Suzuki Samurai
 

Unfortunately I can not find much information about traveling with a Suzuki Samurai on the HUBB.
Has anyone done some serious travel with a Suzuki Samurai ?

I am curious how it did.
What modifications did you made ?
What problems did you have ?

There is at least one thread here about lightweight, inexpensive 4X4's, where the Suzuki is featured. The Samurai and other Suzuki's are well loved down in Baja.
Two friends own them and they've done great. But they not done super tough travel with them, just casual Desert travel. These folks live in Baja but only use the Suzuki's for exploring in the Desert. I borrowed it one day and had a blast going through deep sand ... it was SO EASY! (not like a motorcycle!)

I loved the little Suzuki on the sandy tracks we drove. Smooth, quiet, super good on gas too. Very tough and reliable, cheap to fix too!

https://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/p.../i-frKRjnW.jpg

Also search under Suzuki Vitara as it's known in Europe.


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In the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany too.

The Samurai is older and smaller then the Vitara and, like Jmi wrote, the "Vitara is more SUV oriented".
As far as I know, the Samurai sold in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany do not have a Peugeot diesel engine but a Suzuki 4 cilinder 1.3 liter petrol engine.
Maybe the French Suzuki importer made the Peugeot diesel version ????
I used to have one for a while but I sold it. But now I am sorry that I did and looking to buy one again.

Attachment 16671

Early 90's Vitara in the uk sure looks like the photo above.


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The one I showed is not the Samurai, it's the "Sidekick". Here is a pic of the side view. Many folks love these old Suzuki's, no longer imported to USA. My buddy found his for $1500 with 15K miles on the clock. After a service it's been perfect. No issues
in about 4 years now.
https://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/p.../i-T94rwMG.jpg

That model is called a Vitara in Europe.

Earlier models were the sj410 and sj413 I think over here.

They did become the Jimny after that. Very popular with off roaders over here.


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yes, the sj410 and 413 in the UK. Always lamented them not having a diesel engine, so the peugeot one sounds interesting.

drove this one to the Gambia, performed fabulously and reliably
http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7ad366b.jpg

i like how you said it

well, with its pink color, it really is fabulous

absolutely fabulous I believe ;o)

http://www.suzukiotoparca.com/

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Suzuki auto parts
http://www.suzukiotoparca.com/

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Hi Jan,

We are now on a trip with our Jimny to Kazakhstan, North Cape and back home to The Netherlands.

We left the 1st of may from The Netherlands and till now everything is just fine.
The Jimny does really well. We fitted a news roof rack and roof tent.
In the back we removed the seats and made space for two drawers and hooks to attach a fridge and our stuff.

We changed the suspension and lifted it a bit to compensate for the load.
New tires around and did a full service. Removed the katalysator to prevent it from overheating due to the bad fuel quality overhere.

To run the fridge we've installed a dual battery system, works as hell and supplies us with fresh food and cool drinks. We are on the road for 3 months and would not survived without the fridge.

More details can be found on our site: Expedition Honeymoon – Extended honeymoon trip

The fuel consumption is really good, it's running on an average of 1/10..
With all the gear and the tent on top I think that's great.

The roads are really bad in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan and the Jimny is a bit wobbly on some roads, but that's what a Jimny / Samurai is on tarmac or paved roads. The springs are just hard I guess. On sand / green lanes the Jimny does it's thing and it feels like it's in is habitat.

We're still happy with our choice for the Jimny.

I did my 1st trip through Africa in an 800cc Jimny with a buddy (his car- I was just the mechanic ;-)). No Mods, just a roof rack. Very reliable, easy to work on. Days before FI, so was good to be able to manually adjust the timing to suit the low quality/octane fuels. There are always issues with getting spare parts in Africa, so we took the most crucial items with us, nut never needed any of it.

Our fuel consumption was about 1/10 if we stayed under 80km/h (excluding beach riding).


One issue- the wheel base is narrower than that of other cars, so in deep ruts, you struggle as one side runs in the ruts and the other runs on the middle-man