This is the second part of a three part review of the most common 4ag engined Levin's for sale in New Zealand.
The AE101 GTZ came out in 1991, it was meant to be an alternative to the GT-Apex and was a much more developed car.
As far as changes from the GT-Apex, the GTZ looked exactly the same apart from having a large hood scoop on the bonnet, this was to give cool air to the top mounted intercooler, as the GTZ was the only forced induction Levin of the range, but we will get into that later.
This Levin is often regarded as the best in terms of bang for your buck and is the most tuneable of the range even though chassis wise all the AE101's were identical.
Weight wise, the GTZ was also heavier than the GT-Apex, but im unsure how much by, at a guess I would say about 100kg more, but thats at a rough guess.
The Engine,
This is what seperates this model from the other Levin's and what alot of people know this car by, it has toyota's 4agze, 1600cc DOHC 16v super-charged motor, putting out 168bhp with 210nm of torque, this isnt bad but this car has huge potencial and I have seen quite a few with 400hp, pretty amazing for a 1600!
The 4agze, was an amazing engine for quite a few reasons, the biggest of course was the SC12 super-charger and top mounted intercooler, this setup looked very potent on the GTZ, but as the standard boost was only 7psi, it was quite pathetic and as you'll read later, I regard the 4agze to be one of the most over-built motors of all time, considering the potencial and how strong and well designed the engine itself was.
The head is identical to the 4age small port red-top of the AE92 Corolla's and the 7 rib block was from the 4age red-top motor too, as the original 4agze was made in 1986 and went in the AW11 and AE92 Levins, but the one in this model was more developed and much better.
The pistons were forged and have a ceramic coating to dissipate the heat, making them extremely strong and able to stand up to alot of abuse, most cars have to have there pistons replaced when you do a turbo conversion, but 4agze's can handle it and with high boost, just fine.
The con-rods are also forged and the whole bottom end is extremely strong, this motor also uses oil squirters like the RB20DET, which I always think is a very good idea for just a bit more cooling and cylinder wall protection.
The Gearbox,
Unlike the GT-Apex the GTZ only came in manual, and this gearbox was amazing to say the least, first off its an LSD gearbox, which I can personally tell you makes a MASSIVE difference on a front wheel drive vehicle when you are driving very hard, the car has so much more grip and so much more feedback, which gives you the confidence to use the extra grip the LSD gearbox provides.
The gearbox itself had a much higher ratio and the gears are much larger and stronger, the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate are all very big and strong too, I have never seen an upgrade for these and most of the time the gearboxes will outlast the motor, even if the car has a huge amount of modification and is putting out double the power of stock or more.
The Exterior,
There isnt much difference between this and the GT-Apex, but I think the AE101 GTZ is a better looking car than the GT-Apex, the hoodscoop really sets it apart, and alot of Gt-apex owners fit GTZ bonnets to there cars, to enhance the look, but this makes me sick as I hate people that try make there car look like another car, just like people do with BMW 318's and putting M3 badges on them, or putting Type R badges on non-vtec Honda's.
The Interior,
Again this is somewhat exactly the same, aside from a sportline 33cm steering wheel coming as standard and a light on the rpm guage to tell you when the supercharger is on, as the SC12 supercharger had a clutch so would only engage when a certain throttle position is reached, so the car was still economical.
The Handling and Brakes,
First off, the brakes also set this apart from the rest of the Levin's having the biggest brakes of the entire series of Levins.
These brakes were massive by comparison to the others and the 2pot calipers provided enormous braking force onto the huge rotors, this car also had ABS as standard, so the braking in them was incredible, jumping into a GTZ from another Levin, you really do notice the brakes and how much more powerful they are.
People often put these brakes on other models of Levin's or another AE toyota for that matter as a brake upgrade, as I mentioned in my previous review.
The suspension setup was also new, the super-strut setup is complicated to describe and is even more complicated to look at, but all you really need to know is that it works really well in my opinion, it provides the car with much better handling and often people just change the springs to harder aftermarket ones and leave it at that, toyota also used this suspension setup in some of the later BZG Levin's although its quite rare and all the BZR Levin's.
The superstrut suspension also improves driving feel, giving it a soft feel, but as far as maintenance goes, its a nightmare, so you dont get something for nothing as alot of people know in the automotive industry.
How it is to drive,
From driving the other levins, I loved the torque in the GTZ, but found that with the standard boost it still lacked some power up top, but again this is only my opinion and others might not share it, the motor was also very responsive which I found very nice and although ive never driven one for a long period of time, I would think that the economy was pretty good too.
The handling was great and it really does set itself apart from the rest of the Levin's, you really feel the LSD and like I said earlier the brakes are just fantastic, if you managed to overheat them, you deserve a high five.
The ride comfort was pretty much the same as the GT-Apex and in this regard everything else was quite simular, if you just wanted a fun car to drive around town, then buying a GT-Apex would be the better car, as a GTZ would be a bit overkill, as you would only really notice the differences if you were out on a track or enjoyed hard driving on the road.
How it is to do up,
Engine wise, there are so many upgrades avaliable its not even funny, from supercharger kits, to pulley kits, to turbo conversions, it all depends on how much money you have.
Often people will just upgrade the supercharger to the bigger SC14 and also change the crank pulley to an aftermarket 12psi crank pulley, but most people leave the standard top mount intercooler, as its not really worth all the extra piping just to have a front mount.
The SC12 and SC14, the 14 is much larger and is a big improvement:
Some people also upgrade there intercooler to a water-to-air setup, this is another good upgrade, but it all depends on your budget.
The other way to go is a turbo conversion, with most people buying aftermarket extractors and fitting to4e turbo's, no modifactions need to be done to the engine, as the standard internals will hold up without a problem and the big standard 370cc injectors can handle this too.
When you do a turbo conversion it is also a good idea to fit a front mounted intercooler as then having the extra piping will be less of an issue as the higher boost should make up for it.
The brakes as ive said do not need to be upgraded, as they are more than enough as they are.
The suspension only really needs aftermarket springs, but if you were really picky then getting aftermarket coilover suspension would be the way to go, but it is very expensive on these.
The standard tyre size is 195/60/15, so again just like the GT-Apex an upgrade to 17 inch rims ia always a good idea and fitting 215/40/17 tyres made by a good brand would be a great upgrade and give you the traction you need.
Stay tuned for the final part of my Toyota Levin reviews, as we check out the most popular AE111.
The AE101 GTZ came out in 1991, it was meant to be an alternative to the GT-Apex and was a much more developed car.
As far as changes from the GT-Apex, the GTZ looked exactly the same apart from having a large hood scoop on the bonnet, this was to give cool air to the top mounted intercooler, as the GTZ was the only forced induction Levin of the range, but we will get into that later.
This Levin is often regarded as the best in terms of bang for your buck and is the most tuneable of the range even though chassis wise all the AE101's were identical.
Weight wise, the GTZ was also heavier than the GT-Apex, but im unsure how much by, at a guess I would say about 100kg more, but thats at a rough guess.
The Engine,
This is what seperates this model from the other Levin's and what alot of people know this car by, it has toyota's 4agze, 1600cc DOHC 16v super-charged motor, putting out 168bhp with 210nm of torque, this isnt bad but this car has huge potencial and I have seen quite a few with 400hp, pretty amazing for a 1600!
The 4agze, was an amazing engine for quite a few reasons, the biggest of course was the SC12 super-charger and top mounted intercooler, this setup looked very potent on the GTZ, but as the standard boost was only 7psi, it was quite pathetic and as you'll read later, I regard the 4agze to be one of the most over-built motors of all time, considering the potencial and how strong and well designed the engine itself was.
The head is identical to the 4age small port red-top of the AE92 Corolla's and the 7 rib block was from the 4age red-top motor too, as the original 4agze was made in 1986 and went in the AW11 and AE92 Levins, but the one in this model was more developed and much better.
The pistons were forged and have a ceramic coating to dissipate the heat, making them extremely strong and able to stand up to alot of abuse, most cars have to have there pistons replaced when you do a turbo conversion, but 4agze's can handle it and with high boost, just fine.
The con-rods are also forged and the whole bottom end is extremely strong, this motor also uses oil squirters like the RB20DET, which I always think is a very good idea for just a bit more cooling and cylinder wall protection.
The Gearbox,
Unlike the GT-Apex the GTZ only came in manual, and this gearbox was amazing to say the least, first off its an LSD gearbox, which I can personally tell you makes a MASSIVE difference on a front wheel drive vehicle when you are driving very hard, the car has so much more grip and so much more feedback, which gives you the confidence to use the extra grip the LSD gearbox provides.
The gearbox itself had a much higher ratio and the gears are much larger and stronger, the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate are all very big and strong too, I have never seen an upgrade for these and most of the time the gearboxes will outlast the motor, even if the car has a huge amount of modification and is putting out double the power of stock or more.
The Exterior,
There isnt much difference between this and the GT-Apex, but I think the AE101 GTZ is a better looking car than the GT-Apex, the hoodscoop really sets it apart, and alot of Gt-apex owners fit GTZ bonnets to there cars, to enhance the look, but this makes me sick as I hate people that try make there car look like another car, just like people do with BMW 318's and putting M3 badges on them, or putting Type R badges on non-vtec Honda's.
The Interior,
Again this is somewhat exactly the same, aside from a sportline 33cm steering wheel coming as standard and a light on the rpm guage to tell you when the supercharger is on, as the SC12 supercharger had a clutch so would only engage when a certain throttle position is reached, so the car was still economical.
The Handling and Brakes,
First off, the brakes also set this apart from the rest of the Levin's having the biggest brakes of the entire series of Levins.
These brakes were massive by comparison to the others and the 2pot calipers provided enormous braking force onto the huge rotors, this car also had ABS as standard, so the braking in them was incredible, jumping into a GTZ from another Levin, you really do notice the brakes and how much more powerful they are.
People often put these brakes on other models of Levin's or another AE toyota for that matter as a brake upgrade, as I mentioned in my previous review.
The suspension setup was also new, the super-strut setup is complicated to describe and is even more complicated to look at, but all you really need to know is that it works really well in my opinion, it provides the car with much better handling and often people just change the springs to harder aftermarket ones and leave it at that, toyota also used this suspension setup in some of the later BZG Levin's although its quite rare and all the BZR Levin's.
The superstrut suspension also improves driving feel, giving it a soft feel, but as far as maintenance goes, its a nightmare, so you dont get something for nothing as alot of people know in the automotive industry.
How it is to drive,
From driving the other levins, I loved the torque in the GTZ, but found that with the standard boost it still lacked some power up top, but again this is only my opinion and others might not share it, the motor was also very responsive which I found very nice and although ive never driven one for a long period of time, I would think that the economy was pretty good too.
The handling was great and it really does set itself apart from the rest of the Levin's, you really feel the LSD and like I said earlier the brakes are just fantastic, if you managed to overheat them, you deserve a high five.
The ride comfort was pretty much the same as the GT-Apex and in this regard everything else was quite simular, if you just wanted a fun car to drive around town, then buying a GT-Apex would be the better car, as a GTZ would be a bit overkill, as you would only really notice the differences if you were out on a track or enjoyed hard driving on the road.
How it is to do up,
Engine wise, there are so many upgrades avaliable its not even funny, from supercharger kits, to pulley kits, to turbo conversions, it all depends on how much money you have.
Often people will just upgrade the supercharger to the bigger SC14 and also change the crank pulley to an aftermarket 12psi crank pulley, but most people leave the standard top mount intercooler, as its not really worth all the extra piping just to have a front mount.
The SC12 and SC14, the 14 is much larger and is a big improvement:
Some people also upgrade there intercooler to a water-to-air setup, this is another good upgrade, but it all depends on your budget.
The other way to go is a turbo conversion, with most people buying aftermarket extractors and fitting to4e turbo's, no modifactions need to be done to the engine, as the standard internals will hold up without a problem and the big standard 370cc injectors can handle this too.
When you do a turbo conversion it is also a good idea to fit a front mounted intercooler as then having the extra piping will be less of an issue as the higher boost should make up for it.
The brakes as ive said do not need to be upgraded, as they are more than enough as they are.
The suspension only really needs aftermarket springs, but if you were really picky then getting aftermarket coilover suspension would be the way to go, but it is very expensive on these.
The standard tyre size is 195/60/15, so again just like the GT-Apex an upgrade to 17 inch rims ia always a good idea and fitting 215/40/17 tyres made by a good brand would be a great upgrade and give you the traction you need.
Stay tuned for the final part of my Toyota Levin reviews, as we check out the most popular AE111.
where can i find suspension parts :(
ReplyDeleteHey There,
ReplyDeleteI might be a little late here but i have a Complete LEVIN GTZ which im breaking. The only thing i'm taking from it are the Front Seats, Engine, Loom and ECU as im doing a conversion on another car.
email me or call me to see if you want any parts.
riz283(at)homtail(dot)com