Toyota Previa??

Hey guys,

I know nothing of these vans other than they look super cool,and are rear wheel drive/AWD. There is a super awesome on on ebay now that while I can't afford I want none-the-less. It is a 95 S/C model which apparently never had a 5-speed available in the US market with that setup,but the seller converted it. I love the concept,and wonder if it would be doable on my own for much less that the almost $6k the seller is asking? Am I dreaming? Would you trust said van,or any Previa for that matter to tow a 3500# GVW pop up camper from time to time(maybe 3-4 times a year) safely enough? Are these vans problematic? Are the head gaskets prone to blowing with the boost? Are they super hard to work on? I assume the engine is under one of if not both front seats as it doesn't look like it could be anywhere else.

Any help/input would be much appreciated.

Chris

I never heard anything but good things about the Previa. Too bad they replaced it with something so mundane as the Sienna. Never knew they boosted them.

Yup, they have the SC14 supercharger. I'd love a blower from a Previa on my MR2.

Nothing to offer about the Previa though. I will say that I wouldn't expect the headgaskets to be a big problem, stock boost doesn't make them blow out any faster on MR2s.

I know exactly which car you are talking about. It is kinda local to me, and I had a severe hankering for it yesterday (but that was yesterday)

I think it probably could be done cheaply enough. Previas are a dime a dozen (okay, so S/C All Trac models are less easy to find), and I am assuming it is a celica all trac transfer case, you should have all the necessary bits for about 3000 (if you use good bits)

I wish you luck. If yours succeeds, I might have you build another for me!

You also ask: "could it tow a 3500lb popup camper trailer?"

Hmmm, I'm not experienced with towing, Previas, or supercharged Previas (I am amazed at how many Previas I see here in Memphis)....but, it should be noted that the Kia Sorento, the old / body on frame model, could tow 3500lbs. The NEW / unibody Sorento can not. Not that the switch to unibody may be the only factor...I think Kia and Hyundai are trying to keep the weight of their new cars and trucks down to make it easier to reduce the engine sizes, but I would suspect that towing that much weight with a Previa is getting it very near to it's braking/suspension capacity.

What was / is the towing capacity for a "normal" Previa....supercharged and non supercharged? Anyone here know?

3500 lbs is awfully heavy for a popup camper.

The motor in the Previa is under the floor boards, kicked over sideways, with an accessory drive to the front for fan, and possible power steering pump.

I'd love to see photos of the engine orientation in one of these if someone happened to have some on hand.

I hear it's a little funky...just curious.

Thanks,
Clem

I like those things. Paint it up to look like a Star Trek shuttle craft, or paint it white and put "Project D" on the door.

The pop up has a GVW of 3500lbs. but I have no idea what it weighs when we take it camping. I have been meaning to borrow TR8Todd's scales to weigh it when we are loaded up for camping,but I always forget. I looked up the tow rating of the Previa earlier,and it stated 3500lbs. I wonder if putting it at its limit is a good idea? We don't tow the camper often,but we do a few times a year.

I would also like to see how the engine is situated,and how easy/hard it is to get to it.

Hey Maroon92 would you be willing to look at that van for me?

Neighbor had a SC previa for years. Put something like 190k miles on it, and it still looked new. I would say they definitely last. His maintenance plan was changing fluids and keeping it spotless.

Seller told me he is the only one to ever do the swap. So either it is to difficult,or no one else has ever thought to do such a thing. I am guessing it is more of the latter. He is very secretive about what was involved,so I guess I won't be buying it. I guess it is for the best though as I don't have the cash. It is a super cool van though.

Edit: When do you become a half dork? I just noticed I have achieved this such illustrious title.

Chris

I poked around one for a few minutes at the boneyard and sadly I don't think an LSx will fit.

A partial equivalent would be a Ford Aerostar with a 5 speed.

Mazdax605 wrote: Seller told me he is the only one to ever do the swap. So either it is to difficult,or no one else has ever thought to do such a thing. I am guessing it is more of the latter. He is very secretive about what was involved,so I guess I won't be buying it. I guess it is for the best though as I don't have the cash. It is a super cool van though. Edit: When do you become a half dork? I just noticed I have achieved this such illustrious title. Chris

I've daydreamed about a Previa build and done some research. Sad, but true! He's not the only person to ever do a 5 speed+SC (or perhaps more correctly, 5 speed+boost) build in a Previa, the drifter guys in Japan have fooled around with these a bit (called an Estima) there.

My interest lies in the AWD version. I've always thought the idea of an AWD, 5 speed, and dry-sumped mid-engine setup sounded like fun. The '91-'92 Previas were the only years in the US that came with AWD+5 speed from the factory. Of course, step 1 is acquire car, step 2 is add BOOST. I'd probably go with a turbo instead of the funky factory supercharger, but the supercharger+SC ECU might be an easier route. The trick with the SC ECU is that the SC was only available with the automatic, which gives all sorts of codes when used without the auto (as the ebay car shows) and I wouldn't be surprised if it also has reduced performance mode because of the codes. If you wanted to get really crazy, you would track down one of the last model year chassis with a nicer interior (and/or dual sunroofs if you're into that sort of thing) and swap away. From what I can tell, that would be the best parts bin Previa.

Alas, it is mostly a pipe dream for me, as my girlfriend doesn't like minivans at all and especially HATES the Previa styling. She's extremely supportive of my car addiction, but she draws the line any time I mention dragging a Previa home. As I've said on this forum before, I can't fault her much for not liking minivans, there are a lot worse things I could have to deal with! The deal we have struck is that if I ever see a 5 speed, AWD, boosted Previa for sale, that is the only Previa purchase that will be blessed, since it means somebody else already did the project and it wasn't

By the way, for anybody interested, there's a 5 speed AWD Previa on craigslist in Denver.

Bryce

Oh crap...more bad ideas. I just realized that the mid-engine setup on the Previa leaves a bit of space between the front wheels where the diff is (compared to a front engine setup). Almost enough room for an 85 kW electric motor. With that kind of setup, the Previa could quite possibly be the minivan equivalent of my Fiero. Not quite as sporty, but plenty of room for batteries!

Sheesh, I wish my brain didn't work this way sometimes. Meddlesome brain.

Bryce

In reply to Nashco:

You can get a 50kw Highlander hybrid rear diff for about $450 and the factory controller for about $1k from Car-part.com all day long. Just thought you should know that.

MrJoshua wrote: In reply to Nashco: You can get a 50kw Highlander hybrid rear diff for about $450 and the factory controller for about $1k from Car-part.com all day long. Just thought you should know that.

You let me know when you get that factory controller hacked to work without the rest of the hybrid powertrain on board and I'll be ready with my credit card. Also, 50 kW is less than 85 kW...and as we all know, more is better.

Bryce

In reply to Nashco:

Well the factory controller also controls the front motors which are more like 123KW. Since you are hacking it anyway, just use the controller for the front motor on the rear motor. It probably won't handle the full 123KW continuously, but it could handle it in bursts. I read that the controller is slave to the ECU. The way I interpret that is that the ECU is responsible for the complicated thinking and sends a very basic yes/no/intensity signal to a pretty standard controller.

maroon92 wrote: I know exactly which car you are talking about. It is kinda local to me, and I had a severe hankering for it yesterday (but that was yesterday) I think it probably could be done cheaply enough. Previas are a dime a dozen (okay, so S/C All Trac models are less easy to find), and I am assuming it is a celica all trac transfer case, you should have all the necessary bits for about 3000 (if you use good bits) I wish you luck. If yours succeeds, I might have you build another for me!

It's not the Celica AllTrac transfer case, it's way weaker than that, much smaller, all that jazz.

But it should still be plenty robust to handle what you can do with a 4agze of sorts.

Look to the Corolla AllTrac if you're wanting to piece one together, it's more likely that that car has the same unit.

Damn, and I was JUST looking at Previas too. Fortunately for me, my wife drew the line at Subarus, mostly because of their "alternative lifestyle" connotations. You people need to stop liking what I like, or I'm going to end up sleeping in my car.

What do you mean, "you people?"

I owned an AWD 93 non SC for about a year.

It was built solid and an absolute beast in the snow. It also had tons of cargo space.

On the down side it only averaged around 18mpg and was slow as a dog. I did some basic maintenance and it is a giant pain to work on. Mine finally popped the head gasket at about 240K.

93celicaGT2 wrote: What do you mean, "you people?"

I figured he/she was talking about lesbians...but that's just a guess.

Clem

MrJoshua wrote: Since you are hacking it anyway, just use the controller for the front motor on the rear motor.

I said when YOU hack it...I'm not taking that on and I'd be surprised if anybody else does. I think you're drastically oversimplifying things, but I'd love for you to prove me wrong.

Bryce

Previas are killer vans, my buddy had a previa S/C and it was pretty bad ass. The captain chairs in the back spun around 180 degrees, it had two huge moon roofs and could do killer standing burnouts.