New "Suzuki" hybrid 4x4

300bhpton wrote:

Doctorchris wrote: If I was looking for a SUV I would look no further than a 4x4 version of the Dacia Duster.
In many ways the Duster is a spiritual brother to the Jimny, more so than the vehicle under discussion here.

I like the Duster. But I think it is more akin to estranged 2nd cousin or someone they met at a wedding 20 years ago. Rather than a spiritual brother to the Jimny.

The Duster is a Unibody car based crossover. And is built on a Renault Clio platform with a Nissan X-Trail drivetrain. And road biased independent suspension. With no transfer box.

Valid points. However I owned one of the first 4x4 Dusters to come into the country in 2013, with the underpowered 1.6 L. normally aspirated petrol engine. Despite the many differences the actual driving experience was similar to the Jimny JB74. Both cars reminding me of much older vehicles I used to drive. Reminding me to concentrate and take extra care. Hence my use of the word spiritual.

Doctorchris wrote:

300bhpton wrote:

Doctorchris wrote: If I was looking for a SUV I would look no further than a 4x4 version of the Dacia Duster.
In many ways the Duster is a spiritual brother to the Jimny, more so than the vehicle under discussion here.

I like the Duster. But I think it is more akin to estranged 2nd cousin or someone they met at a wedding 20 years ago. Rather than a spiritual brother to the Jimny.

The Duster is a Unibody car based crossover. And is built on a Renault Clio platform with a Nissan X-Trail drivetrain. And road biased independent suspension. With no transfer box.

Valid points. However I owned one of the first 4x4 Dusters to come into the country in 2013, with the underpowered 1.6 L. normally aspirated petrol engine. Despite the many differences the actual driving experience was similar to the Jimny JB74. Both cars reminding me of much older vehicles I used to drive. Reminding me to concentrate and take extra care. Hence my use of the word spiritual.

I also had a Duster when they first came out in 2013, I opted for the 4x4 1.5dci. It had bags of power with 260Nm of torque, I towed my caravan with no issues, it was very good car. To compensate for not having a low transfer case it had an incredibly low first gear for off roading which was almost impossible to use whilst driving on the road, I had to set off in 2nd gear. The early cars were built in India and a lot of Dusters were showing rust on the bodywork within 12 months, they are now built in Romania and dont have any rust problems.

Then again you could buy a Lada Niva for well under £10,000. Apparently farmers love them because it hearkens back to the days of an early 90. If you want a green lane tool it would appear ideal. No electronics and built to survive Russian roads and winters.

Roger

GeorgeC wrote: Just imagine a "retro electric 2CV" with the same tray as an electric vehicle.

A search on Google brought up this one, the Mehari may be back:

www.citroen.co.uk/about-citroen/concept-...-styled-by-courreges

I would have thought that the Suzuki would be cheaper than the Toyota RAV 4 .
Toyota do cloud the issues with their variants under the RAV 4 banner....how can you have a 2wd RAV 4 .....that's why it's a RAV4 ..4x4 ...
Plug in electric is the only option now really with the constant lowering of the date of death of the ICE ..
luckily I'm fully content to keep my old 80's Suzukis bikes and will just keep repairing my cars ....the less electrics the more reliable .

How about a Spartan ? not heard of these before today
spartan.mwmotors.cz/

The Spartan looks intersting , based on a proven by the Russian Army for years machine . Proper retro. Far more appealing .

grumyoldjoe wrote: How about a Spartan ? not heard of these before today
spartan.mwmotors.cz/

When I saw the name Spartan I thought of this kit car, based on a Triumph Herald or Spitfire, which I first saw at a motor show in Birmingham in the 70s.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartan_Cars

I notice that they also produced the Spartan Treka from 1990-95.

Seeing that ^ reminded me that I saw some of these parked at one of my local multi-franchise dealer last week :
www.hendy.co.uk/moke/