I'm debating with myself here. I need a car for around town driving, something reliable. I've had a 4th gen, and currently own a 5.5 gen...but the wife gets it..
Anyways I want something that would be close to as fun as my 4th gen 5speed.

If you were looking at two cars. Similar mileage and options.

1- 5speed VG 91 Model SE
2- Auto VE 93 Model SE

Which would you choose? I want the 5Speed but might want the power of a VE. I have a hard time deciding.

 

i would get the 5speed vg if ur looking for fun and power u can easily add a turbo setup from a 300zx while the VE would have to be a custom setup plus even though the VE has an extra 30hp the actual power to the wheels is reduced with an auto so the extra power wouldn't be that noticeable

 

Go by which car has less miles, more new parts / better maintenance record, which one is cleaner...drive both and decide for yourself!

 

I've owned both. I had more fun believe it or not driving my auto VE, specially after some modding. The 5 speed VG was alot of fun too but the VE had more *****. If you really want some crack get a stick VE it'll outrun any stock 4th gen. With the 4 wheel indy suspension out handle any 4th gen not on coilovers.

 

a) define 'easily'. and b) over 5000rpm it would still be VERY noticeable

 

Even tho VE will run up to 145mph with ease a VG will take more pounds of boost stock/stock with a VE. If you wanna run a decent amount of added power to the ground you would have to build a VE. I didn't know you were looking for a project car. In that case the stick VG would be my choice. Z turbo motors drop right in if I'm not mistaken, which I could be.

 

best compromise is to put the z manifolds onto the 9:1 vg motor. and i know the vg can take more boost. i was talking about a stock vg5 vs ve4. the ve will still pull a million times harder above 5k revs.

 

the VG is easier to turbo because u can go to a junkyard and get a turbocharger and the manifolds to go along with it the VE would be a custom set of turbo manifolds so its alot cheaper and theres alot guys who have turboed VG's on here before some say for less than a grand and theres lot different write-ups and alot of defferent ways to do it even twin turo write-ups theres also all the 1st and 2nd gen turbos which all have the VG

...and at the race track if he's hitting 5000rpm then the difference between manual and auto might not matter as much but driving around the city he wont feel a huge difference between a vg5 and a ve auto

 

this just proves how much less you know than you think you do. 1st gen is a L24E (inline 6, non-crossflow head) and RWD. 2nd gen is the first one to get a VG. and i was only hashing you for calling turboing any never-offered-stock turbo car "easy". "b)" had NOTHING to do with turbo. and plenty of people rev over 5000 on the street. hell before my current issue I would rev to 5800rpm in 1st and 2nd if i was in a hurry. but a VE can rev well over 6000 and still make respectable power.

and honestly when did the OP EVER mention wanting to boost? he just said he wants a car to drive that's as fun/funner (not difficult ) than a 4th gen....

 

ve gets my vote.
nice engine in a pinch, and has an auto. I am starting to get tired of driving my vg-5 all the time.

 

dude i own AUTO VE and trust me or not it pulls harder than my friends VG5...even tho his VG is in very well mechanical condition with CAI, Highflow cats, and magnaflow muffler...and i was stock that time BONE STOCK wen i raced him not once 5 times cuz he couldnt believe lol...and dont even talk about at highway speeds he was no where around me.....now i have couple simple mods like CAI,TEST PIPE, AND NONE-BRAND MUFFLER which i m going to change it to magna flow or flowmaster delta 40....i would say get the VE its more reliable jus kep an eye on VTCs ( no offence to vg guys i have auto vg as well )....later if u wanna do VE5 swap u will have real fun

later...

 

i vote auto, my 92 gxe<to a near stock stick 1992 skyline by 1 length

 

you beat a skyline? bull. ****. especially not with a gxe. 3rd gen gxe is as slow as they come. but if you stick by your story then i'd like to tell you about that Murcielago i pulled a half a car on last week.......

 

The man want opinions on one of two options...You all have turned it into a thread about boosting and street racing.

He just wants it as a daily driver...amirite?

 

did i see someone typed that a VE can beat a stock VQ, im curious to see that. even with VI the VE still have less TQ, and i believe the gen 4 maximas are lighter. but IMO if you going NA then offcourse the VE is better, its has VI, it has DOHC which means the heads flow better, hence more power, but if you gonna boost, then VG is your best bet, and we all know boosting will yield more power than trynna make NA power.

 

Yep the car will be my DD. I suspect I might throw and intake and Y at it, but probably not much more then that.
I plan on buying an Old z31 for my project fast car. But I still want the DD to give me enough thrills sometimes if needed.
Trying to find a VE5 in Atlanta is a pita!

 

equal for equal condition wise, go for the VE. Depends on how itchy you are to drive a stick

I couldnt pass mine up when i found it for sale 8 years ago, it was too clean of a car despite being Auto... my 5spd bug grew a few years later and i swapped it

 

his cars really stock, he beat me by one length but i dont know how it got that close. i dont know if he has the RB26 engine either. his place is right by me and whenever i pass him in the skyline he smirks

 

still, your reason for telling OP to get an automatic (not a VE automatic... just an automatic) was cuz you 'almost' kept up with a skyline. knowing that the manual would be faster (ie my car would have paced him dead even, if you really did only lose by 1 length), VE auto is faster, and VE manual is faster still. so your experiences with some other car certainly have nothing to do with why an automatic (regardless of engine) is a better choice... which unless you're trying to be like Aaron, it isn't.

 

lolzerz @ the hurting beef in this thread.

anyway... do the cars appear to be in similar condition/mileage? to both have clean records?, Which has the most new/replaced parts/ which seller is more up front and knowledgeable w/ the car?

Since this is a DD and it sounds like you want a 5-speed from your previous car, I would say go for the VG 5-speed, mainly for the fact that if/when something dies on it, parts are readily available in JY's, and VE parts are a little harder to come by.

If money for repairs is not an issue, The VEauto would be nice if it has no VTC clack, I have read on this forum that it has really good gains w/ the WSP y-pipe, and for DD purposes i know some people prefer and auto.

either car is a fair choice, if the VG was an auto then it would be a no-brainer.

Basically your questoin is this- more power but auto? or less power but 5-speed?

personally i would go with the 5-speed, but that's just because i would be willing to mod the VG and i am dying to have a 5-speed right now.
.. just my .o2$

 

eh..id still say vg5 ur z31 will have the same engine and the manual tranny on the VG will just be alot more fun than auto

 

VE period. you can always swap in a stick later.
the VG you have to worry about if/when the timing is/was replaced and when it will fail.
plus the rev ability on a VE is much more fun than a VG or 4th gen VQ.

 

and you don't have to worry about injector failures AS much on a VE as you do on a VG.......

 

BUY MY CAR!!!

 

Well I ended up with the VG 5speed. The VE models all ran terrible. One felt like it was running on 3 Cycl. The other it was obivous the auto was slipping on the other VE. The VG however ran like a top it has 243k on the odo, but I think the motor has been replaced, or rebuilt the thing ran perfect. Shifted smooth, the clutch had no slippage. Driving the car was excellent, didnt pull in any direction. AC was super cold.

I'm gonna grab a new hood since this one has a couple of dents, and throw a quick Maaco on her. Fix a couple of dings too maybe.

I'll grab some pics tomorrow if I can.

 

now replace the timing belt, tensioner (<< OEM ONLY!), water pump, and front oil seals before your motor eats itself for lunch (unless you have proof of it having been done within the last 40k miles). maybe it was done, just without any proof of it.... but it's not worth the risk. i got a 3rd gen for $450 cuz the engine was smashed to bits on the inside after the PO had the timing belt brake cuz he "didn't know they went bad"

 

Not sure what skylines are available in LHD, but the 92 skyline's were available in anything from a non turbo RB20, through to a twin turbo RB26, so if it was a NA RB20, then it isn't surprising a stock VG30 could keep up!!
If it was the RB26 (GTR), you would have no chance!