General Comments:
I've had my Levin GT Apex 20v now for about a month, and am quite satisfied with every feature.
Things I have noticed (from top of my head) are as follows:
Pros:
1. Cool looking car and quite rare here in Brisbane AUS (9/10 first Q asked is "What is it!?").
2. Quite fast when you rev it high! Although to get the power going you must approach redline in 1st, so that 2nd pulls and continues the acceleration (which is no prob to chirpie (skid) in the 1-2 gear change!), 2nd gear doesn't need as much revving to get power out of 3rd gear.
3. Gears are excellent! Approx: (1st-60Km/h, 2nd-100Km/h, 3rd-150ish, 4th and 5th yet to try >.<!)
4. Sturdy car, gotta turn sharp at high speed before you hear the tyres losing traction, & even then it sticks to the road!
5. Had timing belt changed and major service etc @ 75000K's, as being an import, I wasn't sure how close to 100K's it has really gone :S Could've gone another 5k - 10k before service, but it gives an indication of what to expect when buying one!
Cons:
1. I also have trouble focusing to my front right, especially when entering a roundabout, because the pillar is right in the way!
2. Power doesn't kick in early (but that's because it's a high revving engine).
3. There are random sounds from the rear (parcel shelf?, windscreen?) when you drive silently on an uneven road.
4. I have problems with speed bumps when the car has 2 - 4 occupants, where it sometimes scrapes (this is probably the exhaust piping, cos they are quite low, even though car is stock height!)
5. Fuel economy for me is quite poor? A lot of people say they get excellent economy, up to 600KM per tank, but I have my fuel light come on at 380, and by 430ish the fuel needle is under the E mark? This is on 98 octane (tank at the moment is on 100 octane + 5% ethanol, waiting to see the distance, but looks the same). I feel the economy is poor, and I wouldn't say that I have been driving the car hard to result in the low mileage!
Overall the car is brilliant! The Pros are more than enough to counterbalance the Cons, & I will be keeping this car for years to come! These are just some things above that I can think of worth mentioning to potential owners of these quite impressive vehicles!
15th Aug 2008, 19:21
Love those levins!!
Imported a black AE111 Trueno BZR 1998 1.6 20v 6speed similar to the levins apart from front lights and rear lights.
Not registered yet due to SVA (waiting for the 10 year rule to apply) which will be in NOV 1998 meaning straight to MOT.
I did drive my Trueno back from the docks about 80 miles . All I can say is the quality of the car is more Lexus nothing like the earlier Toyotas nice and solid. The drive was surprisingly quick but very hard suspension (super strut), nothing else on the road that looks like it... awesome coupe!!! Can't wait to get it back on the road.