3 door vitara - worth it?

[vagg0s]

Hi all,

At the moment i own a suzuki sierra 91(love it like everyone else). i use this car for work and the occasional recreation outting on the dunes/beach.

Now im looking at buying something brand new as the sierra is on its way out. Been looking at either the 08 jimny or the 3 door vitara. Now im stuck in between two worlds.. the 3 door vitara looks very good/nice interior/comfortable and i think would go awesome with a small lift kit/bigger tyres but its an AWD rather than low/high gears. The jimny has high/low which is good! but id rather the vitara. im not really a hardcore 4wder, like i said, but would like to visit stockton(newcastle) once again at some point and wanna be able to do the occasional 4wding without getting stuck.

will this be possible with the 3 door vitara? or is it just a gimmick?

is it possible to add low/high transfer case to the vitara convert it to a real 4wd ?what would it cost and who does these types of conversions ? (dealership told me its not possible from factory unfortunately).

if anyone has a 3 door vitara AWD id like to know what they handle like on sand(whether ud get easily bogged or..).

tell me your opinions

[Big D]

tell me your opinions

i have many options. i think you should worry about your options lol no really my m8 has a 3 door vitara. nice car but not really a 4wd. i would rather buy a everyday car, and another zook for offroading for the money of the new vitara. just my opinon

[vagg0s]

yes i know what you mean.. i cant justify having 2 cars though, considering i dont really do that much 4wheeling, and i dont actually have the space for it!has you mate taken it down the beach at all??

[Big D]

umm not that i know of. but IMO, beach driving should be cake for it. i saw a ford teritory on fraser and i think that is just AWD? and that cars alot heavier than 3door vitara.

my sister is going to buy a 5 door vitara soon, they have full time 4H, and 4L

[vagg0s]

cool!! hopefully! i dont see myself doing anything further than that... although i did get my sierra bogged at stockton on very soft sand, mind you its all stock! im gonna go test drive on saturday hopefully it will be all ok
looked at the 5 door as well, but way too big for me.. although it is a very nice
thanks for your reply

[Big D]

yeah no worries just make sure u have other source of info too, not just me lol. im jjust guessing really on how capable it is on sand.

[Impulsive]

I have a SWB 98 model hard top (the one with the blue body and the silver around the bottom). I recently went to Stockton beach and tried to get myself bogged. It wasn't easy! Only when I went into really thick sand did it stop... and then I really wished I had a locked front diff... lol.

Anyway, as a daily driver (95% of my driving) and something that you're gonna take offroad occasionally, I think its great, as long as you're not expecting to climb trees in it.

In relation to sand specifically, it went everywhere that the other more tricked up cars seemed to be able to go, and all I did was drop the tyres down to 18psi.

Best of luck

[vagg0s]

i believe yours would have hi/low range though yeah? the one i want to get is a AWD... no hi/low, just constant 4wd, i think 98 was the year when they had both vitaras(last of the old shape) and grand vitaras.

Thanks for your reply also

[cj]

Move to NZ and buy a swb GV diesel with low range. We don't get them because our market is too small

[vagg0s]

id prefer petrol... yeah and im not moving to NZ anytime soon lol

[fordy1]

hi

i have the 04 GV but i have been looking at a new small GV, i have been watching a few on utube and they seem to go very well

with a little lift and at tyres they would do realy well

[vagg0s]

been seeing some videos on youtube on 3 doors.. they dont seem to go too bad at all on sand/dirt!!

[Impulsive]

You're right, mine does have low range, but to be quite honest, I found it went better when I kept the speed up a bit. If the speed came down, it started to almost struggle... but if you kept it in 1st & 2nd in high range, it would be fine for most stuff on sand, unless you were really adventurous.

Good luck

[gumtree]

maybe go the jimny then but theyve never really appealed to me.

more ppl should go in and say to Mr Suzuki to stop prancing around with his new soccer mum vitaras and make them like he use to. then at least the mums can drive them and when the guy wants to go out and play, he can. simple commone sense to me. it seems there will be a big gap opening for effieient smaller capable 4x4's with all the petrol prices on the rise but the main compeditor suzuki (who used to exell in this field) isnt delivering, that i know of but could be wrong.

[fordy1]

you got to love them soccer mum vitara's

[vagg0s]

maybe go the jimny then but theyve never really appealed to me.

more ppl should go in and say to Mr Suzuki to stop prancing around with his new soccer mum vitaras and make them like he use to. then at least the mums can drive them and when the guy wants to go out and play, he can. simple commone sense to me. it seems there will be a big gap opening for effieient smaller capable 4x4's with all the petrol prices on the rise but the main compeditor suzuki (who used to exell in this field) isnt delivering, that i know of but could be wrong.

thank you!! exactly my point... and in reality i dont need a 4 door!!!

now if only you were able to get EXACTLY the same driveline options as the four door... that for me would be the ultimate! as is exactly what i want.. im sure suzuki would sell lots more of these 2 door vitaras!! agreed?

not even sure why suzuki doesnt even have it option to get the 2 door 4x4 low range, you'd think that the'd wanna give their customers as many options as they can !! again exactly what you said.. it cost me $60 to fill up the sierra tonight with E10!!!! like?!?!? i remember the days when the dollar metre and the litre metre were the other way around.. unfortunately.. not any more :(

[vagg0s]

you got to love them soccer mum vitara's

[/img]

whats the tire size/suspension brand?

[gumtree]

[quote="fordy1"]you got to love them soccer mum vitara's

thats nice but wheres ya bullbar???

id drive that vitara but still as vagg0s said they need the driveline in the 2 doors, otherwise they are a softroader like rav4 or crv.

[fordy1]

This is what i intend to do if the wife does get the 2 door

Tyres - 245/75/16
lift kit - 50 - 75mm
Snorkel
Bash plates

and i know the wife wants the black one so some mags will be in order too, i reckon it will do 90% on road and mostly beach work

[fordy1]

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[fordy1]

i agree with everybody on the drive line, it is possible as there is a lever under the car to put it into low range but it would take alot of work to fab the parts for a switch on the dash.

Suzuki is being thrashed in the market by all bringing out small soft roaders that ride like cars and suzuki have to compete with the trend and still be competitive in the market, im sure the the 2door would cost a few grand more if it had the 2L engine and low range - at the moment its about $24,000 for a 2door

but its Zook nuts like us that drive the aftermarket industry and thats why a 2door GV will always be better than a Rav or a Crv.

PS I LOVE ZOOKS

[vagg0s]

i agree with everybody on the drive line, it is possible as there is a lever under the car to put it into low range but it would take alot of work to fab the parts for a switch on the dash.

Suzuki is being thrashed in the market by all bringing out small soft roaders that ride like cars and suzuki have to compete with the trend and still be competitive in the market, im sure the the 2door would cost a few grand more if it had the 2L engine and low range - at the moment its about $24,000 for a 2door

but its Zook nuts like us that drive the aftermarket industry and thats why a 2door GV will always be better than a Rav or a Crv.

PS I LOVE ZOOKS

yeah im sure it is being thrashed... we're not asking for all of them to come out with dual range.. but at least have the option there, this would obviously widen their marketshare! cause by the looks of things i cant see more ppl buying wranglers for daily drives at $1.70 a litre (im sure it will reach $2 by the end of the year). i actually contacted suzuki aus to see if its possible to change anything on the driveline from factory... hopefully the'll get back to me with something!! im sure if they get enough of these requests the'd be looking at doing a change to to widen their market share...

if i hear from them ill let you guys know !!!

[vagg0s]

i agree with everybody on the drive line, it is possible as there is a lever under the car to put it into low range but it would take alot of work to fab the parts for a switch on the dash.

so the car actually has low range? why would they go to as far as having a dual range on the car but not to be able to engage it ???

im very confused..

this is the first i hear of it... ive made a few phonecalls/questions to dealers they all pretty much told me its impossible to change it to dual range..

please give us more info this sounds interesting

[cj]

i agree with everybody on the drive line, it is possible as there is a lever under the car to put it into low range but it would take alot of work to fab the parts for a switch on the dash.

I was led to beleive this to be the case by a Suzuki Tech but I have since been informed by another that this is not the case and it is in fact just a way to manually lock it in 4wd. It would be possible to convert the AWD to a low range setup but the cost would be prohibitive unless you could get the parts from a wreck at the right price.

[vagg0s]

i agree with everybody on the drive line, it is possible as there is a lever under the car to put it into low range but it would take alot of work to fab the parts for a switch on the dash.

I was led to beleive this to be the case by a Suzuki Tech but I have since been informed by another that this is not the case and it is in fact just a way to manually lock it in 4wd. It would be possible to convert the AWD to a low range setup but the cost would be prohibitive unless you could get the parts from a wreck at the right price.

ok cool... so it is actually possible to do it..
i just wanna know that its possible so at least down the track i have the option to do it.. how much are we talking about?

[Gwagensteve]

I dunno but a Jimny automatic gearbox costs $8500 from Suzuki, so let's say the cost of adding a transfer case would be prohibitive.

Imagine suzuki offered a 2.0 SWB GV with a transfer case for $29,000 and continued to sell the 1.6 AWD for $24000. For me, the pricing looks about right. Problem is a base wrangler is $30,990... What would you rather drive off road? (and if you say the GV, you're deluded)

A) How many more SWB GV's would they sell by offering that model? I don't think it's going to be worth it. The market for small 4WD's is flooded and very competitive. Nobody seriously takes them offroad anymore and anyone who does would just buy a wrangler.

B) How many people want to drive an all independent monocoque offroad?

C) Suzuki already offer a small 4WD with live axles and a transfer case. Think yourself lucky they still do and go and buy one before you cant get anything with live axles anymore.

In any case, the australian market really isn't very interested in paying LWB money for a SWB. Have a look at the number of SWB wranglers, Pajeros etc you see compared to LWB ones. What we want as a cheap 4WD to go offroad in and what new buyers want to spend their hard earned on aren't the same thing.

Steve.

[vagg0s]

I dunno but a Jimny automatic gearbox costs $8500 from Suzuki, so let's say the cost of adding a transfer case would be prohibitive.

Imagine suzuki offered a 2.0 SWB GV with a transfer case for $29,000 and continued to sell the 1.6 AWD for $24000. For me, the pricing looks about right. Problem is a base wrangler is $30,990... What would you rather drive off road? (and if you say the GV, you're deluded)

A) How many more SWB GV's would they sell by offering that model? I don't think it's going to be worth it. The market for small 4WD's is flooded and very competitive. Nobody seriously takes them offroad anymore and anyone who does would just buy a wrangler.

B) How many people want to drive an all independent monocoque offroad?

C) Suzuki already offer a small 4WD with live axles and a transfer case. Think yourself lucky they still do and go and buy one before you cant get anything with live axles anymore.

In any case, the australian market really isn't very interested in paying LWB money for a SWB. Have a look at the number of SWB wranglers, Pajeros etc you see compared to LWB ones. What we want as a cheap 4WD to go offroad in and what new buyers want to spend their hard earned on aren't the same thing.

Steve.

if you read my posts above, i did consider buying it, but due to me using this car also for work, its not feasable to drive a wrangler around during the week as petrol is exponentially increasing in price(LOL).
2 /3 things really drove me away from the wrangler

1 - the new model/shape is bigger(but better) than the old (but love the shape/look/features).
2 - after speaking to a few guys that own wranglers - they said dont even bother getting one now for a daily driver, unless you want a hole in your pocket.
3 - the size probably restricts me a bit with parking (i do quite a bit of city drving).

i know what you mean...about the independent etc etc...
at this moment, im trying to find a car that is economic/is able to do the occasional 4wding/looks good. (after all i am buying it new so id like it to look decent).

when i put all these into consideration, (after looking at the wrangler). i thought well why not buy a suzuki (i currently drive a 91 sierra).

so then again i looked at either the 3 door vitara or jimny (test driving em both tomorrow) i went down the rd to a dealership and just had a look at both, and definately liked the look of the vitara over the jimny. i actually even prefer the look of my sierra over the jimny!
so now i was curious on what the options are on this vitara, finding out that its not much. again as i mentioned above in previous posts , im not a hardcore 4wder, just occasional, and mostly id like to go down the beach without getting stuck.

thats all!!
if the vitara 3 door can offer me that much ill buy it, if not.. well ill probably stick to my sierra 91 hahahaha

[Highway-Star]

I really think what you want is the Jimny (Take it for a test drive like you said you would first of course).

First of all its cheaper than the Vitara, its smaller (better parking etc), differenec in running costs would be negligable I would imagine (check this), and the Jimny will not have a single issue on the beach capability wise (driven sensibly).

The $4000 or so you save from not buying the Vitara can be spent on rust proofing the buggery out of the car (Its gonna be a beach unit), and putting some aside for fuel, servicing, tyres, other consumables etc. I am very much of the opinion people who buy a new car completely based on fuel efficiency are incredibly dumb as it could take a good 10 years to make up the difference in cost by the fuel savings.

All of this as long as you can come to terms with the Jimny's styling that is .

This probably isn't an option for you, but if it was me I'd probably pull your Sierra off the road buy a cheap shiter to drive for 12 months, and completely tear down and rebuild the Sierra exactly how you want it, the engine, suspension, seats, tyres, etc etc. Just a thought...

[Lil'Loki]

Would I be correct in assuming the aftermarket parts offered for a new Jimny/Sierra are going to grow more than that of the late model AWD 3DR Vitara?
If it is the case, they'd possibly attract a large portion of the older Sierra market whose 4WD's are starting to get tired and are looking to upgrade rather than rebuild. The SWB Wrangler's are a nice looking 4WD and I believe are now offered with a diesel engine, but for my money I'd go the 5DR Grand Vitara.

My 1cent

[Big D]

my m8 had a 2001 wrangler. awsomely fun car but it drinks waaaaay too much. he got 350kms from a 70ltr? tank. also for the size of the engine, its torque was kinda disapointing. if i had to choose between 4wd GV and wrangler id choose the wrangler simply because the new ones are a better desing and also look hot

As for jimny, well i really wish suzuki kept the sierra and just brought them out new instead of thejimny. jimnys look ugly IMO.