' side and it can get its sway on if it's really windy and you're traveling a little faster than the speed limit. This is probably fixed with some stiffer and lower springs, but you then might lose any 4WD capabilities it may have had.

Make sure you get the best spec'd wagon for your money, the early 95-96 models often didn't come standard with ABS or air bags, while in 97 they all seemed to get ABS and both driver and passenger air bags, as well as a facelift interior (stereo sits above HVAC controls in its own pod rather than down below).

All in all, not a bad car at all - just perhaps not a really good one either. For what I paid for mine I am thoroughly happy, but for what I see some of them sell for I can't help but think you could find something better for the same dollar value.

The one advantage a Carib has over any other competitor is the hgh roof, you just cannot seem to get a high roof small sized wagon, which can come in either a poverty pack 1500cc right through to a performance 1600cc to a practical 4WD one like the Carib in any other manufacturers stable - so maybe this is where the price premium comes from.

My 2 cents.

[AE86less]

I was thinking about these the other day.

4WD 7AGE. Do it.

[Mr Revhead]

I believe they have an open centre diff with locking option. All other diffs are also open. Thus they are somewhat useless in 4WD department unless you are (slightly) stuck in the dirt. There is not much difference between 4WD carib and 1.6 counterpart. I would even go as far as the 1.8 4WD is slower than 1.6.

How many times would you need the little advantage it may give you per year? 3? 4 times a year? It'll be a bit better in slippery stuff, but the margin between stuck in a 2wd one and a 4wd probably isn't huge. Once you spin some wheels your just as stuck.
Taking into consideration the higher fuel usage over a year is it really worth it?
Then again it's going to be cheap compared to the STI


Personally I would say to start looking at various 2 and 4wd versions and just pick an individual one that you like the look/price/feel of.

[fuel]

I was thinking about these the other day.

4WD 7AGTE. Do it.

Fixed.

You'd probably pop a gearbox, diff or driveshaft or even all three if you're super lucky.

[gt4dude]

Dude 10L/100Km is pathetic for a 7A-FE.

My untuned rich running ct26 fed st205 is hitting 9km/L (11.1L/100Km???)

If it's gonna be like that you may aswell keep the STI

[fuel]

yeah it's definitely not what I would call super economical, a trip from Hamilton to Auckland and back, as well as a trip from Hamilton to Taupo and back used 3/4 of a tank for each trip. But having said that it's not super fuel hungry either - perhaps just on average of what a typical 2L car would use if not driving completely conservatively. Mine's a 5spd manual, I would assume the autos would be worse.

[Quint]

10L / 100km is reasonable fuel usage. Wont get much better out of a 4wd.

[Mr Revhead]

As a comparison I did some accurate fuel calcs over a coupla months for my 2000 nz 4afe 2wd the average was about 7.5/100
That was over about 3-4 months of everyday use when I was in Welly.
A tank would do about 600k. As a matter of interest, there was no change between 91 and 95.

[sergei]

Well, consider that by having 4WD if you are using it or not, you have extra 2 hypoid gears (that a FWD does not have), 4 CV joints (and maybe +1 CV on prop shaft), 2 cardan joints, that is a lot of friction.

[B1NZ]

Our STI gets about the same fuel consumption then? Seems odd? Well only when the wife drives anyway haha

We just drove this one: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =296006319

Older than we would have liked but drives really nice, just feels like a normal corolla rather than a wagon which we liked, Went up hills not too badly with a few revs, It had a Centre diff lock button, when depressed and turning it really felt like the gearbox was binding up, Not sure if that is normal or not?

[Leon]

That sounds like a centre diff lock working as expected.

[B1NZ]

yeah i thought this might be the case, Ive never experienced one before thats all, I assume this would help with snow and stuff?

So whats the difference between being on and off?

[Mr Revhead]

I suspect they are not meant to be used at speed?
Just for slow get-you-through-the-mud things

[sergei]

yeah i thought this might be the case, Ive never experienced one before thats all, I assume this would help with snow and stuff?

So whats the difference between being on and off?

It basically fully locks the centre, so the front and rear wheels are driven at same speed, which is fine if you are going straight...
Very useless feature unless you are going through mud.
Dangerous in snow anything above 10kph.

[Simon K]

Sweet baby jesus, the colours!

Shop around, I looked at two wagons on the same yard when I was buying. Both had differing interior colour schemes which are much less damaging to the eye. Mines got the 3 spoke airbag wheel(Like a BZG/R I think)not the one in that picture and a nice subdued black dash/seat. The other was blue vinyl/grey material and looked

[fuel]

Mine's the exact same colour scheme as that one in the trademe link. That one has no ABS and only a driver's air bag so keep that in mine, but $4000 is a good price especially for those kms and that the cambelt has been done.

[Simon K]

Love the answer to the question about "whats it like on gas?"

"No gas, its petrol"