[Kontrasts]

Hi all,

Looking into getting a Suzuki Vitara or Sierra. I'd like to take it on some bush trips but also be able to go and have some weekend fun (which it will be mainly used for). It will be a daily, but I'm not that bothered about comfort or overall convenience. I'm after something capable.

What should I be looking at in the ways of model, prices and best modifications?

Cheers fellas.

[BlueSuzy]

Sierra

Short or Long wheel bease?

I personally like the softops. Pro: Less to damage. Can carry fridges. Feel the wind in your hair if you have any. Con: Unlockable and can leak.

I'd be going for a 1.3 model. 85'-95' . Narrow or Wide track, Leaf suspension.

Prices are random, Bargains from $1-2k with rego or no rego. $3-5k seems the norm with rego, to the other end of the scale, lots of dreamers with minimal mods and $10k+...how much do you really want to spend?

All are going to need some sort of work. Plan for at least one or all of these.. wheel bearings, brakes, gearbox bearings, diffs, carb problems, spring bushes, Luck of the draw and how much you know about cars already.

Best Modification? I'd be looking for a standard one, Untouched. But again, How much do you know about cars/4wd's?
Modifications are pretty much endless with Sierras.

[Gwagensteve]

The key for me is what you mean by "capable", because that's a relative term.

Capability is really about compromise- a very capable car is, in theory, is something that can do lots of things with little compromise. In reality with think of capability as a measure of off road performance in technical terrain. The more we increase capability for this task the more compromised the car gets for other tasks.

Sierras are very capable in difficult terrain but make terrible daily drivers.

[Gwagensteve]

It's also worth considering that the most common desirable modifications to a Sierra are a vitara efi engine and vitara power steering. (I'd also add a vitara automatic transmission to this)

This is a lot of work to go to if you don't need the ultimate technical terrain capability of a sierra.

[Kontrasts]

On road driving I'm not fussed about. As long as its legal I'm happy.

I'm in SA and finding it hard to find any Sierra's. They all hang around NSW and QLD.

Will keep my eyes open.

[Gwagensteve]

I'm sitting in front of a computer now, and forgive me for having a ramble about this stuff- it's one of my favourite topics.

Bluesuzy is right on the money for mods/models and pricing for Sierras.

You'll find the most common mods are 29-31" tyres, transfer gearing and 1 diff lock. Setup like this and driven sensibly, you'll have no problem driving pretty much any track wherever you live in a sierra.

However, Sierra's aren't the easiest vehicles to own. They're at least 20 years old now, and major parts are starting to wear. Some of these parts are now difficult/expensive to replace (steering boxes/engines, for example) so whilst most of us are happy to upgrade these parts with more readily available components, its never completely straightforward.

As such a sierra is an enthusiast vehicle - they're quirky, and a very good a small range of things. Driving a soft top sierra off road, especially with doors off or 1/2 doors fitted, is one of the best things ever. They're enormous fun off road.

As good as they are off road though, they're inversely poor on road/ to live with day to day. They leak. They have laughably low roadholding limits, and the very short wheelbase and very slow steering makes them difficult to catch if you do start the car sliding. They're noisy, glacially slow, and they're not even very economical. (My defender, at 2000kg, offered better performance and the same fuel economy as a Sierra, and my 1800kg Commodore has the same cruise fuel economy as a Sierra but has literally 10 times the power.) They also have a very low payload, and SWB's are cramped for camping and dreadful to sit in the back of.

Whilst this sounds like a huge diss, it's not.- it's about recognising the job you need to do with the car and buying the right car for the job. If you have mates with other sierras, or want to join a suzuki club and drive technical terrain go crazy. If you have mates with "normal" 4WD's who like big camping weekends and spend all weekend snatching each other's patrols and navaras out, you're going to have a bad time in a Sierra, because you'll get bored waiting for them on tracks, and get bored trying to pack everything into a Sierra (and end up with an overloaded car)

don't rule out a Vitara. Sierras are overpriced for what they are, Vitaras are good value. It's easy to find an EFI, Auto and power steering equipped Vitara. a LWB vitara is fairly comfortable for 4 or has room for plenty of camping gear. They're so much nicer on road - they are completely viable daily driver. They aren't as good in difficult terrain, but I don't know what you're driving in your area or what you are comparing a capable car to.

Also, don't rule out a Jimny. They're also much more comfortable than a Sierra, make a better road car, and are somewhere between a Sierra and Vitara for capability.

All three have good aftermarket support and have lots of potential if you want to develop the car.

Steve.

[Kontrasts]

Cheers Steve, I'm only young and working a part time job in a servo. Do you think maintaining a Sierra could be an issue? I have 3500 sitting away right now but I'm content with saving for something better. I have a local 4wd park about 15km from me (JAKEM Farm) so it'll be out on regular tough tracks.

[Angus Martin]

As a young bloke a sierra is perfect in my opinion, they're cheap to fix (way cheaper than anything else, patrols etc.) great fun, simple to work on and heap of fun, there's not many better options to learn to 4wd in and work on that are going to to be as cheap and easy to modify.
Having said that, I'm 19 and have had a sierra for 4 years, in that time I've gone from not knowing anything about a car to rebuilding my engine in the school holidays and everything in between. They're definitely not the best on road (I drive mine to uni everyday) but almost everything I've done to mine to make it better off road have, in turn, made it worse on road but you don't have to go as far down that track as I have. Nevertheless, I still take it up the cape twice a year for a week or two (1000kms of corrugations)
I'd recommend it, I have got mates with hiluxs and they suit the touring side of it more but they've had to spend 5x what I've spent on mine to get it to the same level.

[bumstein]

Hey!!

I’m all for a Sierra but my opinion could be considered bias.

I use mine as a daily and I love it. Yes it leaks, and yes it’s loud and often uncomfortable but I still enjoy it. Having said this I do have a Landcruiser which I do most of my long trips in, so if your one to do hundreds of Km’s at a time consider the Sierra’s difficulty here. It’s fun to do long trips in occasionally but often would be too much IMO.

Pros as I see them;
They are great fun to drive.
They are capable Offroad stock standard.
They are generally easy to work on.
Parts are available, generally if you have a network of Sierra wielding friends and you use the buy/sell here you can source most stuff easily enough.
If you resist the urge to go silly with mods they are still fairly usable on road.
They are small, easy to bomb around in.

Cons:
Regular long k’s can be tough.
They are getting older now so maintenance and repairs may well be more frequent and necessary. If your mechanically minded (sounds like you are) and proactive you can have them running in good condition, but the likelyhood of repairs are still higher than fresher vehicles.
They are small, so camping/road trips require forethought and minimalism.
They leak, mine usually piddles on my feet when I drive in the wet.

My suggestions are;

if your considering or dead set on a Sierra then by all means go for it!!

Read the Sierra 101 write up in the Good Tech section thoroughly and understand its implications.

Find one that is mechanically sound and has been looked after!! A little body damage/roughness is fine, especially if your going to take it for a beating at the 4wd park, but a mechanically poor Sierra will spoil your day regularly.

Buy one that is stock or pretty close to it and be very conservative with your mods!! Learn from experiences here. Steve is spot on with the common mods, what he listed are good mods which won’t destroy the cars usability on road, but can enhance its ability off road (oh and tyre size wise, I favour 29-30”. 31’s will start to require cutting etc so it doesn’t hit the body and bumper outriggers)

Lean toward preventative maintenance rather than sik mods (P.S., don’t use terms like sik mods please). Give the drive train a birthday and make sure the wiring hasn’t been butchered.

By all means, consider Vitara or Jimny!! They both have virtue and ability! But if your dead keen on a Sierra then go for it

[Angus Martin]

Agreed