I am going to go to Europe this summer with my 9 year old daughter and 13 year old son..And plan to buy a Subaru E12 Libero 4x4 with big glass roof.....then ship it back from Antwerp to New York..,is the cheapest... I live in Rhode Island ....Ive driven a Toyota Sera daily for 2 years so right hand drive doesn't bother me..I probably prefer it now.......anyway my new plan..I dont want to wait...... So a Subaru Sambar with big sunroof ... supercharged 4x4...6 speed ??? Ive studied Subaru E12 vans that have 4x4 automatics are real problem trannys...... One benefit the Sambar has air-conditioning....its odd but the Subaru E12 known as Libero or Domingo or other names....They also have an E10..........But oddly only the one they made with crappy automatic transmissions have Air Conditioning....But with the big sliding glass sunroofs ..I guess I can survive... .............Ive been reading everything I can....So for now till I can ship an E12 home after this summer..... I want a Subaru Sambar. super charged...4x4....with big sunroof..........6 speed...with air conditioning.... and I read adding slightly larger tires will give me a little better highway speed....and I have read AC slow down the vehicle...if it that hot that I need AC I will just take scenic route.... I live in Rhode Island and mostly go to Southern Maine or New York ..like 3 hours away....on rt 95 so its flat...mostly beach and concerts with the kids...and sometimes into the smaller mountain areas for some skiing but dont need highway mountain speeds...which I read slightly larger tires can slow ups down on hills..... Then when I get the Libero in Europe I can then decide if maybe the Sambar with air conditioning is all I need......and just sell the Libero..... I just really enjoy AC when hot....and 4x4 when theres snow on roads.... So now to find a Subaru Sambar 4x4 big sunroof. 6 speed....with AC.......... I bought my first Toyota Sera already here in states so I could drive and check it out and my second Sera I bought from the UK..it was a car from a Sera Group/Club many members knew and vouched for car...so I had it shipped over......I haven't had the balls to pull the trigger on a Single JDM Auction. middleman/online dealer.....Thank you any referrals or advice appreciated....
Pretty sure what your looking for is a 5spd not 6spd. Some have an EL gear, which is unusable 99% of the time.. Sambars like that are somewhat more common, being there are more supercharged vans than supercharged trucks. But the supercharged vans are generally big window, with skylight and sunroof vans anyway, that command a premium. And any of these will run R12 coolant, and they won't work when you get them. Vintage Air may be a good option Something like a Mitsubishi Delica van might be better suited, for longer trips with kids. They have everything you want, in a larger version with gas and diesel engines. Costs will be comparable, except shipping higher
As far as AC goes I have used this in R12 systems many times with zero problems- https://www.amazon.com/Enviro-Safe-R134a-Refrigerant-Dye-Can/dp/B0081T3PP4 The gearing on the Sambar is extremely low. I just drove my supercharged truck for the first time the other day and was a bit shocked how low it was. I was starting off in 2nd gear. On mine I'm installing a 2" suspension lift + 2" body lift and then putting 6" larger tires to drop the RPM. I think right now it would be ~5700rpm @ 70mph. With the larger tires it drops to a more reasonable 4200rpm. Still not low rpm's by any standard. I have a good friend in Massachusetts that has a Delica diesel. It revs low enough on the highway but is so low on power it can't really maintain highway speeds. Any hill and on come the hazards when you slow to 10mph below the limit. He is thinking of motor swapping it or getting something else.
I live in eastern CT near the RI border, and I have a supercharged Sambar Truck. Yes the gearing is low by US standards, but it is made for #1 - Japanese Speed Limits (40-50km/h on most town/city roads, 80km/h on most highways), and #2 being in the middle of the power band at those speeds so it can haul its load. Also, these engines are designed to spin. They are small displacement, short stroke engines, much like a motorcycle. 5500rpm at 105km/h (which is what I spin at that speed) is no problem whatsoever. I am surprised to hear that a Delica would have a problem with highway speeds, Even if it didnt have the turbo.. I would expect a 2.5l diesel to be fine hauling its own weight around at those speeds, unless there was something wrong with it..
The Delica is a turbo Diesel but has less than 100hp and around 175tq. It also weighs over 3,000lbs and is the aero equivalent of a brick.
I think we live too much in a hp driven 'world' here in the USA. People thought I was nuts for driving a truck that had 45hp. They could not fathom the idea that it was only .6L. But I daily drove it for quite a few miles, kept up with traffic for the most part. Avoided highways and speeds over 60 mph but life was good. The Delica was offered with a number of diesels and gas models, and yeah it's not a sports car in any trim, but neither is a Sambar even supercharged.. The supercharger will help, but it will still probably struggle on a hill. They will be relatively equal, while the Delica is bigger Even my 1995 F250 with 302/5spd will struggle on a hill.. It's not a matter of 'underpowered' it's living within expectations, keep in the slow lane and enjoy life.
How are you doing the lift? I plan on lifting my 91 Sambar truck and still not sure how me and dad want to do it yet. There was a thread "the general" that had some tips for it. Anything you could add?
