Toyota Levin/Trueno GT Apex Review

This is gonna be a 3 part review of the 3 most popular models of Levin/Trueno that are for sale in New Zealand, I thought this really should be done as there isnt that much infomation about these cars, ive driven all 3 models and worked on all 3 models, I have a pretty good understanding but again im not gonna make it too complicated just so its good for everybody to read.

This first one is gonna be about the GT Apex, because there the cheapest out of the 3.

To start off with, im just gonna call them Levin's because there the more common and the better looking, the styling was the only difference between the two, and just look up AE101 Levin and then AE101 Trueno and you will agree with me, the Levin is the much nicer looking car, with the AE111 its a bit harder to tell, but im getting off track, there the same car underneth it all.

Just like the GTZ the GT-Apex ran from 1991 to 1995, before being replaced by the AE111 BZG and AE111 BZR's, the 101's generally weigh around 1150kg which is quite light and is what helps them to be so fast.

The engine in the GT-Apex is Toyota's loved 4age, a twin cam, 4 cylinder, 1600cc sports engine, this one though has the silver top version, it is quite special because its a 5 valve motor (3 on the intake, 2 on exhaust) allowing it to put out some massive rev's (redline starts at 7800) and allowing a high compression ratio.


I will do a review of the 4age engine's themselves but this was more about the car, the silvertop 4age is a very strong motor and very well designed having 4 individual throttle bodies, it puts out 160hp at 7400 rpm and really does show what a 1.6L can do, while still being very reliable and useable for everyday driving.

You could get this motor with a manual 5 speed or an automatic 4 speed, but most examples you will come across are manual in New Zealand because most people buy these cars as a cheap reliable sports car.

The exterior of the GT-apex is good, its a decent looking car, its got quite a 'smooth' look to it and generally they dont get alot of attention, expecially in stock form, which is good for those looking for a sleeper that can get up and go.

The interior is well, typical japanese, with lots of plastic and all the usual stuff, nothing special in here, the rear seat comfort isnt very good but it never is with coupe's and still the absolute worst are the ST185 Celica GT4's, its just horrible.



The handling and brakes are pretty good in stock form, I think its most likely due to the cars light weight, it feels quite comfortable to drive and goes around corners pretty good, I like the brakes too, there nothing fantastic but they do a good job of slowing the car down and you cant complain about them at all.

How it is to drive:

I got in with quite high hopes, I really liked it to drive around town, although the lack of torque was a bit of a downer, I just wished it had a little bit more, but thats most likely because of the small size (1600cc) so I cant really say I was too suprised.

The handling and ride comfort was pretty good and I liked being inside of it, for a coupe it actually did feel quite roomy and was a nice nippy car to drive around, but I really just didnt like the engine that much, and didnt like the lack of torque and power, I just couldnt get used to it, I know alot of people that own these and love them, so its really up to you and what you like, but I couldnt enjoy the car much because of the engine, I didnt like the powerband and it always seemed like you had to change gears alot, something I still had to do in the blacktop but I loved the powerband in that, just a little thing I dont like and dont let it put you off a great car, everybodys tastes are different.

How it is to do up:

As far as the engine goes, not much can be done, the best upgrades to do is getting the cat removed in the exhaust and replaced with a straight pipe and fitting the blacktop 4age headers, as they allow more flow and more power.

Suspension wise, ive already said that camber and lowersprings will do alot, but if you can afford it, aftermarket coilovers and an aftermarket sway bar is the way to go, brakes are easy, you can either just upgrade the standard pads to aftermarket racing ones or if you wanna go all out, then upgrade to GTZ twin pot calipers and larger rotors that will bolt straight up.

I think 185's or 195's are the standard tyre size, so this really needs to be upgraded with 17 inch rims and nice 205 or 215 size tyres, this will greatly improve the handle also.

I really hope you like this review, I will be doing two more on two other popular Levin's, so follow me if you want to be updated on when they come out!

Nissan Engine RB20DET Review

Now, I have never owned a Nissan in my whole life, but I have quite a few friends and ive worked on quite a few RB engined cars, so this is just my unbiased, outside view on them, im gonna keep it basic, like everything, so nobody gets confused.

First off, the RB20DET by Nissan went in a range of cars, from the best of my knowledge and in New Zealand, the most common are, Skylines, Cefiro's and Laurel's you also see a few Silvia's with RB20DETS in them, but they never came with it from factory.

The RB20DET is a 2 litre, twin cam, turbo-charged inline six cylinder motor, produced by Nissan, and has become extremely popular, due to its reliabilty and easy upgrades.

It makes 158 kW (215 PS) @ 3200 rpm, with its short stroke, it can easily make some big rev's, with the standard redline starting at 7000rpm which isnt bad at all.

The sound of an RB20DET screaming at full rev's is something crazy to hear, with a great exhaust it really does sound fantastic.

Now onto what I think of the engines, well lets start with the bad first of all.

The stock turbo I think is pretty weak, you can raise up the boost but its not very good and quite undersized, most people upgrade to an RB25DET turbo which is a good improvement or a aftermarket T3/T4 which is also good, but a bit more costly, I have seen a RB20DET with a T70 turbo once, I cant even imagine the lag on that, ive heard that the lag is still quite horrible on a stock RB25DET with that turbo, so you would have to be crazy to put it on a 20!

The standard exhaust isnt anything great either, its very undersized and really does need to be upgraded, but the WORST part is the standard dump pipe, its not the size thats the main issue but where the stock wastegate opens on the turbo, the exhaust just flies out and into a wall and gets pushed down into the regular exhaust, this is such a bad design flaw.


I can see it causing boost creep (the turbo not being able to redirect enough exhaust, so the boost keeps rising as the turbo keeps getting more exhaust flow through it) when raising the boost, an aftermarket dump pipe is the biggest priority when upgraded the exhaust, even if you just did that and nothing else, it would still be an upgrade of sorts, but a full system is always a great idea with these.

How Nissan should have done it:



The standard intake system is appauling to say the least, lets start with the stock intercooler.

Its very undersized and its called a 'side mount' because it sits not infront of the radiator but behind it and too the side of the engine, it does have a vent to make sure it gets a bit of cold air (im pretty sure) but still, its a terrible design.

The last thing on the intake that sucks is the factory blow off valve, its basic as hell, I mean sure if your gonna be running factory boost and doing very minimal mods, then its ok, but I think its a great idea to get rid of it as soon as you start messing with your boost and expecially if your upgrading the turbo, ive heard standard SR20DET bov's work well, but honestly, I think your better off just getting a good aftermarket one just to be safe.

Now the last big thing, and one the biggest put off's of the RB's is the coilpacks, they sit between the rocker covers and these things are SO unreliable, most people take the cover off so they dont overheat but they still manage too, these are often upgraded to better aftermarket coilpacks or people just say 'to hell with this!' and buy a wasted spark setup from things like commodore and mitsi's and im pretty sure you can get aftermarket ones too, this setup is way more simple and allows you to put the coilpacks miles away from the engine and is much more reliable.



The one other thing I dont really like is the crank driven fan for the radiator, it means that its always going and it seems like a pretty unscientific way to cool the car, this is something most people take off and replace with aftermarket electric fans which will improve power as that big fan must take quite a bit of power away from the motor having to turn it.

Now, since ive got all that out of the way, lets look on the bright side at some of the good things about the RB20DET's.

They have oil squirters that squirt oil onto the bottom of the pistons and the cylinder walls, I think this is a great idea, and I think it provides that bit of extra protection when your thrashing it.

I love that the internals of the car are pretty strong from factory and can handle some high boost without blowing anything, the cast iron block is heavy but strong and these things can handle 14psi on a RB25DET turbo all day long, its not the best ive heard of, the 4AGZE is still the best built (internally) engine of this era in my opinion but the RB20DET's are certainly reliable in this area.

The biggest thing I like about them and I guess for alot of people, is how easy they are to upgrade.

Do a full exhaust system, a turbo upgrade, a full intake system (bov, front mounted intercooler and front facing plenum) maybe upgrade the fuel system a bit, chip the ECU with an aftermarket chip (another benefit the RB20DET's have over the 25DETS is being able to chip the factory ECU) and off you go.

With this sort of setup and decently high boost, you can expect around the 200rwkw range on high octane petrol, I think this is a testiment to how good they are, and its not very expensive to do this, I would say $2000 budget would EASILY have this done, you could do it for alot less if you knew people and bought parts second hand etc

Overall opinion: I think the RB20DET is a good engine with some basic flaws that put people off but once youve ironed out these creese's and upgraded it a bit, then you will have a fantastic engine that puts out fun power with reliability, and its a engine that you could use everyday, without having to worry, if you just want a cheap fun nissan thats easy to upgrade and you can use everyday, a car with a RB20DET is a damn good opition in my opinion.