Vitara as a Daily car

[BlueScout]

I'm looking at getting another 4x4 and was thinking about a 5 door vitara, 95-99 years. Plans would be 2+2 lift and fit 31's. Nothing too exciting, just enough to have a little fun off the road. The main thing I have no idea about is the engines. I have been leaning towards the 2.0 and 2.5L engines over the 1.6, simply as a power thing. I live in the hills, so don't fancy crawling up every hill in 2nd gear every day. I also don't want to struggle to sit on 110 on the highway, although highway trips would only be one a fortnight kind of frequency. Most driving will be in traffic. My last cars were my fathers 4.4 rangie and a scout with the 5.7L V8, so I haven't to think about power levels much before.

Are the 1.6L engines decent enough through the hills, or are they lacking a bit. Do they struggle off road with the lower torque? Any input would be great.

cheers
Scott

[RagE]

Your biggest issue will be the gearing with 31's on it. The 1.6 is fine its just let down when you stick bigger rubber on and there doesnt seem to many options for vitara owners to fix this.

That said it does ok up hills, i basically live up a mountain and it does ok going up and down (still quicker than my brothers diesel cruiser, not that that says much). Being able to sit on 110 is more of an ask than hills...

i have 3+3 and 31" simex ET's that i think are taller than alot of 32's so you may have better results with 31" AT's of some description.

If i was going to drive my car any distance daily i'd get another set of smaller rubber no question.

[BlueScout]

Daily drive will just be the hills and the traffic, so no real issue there, as long as it will handle the hills. I'm in Tallebudgera so they aren't too steep (my 1.8 silvia will stick to 60 in 5th), but there are a few of them. If I drive from the Goldy to Brisbane twice a month or so, it would be nice to do the speed limit without killing the car, but if it struggles on 100 with the larger tyres, maybe I should just keep to the 2L cars then.

[fordy1]

your best bet is a 2L vitara wagon v6 as you have more grunt and no airbags to stop you doing the body lift.

[joeblow]

all my vitara's are daily drivers....got 1.6 wagon, 2.0 v6 wagon and XL7, all struggle with bigger tyres...namely the pain in the pocket at the bowser.

[BlueScout]

I didn't think about airbags. I've never had a car with airbags before. When did they start including them?

[fordy1]

as far as i know all GVs have airbags but the Vitara V6 did not , 96 - 98

[joeblow]

the v6 estate did have an option of airbags and abs, more connon in the later ones.

[BlueScout]

After a bit of snooping, it seems the 99 cars look better (IMHO) but also gained about 200kgs. Kind of kills the lightweight feel a little. I might look for a 2L 96-98 then, or perhaps a few years earlier.

[Impulsive]

The 2L V6 only gained a couple of kW over the J20A 2L 4cyl (literally about 5-6kW from memory), but I bet the V6 is bucketloads heavier. You may even want to consider the 4cyl one over the 6cyl... or was the J20A only in the SWB?

Mine's a SWB with the J20A and goes pretty well.

[fordy1]

SWB only..... unless you go for a later grand vitara 4door with the 2L 4cyl.

[joeblow]

J 20 was not the most reliable suzuki engine, and actually drinks more than the v6 version. h 20 v6 is pretty much bullet proof, same goes for the h 25 v6.

[cj]

J 20 was not the most reliable suzuki engine, and actually drinks more than the v6 version. h 20 v6 is pretty much bullet proof, same goes for the h 25 v6.

Apart from the timing chain tensioner and the rear main seal on the V6

My 2.0 swb and my 2.0 V6 lwb both returned about the same economy. Yes, I know the lwb is heavier but it less than 100kg difference.

[joeblow]

only had to swap over one v6...had done 350000 plus.....lost count of how many siezed j2o's i did...they averaged between 120 and 200000....

[fordy1]

i ran my 2L swb into the ground and it just kept going, i did sieze a pully but i never cleaned it and if you have a bash plate under neath it will stop you doing a rear main seal.

just found this nice piccie on the net

[BlueScout]

I'm looking through:
Carpoint.com
Carsles.com
auszookers
north brisbane suzuki 4x4 club
and I'll grab a 4x4 trader mag on the way home.

Is there anywhere else I should look for one for sale?

[fordy1]

try tradingpost.com
and check out ebay, saw a couple today

[BlueScout]

I would have thought the ones on ebay would be a bit suspect rustwise and condition wise. Perhaps it's that I still don't really trust ebay. I'll still have a look though and see what they have.

[fordy1]

not sure of you location but this is one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1996-Suzuki-Vita ... dZViewItem




i would look at car dealers only if you are sus on auctions

[BlueScout]

I went and had a look at a 97 vitara yesterday. It was in pretty neat condition, the chassis rails were straight and only had 1 or 2 scratches. The gearbox cross mount had hit something and the front lip was bent back around 10mm, but the thing I wasn't to impressed with was the front suspension mounts, right under the front bumper had been welded up, as had the front tie-down point. It looked like someone had migged it up, as the welds were splattery and nowhere as neat at the factory welds. Also the grey undercoat gave it away a little. How hard would this car have been driven if these front mounts have cracked and required re-welding?

The price on the car was too high anyway (was through a dealer and they wanted another grand for onroads on top as well!!) but it got me thinking. I wouldn't know if the radiator was tilting back at all (as mentioned in the bible). The radiator hose was sitting about 5mm from the rocker cover at the bend. Is this about right, or should there be more gap? Anyway, I'll keep looking.