Outer Limits 4x4 Board

There is SWB 89 Vit in Brissy for $4500, done 240,000 ks. Motor reco some time back. Runs very well, no smoke or breathing etc. Hardly been offroad, no rust, good interior, good tyres, 6 mths rego,v good body and paint. Does it sound like good value for a project build up/work hack do u think ??

At the risk of being beaten up by all the vitara owners - for 4,500 bucks you could pick up a sierra and get a stack of modifications completed to turn it into a little offroad monster - compared to 4,500 for a vitara that is never going to perform under a realistic sort of budget.

However, if you still want the Vitara - checkout www.redbook.com.au for approximate car values - otherwise, compare it to other vitaras in the tradingpost or autotrader (www.tradingpost.com.au or www.autotrader.com.au)...

cheers.

greg wrote:At the risk of being beaten up by all the vitara owners - for 4,500 bucks you could pick up a sierra and get a stack of modifications completed to turn it into a little offroad monster - compared to 4,500 for a vitara that is never going to perform under a realistic sort of budget.

However, if you still want the Vitara - checkout www.redbook.com.au for approximate car values - otherwise, compare it to other vitaras in the tradingpost or autotrader (www.tradingpost.com.au or www.autotrader.com.au)...

cheers.

Thanx for the tips, very handy.. Yeah I know the Sierra story but I want a challenge !!

Dick wrote:Yeah I know the Sierra story but I want a challenge !!

In my best Dutch from Predator Voice:

"Dylan, you know it's a fight you cannot win"

greg wrote:

Dick wrote:Yeah I know the Sierra story but I want a challenge !!

In my best Dutch from Predator Voice:

"Dylan, you know it's a fight you cannot win"

But without desperates like us there would no aftermarket sales to try an make em do stuff !! Now if we could transplant the V6 into a Sierra.. mmm

Dick wrote:But without desperates like us there would no aftermarket sales to try an make em do stuff !! Now if we could transplant the V6 into a Sierra.. mmm

I believe that's what's in this car:

2L V6 from a Vitara.

edit: fixed my quotes

keep it interesting, go for a Vit

The Great Gonzo wrote:keep it interesting, go for a Vit

Yep !! Lots of awesum Vits in the US eh..

nah, but they do have a bunch of these things called trackers and sidekicks

this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me. a lot of sierra owners end up putting the vit motor (or something with a bit of go compared to the 1 / 1.3) into their sierras, whereas a vit already has this.

so i ask this question (flame suit on)

which is harder and/or more expensive, a sas or an engine swap?

antt wrote:this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me. a lot of sierra owners end up putting the vit motor (or something with a bit of go compared to the 1 / 1.3) into their sierras, whereas a vit already has this.

so i ask this question (flame suit on)

which is harder and/or more expensive, a sas or an engine swap?

By orders of magnitude a SAS .. The 1.6 to sierra swap is easy as rolling your Zuk climbing a log
Small mod to an engine mount plate and a few tabs welded to the gearbox and a few wiring mods .. can be done in a day by a half competant mechanically minded person if you screw up the install and something goes majorly wrong later .. your walking till you can figure it out .. SAS swap there is a whole mess of things to get right .. motor for a start .. will the diff clear the sump ?? Links, Length of links, link mounting points, squat, anti squat, coil rates, steering links etc etc .. or if you leaves its a bit less complex .. You can end up with an unbalanced vehicle that is a PITA to drive ... On the other hand if you have the knowhow it may be very viable .. but your likely to end up with an engine swap anyway to get over the vits limitation in high range gearing with larger rubber .. either that or swapping out the Vit T/Case for a sierra unit with an underdive high range ... Hows that for ironic ..

greg wrote:

Dick wrote:But without desperates like us there would no aftermarket sales to try an make em do stuff !! Now if we could transplant the V6 into a Sierra.. mmm

I believe that's what's in this car:

2L V6 from a Vitara.

edit: fixed my quotes

I thhough that had the 2.0 inline 4 cyl (lke the one droopypete is doing) .. could be wrong through .. happens all the time

love_mud wrote:

antt wrote:this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me. a lot of sierra owners end up putting the vit motor (or something with a bit of go compared to the 1 / 1.3) into their sierras, whereas a vit already has this.

so i ask this question (flame suit on)

which is harder and/or more expensive, a sas or an engine swap?

The SAS isn't really that hard to do either... if you wanna take the simplistic view (as has been done by those pointing out the motor swap) a widetrack Sierra axle and leafs only requires a little bit of welding for chassis mounts...

Although getting it right (diff clearance at the front, steering alignment etc) as opposed to getting it IN is the key difference in the "orders of magnitude", and the issues with the Vitara engine swap to the sierra (eg clutch size, body lift requirements) are all pretty well known.

Doing somethign like this on the Vitara SAS and you're pretty much on your own.

There's a guy selling some widetrack axles front and rear in the trading post up here for $400.

love_mud wrote:

greg wrote:

Dick wrote:But without desperates like us there would no aftermarket sales to try an make em do stuff !! Now if we could transplant the V6 into a Sierra.. mmm

I believe that's what's in this car:

2L V6 from a Vitara.

edit: fixed my quotes

I thhough that had the 2.0 inline 4 cyl (lke the one droopypete is doing) .. could be wrong through .. happens all the time

sorry - once the engine size get's bigger than two cans of coke i start to get dizzy and confused... it may well be 2.0 inline - like droopy pete's.

antt wrote:this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me.

Fill us in on this "war" antt?

I'm not aware of any war - if anything, it's all suzuki's having to proove to owners of bigger cars that they are capable more than anything else i think.

greg wrote:

antt wrote:this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me.

Fill us in on this "war" antt?

I'm not aware of any war - if anything, it's all suzuki's having to proove to owners of bigger cars that they are capable more than anything else i think.

ok, 'war' was the wrong word, but i just meant that every time someone mentions a vit, someone always says 'get a sierra'. whereas whatever mods you can purchase for one, you can get for the other (eg. lockers, rockhoppers etc.). the sierra have the advantage, that they've been made for another 5 (or whatever it is) years, so theyre cheaper to purchase, but its getting very cheap to buy an early vit these days, swap a solid axle under the front, and it'd go pretty good

antt wrote:ok, 'war' was the wrong word, but i just meant that every time someone mentions a vit, someone always says 'get a sierra'. whereas whatever mods you can purchase for one, you can get for the other (eg. lockers, rockhoppers etc.). the sierra have the advantage, that they've been made for another 5 (or whatever it is) years, so theyre cheaper to purchase, but its getting very cheap to buy an early vit these days, swap a solid axle under the front, and it'd go pretty good

Fair call - however, most sierra owners i know will recommend that people buy a sierra no matter what sort of car they are thinking about getting - they are just that much fun to drive.

For example:

A friend of mine wanted to get a Ferarri for racing around tracks - i (of course) recommended that he get a sierra for racing around the track instead.

Another mate of mine needed a mac truck for shipping equipment from Melbourne to Perth and back again - i (of course) recommended that he got a sierra for shipping stuff instead.

Yep - they are just that much fun to own and drive etc.

So, in closure - I don't think it's vitara owners that sierra owners think their cars are better than - it's every single car owner in the known universe

I reckon a Vit with a SAS and 44s would be cool

where's that photo from grimbo? any others of it?

its from those wacky Fins and their trials



heres the link the album I got them from
http://www.fuoristrada.it/gallery/eurotrial_2003

antt wrote:this war between sierra's and vit's always puzzle's me. a lot of sierra owners end up putting the vit motor (or something with a bit of go compared to the 1 / 1.3) into their sierras, whereas a vit already has this.

so i ask this question (flame suit on)

which is harder and/or more expensive, a sas or an engine swap?

I think people are scared to attempt the SAS. but My personal opinion is that there is not a whole lot of difference in the amount of work. People just think the SAS is harder as it hasn't been done much where heaps of the engine conversions have and there is a set way to do it.
SAM

greg wrote:
Yep - they are just that much fun to own and drive etc.

So, in closure - I don't think it's vitara owners that sierra owners think their cars are better than - it's every single car owner in the known universe

You think sierras are the most fun vehicle on the planet... but it's definately the Vitara.

Sexier, Faster, more powerful, more comfortable, more likely to get you a r00t, A/C, P/S, better soft-top

Just cos they're not quite as good off road doesn't really come into consideration when you look at all the good stuff about a Vitara for the rest of the time.

Yep, I reckon anything under $1 million is cheap for a Vitara....

Suzuki Viagra wrote:
Yep, I reckon anything under $1 million is cheap for a Vitara....

lol

Suzuki Viagra wrote:You think sierras are the most fun vehicle on the planet... but it's definately the Vitara.

Sexier, Faster, more powerful, more comfortable, more likely to get you a r00t, A/C, P/S, better soft-top
...

you're a funny man andrew - and quite probably a man with a few drinking related issues too

i never had any problems pulling r00ts in the sierra

vitaras are girly

agree'd....

The reason people (like us) dont like the vitara's is most of us are guys..
and i think i got older hearing too many girly girls saying "I want a vitara for my first car so i can cruise to the beach with the top off" Grimace!!!!

I personally pref the sierra because it has a rougher Tuffer more agricultural Look about it.. Like your supposed to take it offroad!..

Not like looking at a Merc or BMW 4wd..

Corvid wrote:agree'd....

The reason people (like us) dont like the vitara's is most of us are guys..
and i think i got older hearing too many girly girls saying "I want a vitara for my first car so i can cruise to the beach with the top off" Grimace!!!!

I personally pref the sierra because it has a rougher Tuffer more agricultural Look about it.. Like your supposed to take it offroad!..

Not like looking at a Merc or BMW 4wd..

I think mine has a tougher more agricultural look too - I suppose flexiflares, 31" muddies, cutting the guards and bumpers, bent rockerpanels, missing plastic, no carpet and more mud visible than paint help.

It's NOT a cute Vitara to cruise the beach in

Unlike when I first bought it and my wife liked cruising in it - she refuses to get in the car now except in an emergency

My view is if you wanna cruise the beach with your top off you can get paid $20 an hour to do the same working behind a bar

greg wrote:

Suzuki Viagra wrote:You think sierras are the most fun vehicle on the planet... but it's definately the Vitara.

Sexier, Faster, more powerful, more comfortable, more likely to get you a r00t, A/C, P/S, better soft-top
...

you're a funny man andrew - and quite probably a man with a few drinking related issues too

Yeah.... I have a drinking problem - my wife complains about it.

Seriously I think that there's not much in it they're both fun.... the Sierra has a bit more capability offroad although the Vitara kills it onroad.

The main limitation in Vitaras is the IFS and fact that few people are prepared to do an SAS conversions whereas people WILL do the engine swap the Sierra so desperately needs.

I think that this is as much due to the initial purchase price as the complexity. After all it isn't THAT much harder to convert axles or so many of you wouldn't shove Hilux axles under your sierras....

There's plenty of guys elsewhere in the world who have done SAS's in their Vitaras, making a very tough looking little truck.

I guess it begs the question - do men here in Australia reckon the Vitara is girly (when after as many young ladies as men drive soft-top sierras too )

or is it more a fear of doing something different?