If you aren’t a fan of the normal Mighty Car Mods fare, trust us, this video is perfect for you. Minimal “maaaaad!”, minimal randomness. Instead, what you get are two unique and wicked takes on cars we don’t normally pay attention to: Japanese station wagons. One we don’t get in the U.S. market at all, the other, we did, but not like what you will see here. About the only thing these two have in common is their dark gray color…and the internet fame. Oh, and the fact that they are daily-drivers.
The car that should appeal to the more old-school types here is the Nissan Stagea known as “Double Unicorn.” It’s powered by the 4.1L V8 that we got in early 1990s Infiniti Q45 sedans, runs a Garrett turbocharger, and sports the six-speed out of a Nissan R33 GT-R. The platform is the same one the R34 Skyline is based off of, but don’t be fooled by the nose cone…that’s a custom swap that works and looks much better than original. Built by Ben, a.k.a. “Mechanical Stig” with help from the core group of people found in the Mighty Car Mods world, it’s a snorting wagon that is a great cross between JDM packaging and the V8 noise people love.
On the other end is “Supergramps”, Marty’s Subaru Liberty wagon. Other than the steering wheel on the other side of the car, some nit-picky trim differences and the name, this is a fourth-generation Subaru Legacy station wagon, albeit one with an extremely unique engine swap: instead of the typical STI swap, the Liberty is packing the 3.6L flat-six normally found in the bloated blob that is the Subaru Tribeca SUV. It’s also turbocharged, and it’s just as stout. It’s lighter and retains all-wheel-drive, but the Stagea has V8 torque and has the upper-end advantage.
So, naturally, it’s time for two friends to hit the strip and see which one is faster. Place your bets, folks: V8 Nissan or flat-six Subaru?
Color me surprised at the outcome! Man – I love me some Subie wagons!
The Stagea has AWD as well.
The V8 they chose was the VH41 from the AWD Q45 exclusive to Japan.
The AWD system used in this platform allows bias adjustments between front and rear, allowing regular burnouts as demonstrated in the Double Unicorn vs Supergramps Drag Race.
Initially only the rear wheel drive was working as was seen in Episode 13 of the build, but I believe it has been fully operational for a while now.