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Date:         Tue, 4 Nov 2008 00:52:50 -0700
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon ?Previa?
Comments: To: Don Hanson <dhanson@gorge.net>
In-Reply-To:  <000501c93a4f$9cb1dfa0$4001a8c0@gateway.2wire.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 10:23 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson@gorge.net> wrote: > Kinda off topic but is anyone onlist familiar with the Toyota Previa? > ..And the Toyota has always intrigued me. Reading > shows them inexpensive (compared to Vanagons) and dependable(according to > some). They are fairly plentiful, but manual trans ones seem a bit rare and > the supercharged ones (160hp vs 130hp na) are rare also. Many come with > full time 4X4. They have a DOC 4, mounted slanted behind the front wheels > (mid engine?) > Not a Vanagon, by any means, but a viable van for someone who's been known > to neglect their vehicle, like my SO. I think they made em from 91 to 97. > Anybody have any feedback on those? > thanks, > Don Hanson

Don, the midengined generation was made from 1990 to 1999, though they stopped bringing them into NA early. In 2000 the new model became a conventional MPV and wasn't sold in NA. They are extremely popular outside NA and still look better than any other MPV... very advanced styling and interesting layout.

The NA only got the wide-bodied version; as with the 30-series Camry, Japan got a narrow-bodied version also, which due to registration costs was far more popular there; it had different (sloping) lights, grill, bumpers, front fenders and dashboard, and was far more aggressive in looks; it got 2 or 3 facelifts; the wide-body never received a facelift. In Japan both widths were sold as Estima; in Australia the wide was sold as Tarago. The narrow-body was available as a 2.2 turbodiesel. which goes very well but is notorious for cracking heads. Early cars were IRS, and handled very well; after a couple of years of production the IRS was dropped, and the cars became serious understeerers at the limit. Both widths were available with full-time 4WD.

A mechanic relation has told me that the gas engines crack heads too, but I have never heard this from any other source; given that at any one intersection at any one time on a busy day in New Zealand, there can be up to FIVE Estimas present at the same time, I'd think I'd have heard about it if it were true.

These cars are not vans, though they have a vanlike structure. Strictly they are MPVs (multiperson vehicles). They are very expensive to work on if the engine needs serious work or a cambelt replacement.

I can't understand why Toyota didn't engineer these for a flat-6; the flat-4 goes OK, but a 3.0 or larger six would have been better. I suspect that a Subaru 3.3 could be made to fit.

Manuals are not common in either width; in the narrow body a 5-speed floorshift was available, and my wife's 93 diesel narrow Estima Lucida is one of these.

I'd say that overall they are great vehicles, and they have more space than any other MPV due to the engine placement; in the narrow body, which is only "narrow" in relative terms, you can seat 8 people in comfort and have a week's worth of luggage as well, without a trailer.

Most were not really luxurious; upholstery tends to be pretty basic and the seats in the narrow-bodies can be uncomfortable on a long trip, at least for the driver; standard upholstery in the narrow body is a synthetic tweed and doesn't look nice. There was an upmarket wide body with leather and all the works, and the narrow body was available with a glass domed roof. Narrow-bodies were 8-seaters, though the left-middle seat can be removed (no LHD narrow-bodies were made). Aeras-badged narrow-bodies were upmarket.

Body kits are available for the narrow bodies, and a lowered and tastefully modified one can look wonderful.

I have seen some which have hit concrete objects at speed; like the VW T3, these vehicles are very solid.

The things I don't like about them: -no big engine -diesels crack heads (but can run for over a year this way) -IRS only on older examples -seats/upholstery in base Emina/Lucida narrow-body -plastic headlights go dull and lose transparency -they changed in 2000 to a van-based front-engined design -no offside slider (though a slider coule be added from an opposite-drive vehicle) -seats aren't quick-release -slider/side windows not powered (not opening at all) -rear discs were only optional, not standard

If I had the money (and my Caravelle project was finished) I'd like to buy an IRS wide-body and modify a narrow-body grill and bumpers to fit (fenders should bolt on), convert it to floorshift manual using narrow-body parts, move the handbrake lever to the middle, fit a hot Subaru EG33 to it... or maybe just modify a narrow-body.

I'm a fan!

-- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin, New Zealand Fossil preparator Mollusc, Toyota & VW van nut Temporarily in Calgary, AB, Canada <goose1047@gmail.com>


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