3000gt sl or 3000gt vr4?

Ok guys,you guys think i should buy a 3000gt sl or a 3000gt vr4?I know you everyone is going to say vr4 but i dont have that much money for the car. And i want the car from years 1998 to 1999. The vr4 will be more expense from those years. The 3000gt sl is the car that will fit my bugdet. But there is 1 problem,It only has 210 or 222 hp. If i could make the sl have the same hp as the vr4 then i will buy a 3000gt sl.If you guys choose the sl can you tell me what kind of parts i need to make the HP close to the vr4? And if you choose the vr4 you dont have to list any the mods. Thanks for readng this thread i would apreciate you guys if you help me with this question.

you have to realize one thing first. If your budget cannot afford the VR-4 then you will never even come close to those HP numbers on an SL because tunning takes money.
first off if you want 320 bhp from an sl your gonna need forced induction. Turbo swap will cost you a bit over a grand with used parts and about 5 grand with all new parts. and you'll only be boosting 5-6 psi to make roughly 300 hp. anything above that and you will risk serious damage. Supercharger kits run for like 4 grand plus labor and you'll make between 280 and 310 depending on your set up. for that much more money you could just get the VR-4.

^280 WHP according to rippmods website, and they didn't even fully max out the pulley they were using ;)

you have to realize one thing first. If your budget cannot afford the VR-4 then you will never even come close to those HP numbers on an SL because tunning takes money.
first off if you want 320 bhp from an sl your gonna need forced induction. Turbo swap will cost you a bit over a grand with used parts and about 5 grand with all new parts. and you'll only be boosting 5-6 psi to make roughly 300 hp. anything above that and you will risk serious damage. Supercharger kits run for like 4 grand plus labor and you'll make between 280 and 310 depending on your set up. for that much more money you could just get the VR-4.

Ok if i buy a 3000gt sl from 1999 it wil cost about 11.000 dollars. Plus the supercharger for about $4000.that will equal 14,000 dollars. Then how much does a vr4 from 1998 or 1999 year costs?

98 or 99 are still around 20k or more.

And a supercharged 3s will NEVER have the same power potential as a turbocharged 3s.

98 or 99 are still around 20k or more.

And a supercharged 3s will NEVER have the same power potential as a turbocharged 3s.
why are they so expensiv?

For the price your looking at for a 99 SL you could get a second gen VR4 and possibly even throw on a 99 front end conversion. And they are so expensive because new it was about $35k and 3S's tend to hold there value well.

why are they so expensiv?

Because they are supercars!
Gateway once mentioned that in the insurance books they are listed under "Urban Exotic". For what they are and what they where when they came out, they are affordable supercars.

looks to me like you simply cant afford a VR-4 but do yourself a favor and dont get the SL either. Look for something more in your price range for what you wanna do with it. Like a 240 or a prelude.
the reason I say this is because the SL is a fantastic sports car but it will never be a VR-4 and you have to accept that. If you get crazy and mod the hell out of it you would have ended up spending more money then you would have if you just got the VR-4 to start with.....and you still wont have AWD, active aero, all wheel steering, specialty brakes, ect..
the 3000GT is not a market whore like the civic or the 240 where every company makes crap for them. These cars are very rare and vey select so few companies actually make quality parts and that makes it even harder to build a equally fast SL.

Because they are supercars!
Gateway once mentioned that in the insurance books they are listed under "Urban Exotic". For what they are and what they where when they came out, they are affordable supercars.

looks to me like you simply cant afford a VR-4 but do yourself a favor and dont get the SL either. Look for something more in your price range for what you wanna do with it. Like a 240 or a prelude.
the reason I say this is because the SL is a fantastic sports car but it will never be a VR-4 and you have to accept that. If you get crazy and mod the hell out of it you would have ended up spending more money then you would have if you just got the VR-4 to start with.....and you still wont have AWD, active aero, all wheel steering, specialty brakes, ect..
the 3000GT is not a market whore like the civic or the 240 where every company makes crap for them. These cars are very rare and vey select so few companies actually make quality parts and that makes it even harder to build a equally fast SL.
Then if the vr4 from the years 1998 or 1999 are expensev then which years the vr4 are cheap?

how much money are you willing to spend on a VR-4?

About $8000 on a vr4

for that you can get a 1st gen (91-93) and still have 1-2k spare.
where do you live?

Florida

Read the FAQ

Read the IMPORTANT: Thinking of buying a vr4 as your first car, please read

:iagree:

read that first and then search.:grinyes:
autotrader.com
cars.com

Read the FAQ

Read the IMPORTANT: Thinking of buying a vr4 as your first car, please read
I did read it

what do you drive now?

I drive nothing right now. I just sold my last car. It was an eclipse gs.

where in FL? Im in Miami, Kendall area.

How old are you anyway. I take it your a young buck. Even if you can afford a VR4 that is around 8k you still need a nice sized bank account if anything should wear out or break which WILL happen. If you have to get a VR4 mabye look at a first gen. I actually like how the 1st gen looks more so than the 2nd, just my 2 cents. But I would till say get a nice SL. Less likely to break down or have something go wrong, cheaper gas and insurance, less expensive to fix, less likely to kill yourself.

i am 17 and i was thinking if i buy an sl i will put on a supercharger on it

i am 17 and i was thinking if i buy an sl i will put on a supercharger on it
I repeat a supercharged NA 3s will NEVER have the power potential of a turbo 3s. Besides you will spend $4k plus on a supercharger kit and you can do a TT swap for much cheaper.

^^ Exactly, the SC will put you right over your budget once its purchased along with the car. Plus, you need some mechanical experience to put on any kind of forced induction. If you need someone to install all of it that will be even more $$$.

one question for you. Do you plan to use this car as a daily driver? if so, i would steer you towards an SL. Im not saying that VR-4s are not reliable, but for the price your looking to spend, any VR-4 you get will likely have over 100kmi on it, and like any car with 100kmi, parts will be needed sooner rather than later. At least with an SL, you dont have to worry about alot of the little thinngs that go, and also, you will be able to get one with less milage.

but like stated above, if 220hp is not enough for you, go out and get a 240 or prelude and mod it. IMO a 3/S is NOT a good first car. Theyre complex, expensive, and way too powerful for a beginning driver(especially the VR4). Also, you have to come to grips with the fact that almost everyone trashes their first car. Wouldnt you rather total a civic with a fart can and altezzas?

im not saying dont buy a 3/S, im saying wait for few years...learn your lessons to be learned, save some bank, research the platform, then buy smart.

good luck with which ever way you go though man

one question for you. Do you plan to use this car as a daily driver? if so, i would steer you towards an SL. Im not saying that VR-4s are not reliable, but for the price your looking to spend, any VR-4 you get will likely have over 100kmi on it, and like any car with 100kmi, parts will be needed sooner rather than later. At least with an SL, you dont have to worry about alot of the little thinngs that go, and also, you will be able to get one with less milage.

but like stated above, if 220hp is not enough for you, go out and get a 240 or prelude and mod it. IMO a 3/S is NOT a good first car. Theyre complex, expensive, and way too powerful for a beginning driver(especially the VR4). Also, you have to come to grips with the fact that almost everyone trashes their first car. Wouldnt you rather total a civic with a fart can and altezzas?

im not saying dont buy a 3/S, im saying wait for few years...learn your lessons to be learned, save some bank, research the platform, then buy smart.

good luck with which ever way you go though man
Yeah i am going to use it as my daily driver and its not my first car this would be my second car.And also i dont like hondas and 240sxes

I repeat a supercharged NA 3s will NEVER have the power potential of a turbo 3s. Besides you will spend $4k plus on a supercharger kit and you can do a TT swap for much cheaper.
Do you mean an engine swap?

^^ No, he means to put on the twin turbo system on to your engine you have right now. You keep your engine and then put on a TT kit from a VR4 if that explains it.

^^ No, he means to put on the twin turbo system on to your engine you have right now. You keep your engine and then put on a TT kit from a VR4 if that explains it.
How can you do that? I never seen anybody do that

You can either order new parts or usually people find a used twin turbo kit off of a VR4. You simply have to be able to hook it all up to your engine. The SL and VR4 have the same motor just a few differences such as comp ratio and different cranks. So you can make your SL a twin turbo. Check out 3si.org, they have more info on this subject.

Look to put it simple get a VR-4 if you are looking for performance, looks get an SL. To make an SL perform as good as a stock VR-4 (300+hp) requires more than a lot of $$$ to heavly mode the engine. you have to remember the VR-4 has more than just an engine made for Power/performance but it also has AWD,AWS,ECS,upgraded brakes etc to make it superior on the circuit and a hell of a lot safer to drive.

I would get a stock 2nd gen 3kgt/GTO. The only thing the 98-99 model has over that car is the front bumper and wing. when you have the money then get that 99 face lift.

And the main thing, be safe and don't exceed the speed limit until you are extremely confident with your car, give it at least 2 years........

You can either order new parts or usually people find a used twin turbo kit off of a VR4. You simply have to be able to hook it all up to your engine. The SL and VR4 have the same motor just a few differences such as comp ratio and different cranks. So you can make your SL a twin turbo. Check out 3si.org, they have more info on this subject.
Ok this is what i am getting in to my head. So you are saying that i can put 2 turbos in my sl?

Ok this is what i am getting in to my head. So you are saying that i can put 2 turbos in my sl?


yes you can, but the one thing is you will have to be careful with it. A lot of people who choose this route end up blowing their engines or transmissions because they don't have the experience of tuning and taking things slowly to make sure everything is right before trying to race it.

I can't count how many blown motors i've seen on 3SI because of this.

Now, I am NOT saying that its dangerous to do that. What I am saying is that the people who have taken their times and made sure everything was properly done have not had a single problem.

Do you put it in the same place like in a vr4?

^^^ I'm not sure what you mean by that but you do hook the turbos up to a manifold and then have the boost running to your intake. It's hooked up the same way as the VR4.

i am 17

SL.

SL.
what do you mean sl?

:iamwithst er, not 3000gtsl, I'm with Igovert.

SL=222hp 3000GT not 320hp 3000GT

In retrospect, SL = less insurance, less chance you kill yourself and the car by taking
a corner 50mph faster than you should and VR4 is the opposite.

Get an SL and leave it alone.

Well yea if you are going to go for an SL then keep it stock. why????

because the SL doesn't have the safty features of the VR-4 (AWD, AWS, Brakes etc).

300+hp SL < Corner. 500+hp VR-4=Corner

I had my first VR-4 when I was 17 and I can say the saftey features of the VR-4 have saved my life a few times. Def not the best car for a 17 year old. Its easy to go way above the speed limits given the secure feeling the VR-4 provides.

I wouldn't exactly call AWD and AWS a safety feature.

I wouldn't exactly call AWD and AWS a safety feature.
:iamwithst
I've seen more VR-4s wrapped around trees and turnned over smoking then Ive seen SLs

GTO!

I wouldn't exactly call AWD and AWS a safety feature.


:werd: I dont know where your going with that. I've never heard someone say "woh, I would have hit that tree had I not had my AWS" (which really doesn't do a shit for you in the first place). And as far as AWD it may be better in the snow but then agian you have more hp to the wheels so I'm still leaning towards not.

lol, yea thats because people don't know the limits of there cars.

All that I'm saying is that it requires more than just HP to make an SL perform as good as a VR-4 especially on/around B roads/corners.

I'm suggesting that if 3000gtsl is going to drive a 300+hp 3kgt, it would be more safe and cheaper to buy the VR-4 given the extra features for performance.

But ultimatly as Musashi said the safest and cheapest option would be to buy an SL/base and keep out of the performance mods.

ps: FYI AWD sucks on snow its all for the Targa. and if I didn't have AWD etc I would spin out every time I went near the gas pedal. You need to drive a VR-4 to know what I'm talking about.

:werd: I dont know where your going with that. I've never heard someone say "woh, I would have hit that tree had I not had my AWS" (which really doesn't do a shit for you in the first place). And as far as AWD it may be better in the snow but then agian you have more hp to the wheels so I'm still leaning towards not.

You are going to have people say, Woh, I wouldn't have been able to take that corner at this speed without the aid of AWD blah blah blah:smooch:

Thaks everybody for the great ideas. I realy apreciat your time doing this work. Once again thank you people.

No problem. So what have you decided after reading all of this?

Get an SL and be kind to it, prove you are a worthy owner first. Their were what 80+ thousand made in almost a decade.. We dont want you to kill a car on the endangered species list here. Get an SL learn how to handle the car well, learn how to work on it, learn the culture. Then when you are older and wiser think about getting a VR4, then wait until you have a good enough job to support it.

Owning a VR4 is like having a family, you have to feed it, clean it, maintain it, nurture it, fix it. It is not going to be cheap, hell look to drop a few grand everytime you turn around if you cant work on it yourself.

Get an SL and be kind to it, prove you are a worthy owner first. Their were what 80+ thousand made in almost a decade.. We dont want you to kill a car on the endangered species list here. Get an SL learn how to handle the car well, learn how to work on it, learn the culture. Then when you are older and wiser think about getting a VR4, then wait until you have a good enough job to support it.

Owning a VR4 is like having a family, you have to feed it, clean it, maintain it, nurture it, fix it. It is not going to be cheap, hell look to drop a few grand everytime you turn around if you cant work on it yourself.
If i get a 3000gt sl it wont be that fast. If i would buy the vr4 i would do nothin to the engine i would just go for the ex and in parts.For the sl i have to go for the engine , the ex and in parts too.

If i get a 3000gt sl it wont be that fast. If i would buy the vr4 i would do nothin to the engine i would just go for the ex and in parts.For the sl i have to go for the engine , the ex and in parts too.

Just remember, there isnt a huge aftermarket for these cars.

Just remember, there isnt a huge aftermarket for these cars.
I know but do you think they will have more aftermarket parts for the vr4 in the future?

I know but do you think they will have more aftermarket parts for the vr4 in the future?

I know the aftermarket has been getting better in the last few years and with all the people making high hp vr-4's im sure its just a matter of time before most of the products they use go into production (the ones that are unique that is).

If i get a 3000gt sl it wont be that fast. If i would buy the vr4 i would do nothin to the engine i would just go for the ex and in parts.For the sl i have to go for the engine , the ex and in parts too.

I wouldn't go so far as to say a SL won't be fast. SL's can run about a 15 1/4 which isn't to shabby for a n/a 3.0L (naturally aspirated or no turbos or s/c). Thats about what mid 90's Mustang GT's run and is faster than the early 80's L82 Corvette. As for aftermarket they may come out with some more aftermarket but not much more. Unless your looking to run a 10-10.9 1/4 I wouldn't worry about not having enough after market. Not to mention at your age aftermarket can get quite expensive unfortunately. I really do think you would be happy with an SL. And another thing is, is that you can't just look at numbers and how fast it is in a drag. I'd rather have my SL than some 14 second cars because it looks amazing, handles VERY well, is nicely furnished on the inside, etc. You got to look at the big picture and not just at flat straight speed.

^ Well put SL3000gt. Not many other cars look as nice as ours for the price, or even double the price. And you cant say enough about the handling:)

If i get a 3000gt sl it wont be that fast. If i would buy the vr4 i would do nothin to the engine i would just go for the ex and in parts.For the sl i have to go for the engine , the ex and in parts too.

This is a no-no. A VR4 is still a VR4, even if you don't mod it. Which means a mid-high 13 second car, with AWD, and a car that you will want to show off. :slap: Don't make it out to be anything less than it is.

why are you worried about getting even more power out of a VR4???? You're what 17? Shit, my 3000gt scared me, and my 300zx still scares me (sometimes) and that's a mid-high 14 second car, and I've been driving for at least three years. You don't need to worry about anything but your own driving abilities, and decisions for now. If you want more power, wait a while, and do a TT swap... you'll thank yourself when you don't have to worry about random rather useless features shorting out and not working :-p.

why are you worried about getting even more power out of a VR4???? You're what 17? Shit, my 3000gt scared me, and my 300zx still scares me (sometimes) and that's a mid-high 14 second car, and I've been driving for at least three years. You don't need to worry about anything but your own driving abilities, and decisions for now. If you want more power, wait a while, and do a TT swap... you'll thank yourself when you don't have to worry about random rather useless features shorting out and not working :-p.

So you are saying that I need to buy a smaller car drive it for a bout couple of years than modd it than sell it than buy a bigger car?

i think hes saying buy an SL, dont touch the engine, then a few years down the road, throw a TT on it

^exactly what I'm saying, don't even think about a VR4 until you can deal with the regular maintenance of an n/a 3s, becuase I can guarentee you that maintenance for a VR4 isn't exactly a walk in the park. Plus it really does have too damn much power, and half the time you can't even tell how fast you really are going.

I bought my SL intentionally. I did have the money for a 1st gen VR4 with about 120k miles but I didn't get it. The reason for this was insurance is outstanding for a 18 year old kid on a VR4, gas, and as said too many very expensive things can go wrong. So far I'd say its been a wise decision. Hell, if I had a VR4 my last speeding ticket probably would have been 95 or 100 in a 55 instead of 81 in a 55.

I bought my SL intentionally. I did have the money for a 1st gen VR4 with about 120k miles but I didn't get it. The reason for this was insurance is outstanding for a 18 year old kid on a VR4, gas, and as said too many very expensive things can go wrong. So far I'd say its been a wise decision. Hell, if I had a VR4 my last speeding ticket probably would have been 95 or 100 in a 55 instead of 81 in a 55.

So then you are saying that i should not buy a vr4.But how much does the cheapest sl from 1st gen cost? the cheapesf one you know