Wow thank guys all your input was very helpfull. I plan on lifting waterver vehicle i get to were it will fit 31's maybe 33's but i want to stay around 19 to 22 mpg in town. how much will that effect my mpg?

Im in a very flat farming town but i do travel alot and right now i have a truck that gets 10 mpg in town and 12 on the freeway and its killing me with these california gas prices. so i thought i wouuld get a jeep but i just cant afford the price of the ones i like.

then i saw an article on a samuria and i liked the price tag and i liked the look of them?

I noticed that most of u liked the tracker or sidekick better those are IFS if im not mistaken is there a solid axle coversion for those and if so how muck do they cost and how will it effect its ride?

Thanks for all your replys
Kyle

Solid axles are kind of what makes the sammy a rough ride. Maybe you should try to find one to test drive and see if you are o.k. with the ride and the room. They are pretty tight width wise. On dirt roads, you will get a good shaking as well in the Samurai. On a paved road, the ride is fine in a stock samurai. Also, windy dirt roads are kind of tricky in a samurai. Especially when wet. Mine gets squirrelly so I slow down. I like the look so I picked the sammy. They just look like tough little boogers. Lifted 4 door kicks look pretty cool too. A friend of mine had an 89 sidekick back in 89. It drove like a car. It was pretty smooth as I recall.  Check the member ride info thread for pics.

I believe there are conversion kits to make a sidekick solid axle or a samurai coil suspension. The samurai conversion kit is outrageously expensive. 

-Adam

What do you really want to end up with in the long run? Just a DD or a DD/trail rig/toy? If you are just looking for DD as a cheap ride, there are other choices than a Suzuki. My parents had an '88 Pontiac B'ville with over 150K miles that got mid 20's around town and 30+ on the freeway, and it was loaded.

And as most guys are comparing the Samurai to other DD's, I will tell you what caused my DD Samurai to start being more of a trail rig. An 06 Dodge Cummins Laramie 4x4 QC DRW. Has ALL the comforts any one would need.  And the track/kick can't compare to it.

Now to answer some of your question's about a Samurai as a DD, when my Samurai only had a SPOA, 32's, 4.12 TC gears, a weber and header/2" exhaust, I had no problems with it as a DD. Even tho I did those mod's, it was comparable to when it was stock but the ride was better with a little more power.
 
The thing does need better seats for a comfy ride as the back of the seat has a poor angle and you have to lean foward some. I did not have a problem with heat in the winter as some say, I would put the carpet back in and the hard top back on. As you are in Kali flat lands you should be ok with the cold, and not having to run too many hills.

Just remember, it is a Samurai with a four squrriel engine. What it lacks in some creature comforts and speed it makes up for in fun, and cheap fun at that.

thank you. I kinda figured some of its pros and cons just by the nature of the car but i wanted to hear from some owners to make sure.

Now for just  1 more question if you guys dont mind what was the end price of the sammy rig when you were all done moding it out?

You can finish modding them out?

What ever you think you will spend in the build triple it!!!   A good rig in parts alone will easily be $6,000 but this thing will out run any Heap!  And if a heap wants to keep up then he will spend easily twice that!  The Sami IMO is the most bang for the buck in a wheeler!!

Heres all you need to know

The Samurai is about the most perfect vehicle ever designed....which can be witnessed by the fact that in countries where common sense is prized above government regulation you can still buy the same samurai that was sold in America in 1988.  They are used for everything from delivery trucks to ambulances to police vehicles to military vehicles. The only pieces of a samurai that you have to worry about are the door trim panels and the carpet.

Having said all of that, heres why you want a tracker for a daily driver.....

You will spend your first $2000 on your samurai trying to make it as powerful and smooth as a tracker.  You can buy a tracker for less than $2000.

BUT.......They just arent as cool as Samurai's.

Yah, what he said.

It depends on how modded you want to be. I had a little over $100 into my ghetto SPOA, and with a set of used 31's I took off of my old CJ2A. The TC gears were spendy when I bought them as there was only one place making any custom gears at the time. I gave around $800 for the 4.12's and now you can find them for less than half of that new, and you can find them used now also. You do not really need a weber but a header and 2" exhaust, turbo muffler will help open it up a little. So I guess when I was done with the SPOA, TC gears, Weber and exhaust I had less than $1500 into it. Now I am afraid to sit down and figure out how much I have into it. More than it's worth, thats for sure.

Man ive only been browsing this sight for maybe a week or two and it has helped me out so much. thanx for all your replys.