[Gongon]

Hope I've got the numbers right.

Been waiting to emigrate to Oz for 4 years, now house is sold and on our way to Perth end of April.

My wife had a 1994 3 door Vitara and we loved it!

I had a boring "repmobile" company car.

Now looking to get 5 door Vitara in Oz (room for grandkids)

I started life as a mechanic and love engines and chunky mechanicals.

Really fancy 2.0 litre V6 but have heard stories of poor low down pulling power?

It has to be an SV. Much prefer the separate chassis and boxy styling compared to SQ.

Would I be better off with 4 cyl 2.0 litre (although I believe it's only in the 3 door?)

Or is the 1.6 just as good performance wise albeit a bit less sexy than a V6?

I know about the extra width and 16" wheels of the 2 litre cars which I prefer.

[Reubs]

The SQ does have a chassis - it's only the post -05 Grand Vitaras which are monocoque.

Don't expect an older Vitara to be cheap in Perth - in Western Australia there are no annual vehicle inspections or inspections between changes of ownership so prices there are quite high. It's literally cheaper to find a nice one in Sydney or Melbourne and drive it thousands of km home. I know this as years ago I flew to WA and needed a car for a holiday and was quite limited for choice when it came to cheap Suzukis.

The SV series have a better payload capacity, 150 or 200kg better off from memory. The 450kg payload in the SE series is easily exceeded when packing for long trips.

[sideways]

In Perth Grand Vitaras are practically the the same price as Vitaras. I'd be looking at a GV because they're a nicer vehicle to live with.

[fordem]

Gongon wrote:

Really fancy 2.0 litre V6 but have heard stories of poor low down pulling power?

And them stories are justified - H20a V6 has pretty much the same power as the J20a and supposedly a hair more torque lower down, but I find my 98 GV (with the J20a) pulls way better than my sister's 97 V6 Vitara (with the H20a), and by the way, the SQ like the SV has a separate chassis.

Oh - there's no SV416 - the smallest engine they came with was the 1.8 J18a (SV418) but as far as I know that was a US/Canada market only product

[madmacca]

a good place to see prices Gongon

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-cars-vans-u ... 20l3008845

[Gongon]

Thanks guys, didn't realise SQ had chassis. Constantly monitoring gumtree prices compared to UK but interesting point about them being cheaper in Sydney.

[DarkHorse]

As a general statement the J20 and H20 are not far apart in terms of real-world power, though the V6 5dr/LWB is pulling a bit more weight than the 4cyl 3dr/SWB... so the J20 feels a bit 'peppier'.

Both are streets, no suburbs, ahead of the G16B in the older SE Vitaras.

Have only had a very brief test-drive of a stock SQ with an H25 and it went pretty well... but then so did my H20 before I added a couple of hundred extra kgs and 4" of tyre diameter...

[fordem]

Even comparing the J20 5 door (SQ420) to the H20 5 door (SV620), the J20 has more pep - it's something I've never understood, especially given the fact that the V6 has, at least on paper, more low rpm torque.