[xbeejx]

Hi
Been in the market for a suzi..
I was all set to buy a Vitara as I plan to do a fair bit of road work and then I found out about the coil spring sierra.

I much prefer the look of the Sierra, how do they go on the road compared to the Vitara?

Im looking at a 96 Sierra with a stuffed engine. What is the most sensible replacement engine that I could put in there for a power boost instead of rebuilding the stock one and what do you rekon it would set me back for the engine/conversion parts and labour if I got someone to do the swap for me?
Cheers

[xbeejx]

Doing a bit of research, I see you can fit the turbo diesel vw into them. Are they a common engine to find in Oz?

[royce]

stop looking on US sites, I dont even think we have that engine here

coilys arent as good as vits best engine to fit is the g16b 16 valve from a vit

[gusbus]

2 litre vw diesels are big $$$ in aus thats if u can find one. u can get them readily in england unsure of transport cost ...if u decide to go ahead with it theres a guy on gold coast makes adapters http://www.volksconversions.com.au/adapters.html

[xbeejx]

So what about the road friendlyness of a coily sierra vs a vitara?

[Rusho]

Mine drives ok. It has the wobbles at 100km's but every Sierra has that some way or another. I can't rally compare the 2 as I have never driven a Vit, nor do I ever intend to

[tombutt]

rusho u seemed to be loving being in the passanger seat of fatzooks the other day

vit's are fairly good on the road ive lifted mine to hieght however and it handles crap around corners

[tobeszook]

Go the sj80 coily.... i love mine when i got it already had a g16b 1.6 efi convertion done and it goes good as, 110 with a trailor on the back that weighs 260 empty with 1/2 mtr rock and 10 400 square pavers and it would have kept going...................... if i didnt get scared and backed off

[Fatzook]

Having owned both coily sierra and more recently a vitara, I'd have to say that $ for $ spent on mods, the vitara is a much nicer place to be.

Yes the vit has IFS which is a limiting factor, but the coilys have a rediculous front strut setup which isn't exactly idea either.

The vit feels more planted on road and on side angles due to its extra width, but the approach and departure angles are not as good as a coily.

Both vehicle has issues with front axle/ CV reliability when you fit larger tyres.

Both can be had for similar $$$

Even though the coily is very different to leaf spring sierras, it shares alot of parts still, so modifying it can be a little easier than the vitara.

So I guess it comes down to what you plan to do with it....

Peter

[paulv]

Nice summary Fatzook!

[got_bar_work]

i sold my coily and got a vit and i would say that the vit is better in every way
it is much nicer on road
has almost about as much flex as the coily did
has heaps more room(lwb)
has aircon ,ps and a roof that doesnt leak
i did find my coily to be better on side angles (need to redo the rear suspention in the vit )but it was the most stable car i have ever been in because it was so low
it coily was heaps of fun as a weekend car but i didnt not like going long distances in it
if u do go a coily i would get a hard top and look for one with ps and fuel injection b

[xbeejx]

Thanks for all the great info guys.

I guess your right in that it depends on what I want to do with it..
Realisticly that would be 90% road with lots of highway work.

So the difference in ride on road between the coily and the Vit comes down to the IFS? I have been doing a bit of reading regarding IFS vs RFS and it seems like the debate is ongoing, at least for other vehicles.

I would really like a sierra but I will be traveling long distances and unless I can modify it to ride nicely on the highway then it sound like the Vitara is the right choice for me.

So I am thinking about getting a 2 door soft top and buying a hard top to put on it for city use. Is there any pros and cons between a set up like that and a factory hard top?

[Fatzook]

xbeejx wrote:

So I am thinking about getting a 2 door soft top and buying a hard top to put on it for city use. Is there any pros and cons between a set up like that and a factory hard top?

Just that the fibreglass hard tops can be hard to find. I just bought a new one from the states because I couldn't get one here

Perhaps try to buy the vit WITH the glass hard top, as its easier to get a soft top for it later.