hi,

Hopefully not to many of the mitsi boys will see me in this forum. Question: with all the knowledge you chaps and chapesses have with these Zuks, what is the best Zuk to buy overall when
considering modifications, handling, ease of fitting bigger rubber, body lifts etc etc? I am just considering a few options at the moment and just trying to decide which road I might head down.


Please help.

I did not find the right solution from the internet.

References:
http://www.offroadexpress.kiwi/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=14787
Motion graphics animation studio

Thanks!

There is no one "best" solution for anything - what's "best" for my situation, is probably not going to be "best" for your situation, and speaking of situations, we know nothing about yours, so that makes it difficult to suggest what might be appropriate.

I've owned or driven most of the various Suzuki 4WDs starting with the LJ series and currently have one each of the SQ & JB series Grand Vitaras, and for my needs, I'd say a JA series Grand Vitara XL-7 is "best" - not too small inside, not too large outside - but the problem with that, at least in my neck of the woods is parts availability.  The SQ series Grand Vitara now becomes "best" in terms of "upgradeability" and the JB series Grand Vitara, best in terms of size.

This is a beautiful example of why I say there is no one "best" choice, and what's best for you will depend on your needs.

A Samurai can be a very capable vehicle off road, but if you have to cover any significant distances, you might need a support vehicle to accompany you - with two grown men, plus gear is a tight squeeze, and you can forget about highway speeds.

My road trip companions are usually my wife of thirty-eight years and two of our daughters, both adults - our most recent trip, in late May was a twelve hour drive which included a river crossing that is also a border crossing between neighboring countries - it's about eight hours of driving (roughly 450km), with the rest of the time spent at the river crossing, which includes immigration & customs formalities, as well as the actual crossing.

Fuel stops are few and far between (as strange as this might sound, there is no fuel available at the ferry crossing - you can buy duty free liquor & cigarettes on both sides, but no fuel), and roughly half the drive has to be done during the hours of darkness in order to match the ferry schedule - there's only one crossing in each direction a day, so missing the boat is not something to be taken lightly - we made the outbound trip on a Thursday returning the following Monday.

There's literally no way to fit four people, along with the clothes, food & fuel needed for that trip in a Samurai, there's no way to do it in a two door Sidekick, a four door Sidekick is a squeeze, the GVs are about the smallest vehicle I'd try it in.

If you're trying to build a bush buggy, probably either a Samurai or a 2 door Sidekick. The Sammy's are starting to get a little more $$$ as they age and become more of a collector's vehicle though.

If you are trying to build a reasonably capable family camper/wheeler I would say the 2001-2003 XL7 is my pick. I'm a little biased because that's what I currently have, but most people would agree that it's a good size, especially if you get the 5-passenger model. There's alot more room between the front and rear seats so the vehicle doesn't become impossibly cramped for tall people once you throw some rear-facing child seats in the back, and the trunk is fairly huge if you don't have the 3rd row seat With a decent suspension upgrade from OME plus some spacers, and a body lift, you can fit 32" tires, and if you plan ahead and get the manual tranny model, regearing is as easy as plunking in some 5.13 pumpkins from an auto XL7. Otherwise I have heard of people bolting a Toyota transfer case straight to the back of the automatic transmission, so you could get some better low range that way too.

My opinion is that the XL7 should have been called the Grand Vitara. The Grand Vitara is physically no larger than a regular Vitara, it just has a V6. They are pretty small inside once you pack a few people and their cargo for a trip.