Suzuki Jimny alternatives - £1500
Discussion
Looking for a small tough 4x4 as a 2nd car. My biggest priority is cheap to run, I don't think any ladder framed, heavily built, 'proper' 4x4 matches the Jimny in this regard.
Vehicle will be used for hauling s
t around, pay and plays, winter commuting and just general abuse. Jimny seems to suit this to a T. The one area where it falls short is (understandably) towing ability, I'd like to use it to very occasionally tow an Mx5 (NB, ~1100kg wet highball). To do so within the Jimnys 1300kg towing cap would require and uncomfortably lightweight single axle trailer.
I am an experienced tower but I absolutely despise single axle trailers, the 80hp VVT engine I believe will be suitable for occasional use tow car. However due to its limiting legal cap I am exploring other options, other vehicles I have considered are:
Defender 90, this is the dream, just too damn expensive at the moment for a usable example
Disco 1/2, bigger than what I need, seems far too easy to fall into a money pit regardless of purchase price
Daihatsu Fourtrak, I've heard 2nd hand that these are really good, however are quickly becoming rare as hens teeth and I just dont know enough about them
Daihatsu Terios, often compared directly to the Jimny, I've heard they simply aren't built as well though
Nissan Terrano SWB, Similar to the Fourtrak, heard good things but rare and just don't know enough.
Just looking for advice really for a car that would suit my requirements that costs as little as possible to keep going, I am extremely attracted to the Jimny (and land rovers for the same reason) due to the massive amount of aftermarket support and knowledge available.
Vehicle will be used for hauling s
t around, pay and plays, winter commuting and just general abuse. Jimny seems to suit this to a T. The one area where it falls short is (understandably) towing ability, I'd like to use it to very occasionally tow an Mx5 (NB, ~1100kg wet highball). To do so within the Jimnys 1300kg towing cap would require and uncomfortably lightweight single axle trailer. I am an experienced tower but I absolutely despise single axle trailers, the 80hp VVT engine I believe will be suitable for occasional use tow car. However due to its limiting legal cap I am exploring other options, other vehicles I have considered are:
Defender 90, this is the dream, just too damn expensive at the moment for a usable example
Disco 1/2, bigger than what I need, seems far too easy to fall into a money pit regardless of purchase price
Daihatsu Fourtrak, I've heard 2nd hand that these are really good, however are quickly becoming rare as hens teeth and I just dont know enough about them
Daihatsu Terios, often compared directly to the Jimny, I've heard they simply aren't built as well though
Nissan Terrano SWB, Similar to the Fourtrak, heard good things but rare and just don't know enough.
Just looking for advice really for a car that would suit my requirements that costs as little as possible to keep going, I am extremely attracted to the Jimny (and land rovers for the same reason) due to the massive amount of aftermarket support and knowledge available.
3.1 Trooper would fit the bill for towing, and general ruggedness. Suzuki G Vitara is a (good) bit smaller, and the 2.0 diesel is based on the Pug engine, and is therefore superb. I've also run a Frontera for a long time with absolutely no issues, although many don't like them, I've found them to be good. I currently have a Jeep, but it wouldn't fit your criteria, so couldn't recommend that,though it does tow well.
80 bhp is a bit weedy for towing, - I would say you need about 140 as a minimum (GV remapped will just about give you that).
80 bhp is a bit weedy for towing, - I would say you need about 140 as a minimum (GV remapped will just about give you that).
Mitsubishi Pajero Junior
1lt petrol, 2dw or 4wd mode. Cheap to run. Awesome car.
The newly imported ones cost a fair bit, but if you get one that has been in the UK a little while then they are around the £700 - £1500 mark. I believe some of the parts are shared with the Jimny, but don't quote me on it.
1lt petrol, 2dw or 4wd mode. Cheap to run. Awesome car.
The newly imported ones cost a fair bit, but if you get one that has been in the UK a little while then they are around the £700 - £1500 mark. I believe some of the parts are shared with the Jimny, but don't quote me on it.
Edited by seadragon on Friday 5th May 08:52
seadragon said:
Mitsubishi Pajero Junior
1lt petrol, 2dw or 4wd mode. Cheap to run. Awesome car.
I did actually look at these, my 4x4 history is full of Mitsubishi's, my last one was a full fat SWB Shogun, L200 before that. Although the jnr is just a bit too light duty for what I want, as much as it is... Vaguely legal to chuck a big trailer on it since it is an import, I wouldn't want to throw ~1400kg on such a light monocoque,the only reason I consider it on the Jimny is because it's a heavy box frame chassis. 1lt petrol, 2dw or 4wd mode. Cheap to run. Awesome car.
Engine power is only relevant to a point whilst towing, 10bhp/ton is enough to keep you going on most terrain, but having a stable chassis is of upmost importance
RizzoTheRat said:
Is it worth considering a tow dolly rather than a trailer to keep the weight down?
Doesn't really help if you damage the car at a track day I suppose.
Dollys are a legal minefield, also not the most stable thing in the world. You can get a 250kg single axle trailer but I really hate towing them, in an ideal world I would get something like a BJ Minno, 300kg dual axle with a 1300kg payload, 1600kg gross, so would weigh 1300 all in with a 1000kg car. Doesn't really help if you damage the car at a track day I suppose.
However my Mx5 which I actually chucked on the weighbridge today for a bit of a laugh weighed 1100kg on the dot with a full tank of fuel, so with an siphoned tank that would put it about 60-70 kg over the Jimnys legal capacity with trailer, from a safety point of view that would be within tolerence for me, but falls just over the ~5% leeway most Vosa officials will give you meaning you leave yourself open for £100 FPN, and more importantly your load will be grounded until it can be shifted by a more appropriate vehicle. A tiny 4x4 towing will be a big cross hair on my head if they run out of transit tippers and Romanian lorries to hit.
This is a very occasional use case which I am most likely overthinking, my Mx5 is perfectly road legal, I currently drive it to and from trackdays
, and it is my daily driver, would just much prefer to trailer it for piece of mind. The Isuzu I would also consider, but again it really is bigger and heavier than what I need/want.
Suzuki G Vitara is very tempting and I am really being swayed by it.
Vauxhall Frontera.... Ive heard far to many bad things
The initial thought of towing 1300kg with a 80 bhp Jimny doesn't sound very appealing although I did used to tow a couple of tonnes with an even more underpowered series Land Rover which was just about ok as long as you didn't encounter other traffic - I remember actually getting overtaken by a tractor on one long uphill stretch, much to my mate's amusement!
I guess as you say 80 bhp/2.4 tonnes is still 33 bhp/tonne.
For comparison -
Series LR towing 2 tonne - 73bhp/3.9 tonnes = 18 bhp/tonne -
Land Cruiser 80 at max GTW - 168bhp/6.6 tonnes = 25 bhp/tonne -
The Land Cruiser rumbles along fine at that weight so, in theory at least, the Jimny/MX5 set up should be alright.
How far are you planning on towing it?!
I guess as you say 80 bhp/2.4 tonnes is still 33 bhp/tonne.
For comparison -
Series LR towing 2 tonne - 73bhp/3.9 tonnes = 18 bhp/tonne -
Land Cruiser 80 at max GTW - 168bhp/6.6 tonnes = 25 bhp/tonne -
The Land Cruiser rumbles along fine at that weight so, in theory at least, the Jimny/MX5 set up should be alright.
How far are you planning on towing it?!
snowandrocks said:
How far are you planning on towing it?!
It'll most likely be sub 100miles of mountainous Scottish a roads to my nearest track (Knockhill), I'm familiar with towing on those roads though through work. You hit the nail on the head really with your explanation, 33bhp/ton at full GTW is sufficient, hell Ive pulled 4-5 ton trailers and a 7 ton GTW on a 120bhp defender 110 (17bhp/ton). The Defender 90, which, in my mind, is the king of the small 'hard-core' 4x4s with a staunch reputation for lugging stuff about sits at about 20bhp/ton at its 6.5ton GTW. 10bhp/ton is the unwritten industry standard for HGVs.
Yes the small buzzy petrol will need the tits revved off it to keep up with traffic, but as I said it is more than adequate, that being said, no doubts an uprated radiator and clutch may be on the cards pending first hand experience, and, like the defender 90, which I directly compare it too as they both share a ~90" wheelbase, it will benefit greatly from some uncomfortably beefed up rear springs & shocks and potentially a heavier duty sway bar and some wider rubber if you want to be hauling frequently with it.
s
t I think I've just convinced myself to give one a whack need to stop buying tiny cars. Haha, it was on the A93 coming up towards Glenshee that the tractor passed us in the Land Rover!
Should I look out for you holding up traffic on the A9? Although I reckon you'll still be able to out drag the supermarket artics!
Can you shift anything else out of the MX5 to scrape the weight a bit lower - spare wheel etc.?
Should I look out for you holding up traffic on the A9? Although I reckon you'll still be able to out drag the supermarket artics!
Can you shift anything else out of the MX5 to scrape the weight a bit lower - spare wheel etc.?
snowandrocks said:
Haha, it was on the A93 coming up towards Glenshee that the tractor passed us in the Land Rover!
Should I look out for you holding up traffic on the A9? Although I reckon you'll still be able to out drag the supermarket artics!
Can you shift anything else out of the MX5 to scrape the weight a bit lower - spare wheel etc.?
Haha I know exactly where you mean, got friends who live in Bridge of Cally, used to stay in Perth myself but moved back to the west coast. Should I look out for you holding up traffic on the A9? Although I reckon you'll still be able to out drag the supermarket artics!
Can you shift anything else out of the MX5 to scrape the weight a bit lower - spare wheel etc.?
So Aye you might catch me wobbling up the A9 dually section with it, chillin' with the Tesco lorry and the overloaded Polish lutons
. Can most likely shave some more weight off as you say, however might end up adding that weight back when I finally put a cage in it, I'll be on the hunt for light trailer though, to be honest I have no idea what the market is like at that end, I've only ever used 800kg Ifor tri axles, which are beastly, can sit a 4ton genny on one without it so much as sagging.
Also the thing with tractors is that they can almost always reach there limited vmax (normally 28 to 35mph-ish), one of the advantages of having about 3 dozen ratios is that weight doesn't seem to make a difference
TiminYorkshire said:
bearman68 said:
I currently have a Jeep, but it wouldn't fit your criteria, so couldn't recommend that,though it does tow well.
What Jeep do you have and how do you find it reliability wise?t of a job, and go around approx 26 million pullies, all held in place with a guide plate. On restart, I had terrible trouble getting 3 of the 4 injectors to seal properly, (also seems to be a real problem, especially on the 5 pot Merc engines but eventually managed that. And then I remapped it to about 180 bhp.So far it's very good, but I've only had it about 3 months after the work has been completed. I find it very very torquey and very good for towing. It's actually a pretty decent drive as well, though it does enjoy a gulp or 3 of fuel.
It's very good at towing, big enough and powerful enough to sort out most trailers.
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