Vitara SWB 1.6 Auto, beach/sand?

[surfisho]

for a few reasons im starting to think the sierra wont be best for me.

im not into bush or mud. but i fish a lot. so i need a good beach machine.

auto rules on sand (most of the time unless you going downhill). and the vitaras come in auto, woohoo !

is there more space in a SWB vitara than a SWB sierra?

how well will the auto perform on sand with overheating? (should I add an aftermarket auto trans cooler)

im really confused by body lifts as the like, and tires. what would be the cheapest method do give me a 2" suspension lift, and what tires would be good for sand and bitumen (20/80%)?

thanks a lot everyone.

[droopypete]

Vitara would be good for you a bit wider a bit more power (1.6~1.3) a bit more comfort for your bad back, go a 4 door and you have heaps of room (compaired to a Sierra )

BFG all terains will be a fine tyre for your application.
Peter.

[surfisho]

thanks pete, i think so too.

only problem is the 4door seems to go for about $8k, which is 4runner 2.8 territory. I want to stick under $5k, and finding one in WA might be hard.

[kimclive]

Hi,

I bought my auto LWB Vitara for just over $3000 a few months ago and have done a 50mm lift with coil spacers. I have also put wider/taller all-terrain tyres on and its a weapon now! All the details are in the Vitara bible.

I use it daily and drive 90% on road and 10% bush tracks.

Mine runs too cold so I cant see overheating being a problem. Trans coolers are cheap as are bigger radiators.

It sounds to me that a Vitara is what you are looking for. I am biased though!

Cheers

Clive

[nicbeer]

Surfisho:

There is someone in wa with lwb vit. Not sure of name. white one with hammertite coating on the bottom.

Maybe he'll have some more info for ya.

cheers

[WHITVIT]

ding dong, Thats my que.

My rig cost me 10K 2 yrs ago but it was smick with rust proofing extractors etc. but you could get a rough one much cheaper privately.(no rust though). Mine is manual but the auto is a good choice. with 30 inch tyres its a little slower but still fine. you will need to lift suspension. cheapest option is a 30mm coil spacer in the front (gives 2"lift) available at wa suspensions for $30 ea and jeep 2" coil spacers in the rear (i think you need to drill out the centre of the spacer for the rear not sure. this will give you 2" lift. you will need to do a front strut mount flip to gain a little extra travel at the front. if you want to go bigger than 30" a little body trimming or a body lift may be needed but nothing major until you get to 33's.

thats the cheeapest rout

you may find the swb a bit more nimble on the sand with a short turning circle and better ramp over angles.

get a jlx model for all the power poser options(windows etc)

The good thing about the auto is that the manual diffs are lower ratio if you want to cheaply gear down and turn BIG tyres.



I have 2" coil lift, 2" body lift and 30" tyres, strut mount flip.