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The Green Oval or the Rising Sun?


istruggle2gate11

How do you rate Japanese 4x4's?  

55 members have voted

  1. 1. Are Land Rover the best? Lets find out!

    • Stick Of Rock - Land Rover through and through, we are the best
      16
    • Good old Blighty - Admire the Japs ability and engineering but we are still better
      21
    • Bring me Sunshine - I wish Land Rover were as good as Nissan/Toyota/etc
      16
    • Sunrise - We are now only pretending, the Japs have overtaken and now Rule, close Land Rover
      2


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the ST1100 used van timing belts - starship mileages were never a prob with that lump, I quite fancy a new ST just because it gets rid of the niggles the old one had (130ish top end and a bit vague when stcked up with her and her shoes) a friend has his up to 60k and it looks like its a worthy successor to the earlier models (even bigger fuel range)

GT550 went through more saddles than anything else - 40k out of a saddle was the limit before the foam turned into sand and disappeared out of the seat base, people only bitch about Kwacks because of the brain fart Kawasaki had with carb icing

VFR800 - pre VTEC (up to FiX) were the ones to have, just as fast but half the service time, check out the service book and valve clearance proceedure - not pretty

My first trade was bikes, I built overlanders and racers and chops, thats what got me into welding and fabrication and led me on the road to hell, finished racing when I got too fat for 130mph sideways stupidity and started messing around with landies :ph34r:

If you want a remap then drop down to Dynotech in Basingstoke, speak to Keith and Andy

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the ST1100 used van timing belts - starship mileages were never a prob with that lump, I quite fancy a new ST just because it gets rid of the niggles the old one had (130ish top end and a bit vague when stcked up with her and her shoes) a friend has his up to 60k and it looks like its a worthy successor to the earlier models (even bigger fuel range)

GT550 went through more saddles than anything else - 40k out of a saddle was the limit before the foam turned into sand and disappeared out of the seat base, people only bitch about Kwacks because of the brain fart Kawasaki had with carb icing

VFR800 - pre VTEC (up to FiX) were the ones to have, just as fast but half the service time, check out the service book and valve clearance proceedure - not pretty

My first trade was bikes, I built overlanders and racers and chops, thats what got me into welding and fabrication and led me on the road to hell, finished racing when I got too fat for 130mph sideways stupidity and started messing around with landies :ph34r:

If you want a remap then drop down to Dynotech in Basingstoke, speak to Keith and Andy

Yeah, Pre-VTEC any day, trying to talk one of my contractors at work into either buying the ol' VFR800 or a BMW R1100S since he sat on mine and went "bejesus, my feet are flat on the floor!" :D

Still, I wouldn't of rebuilt my 109 from the ground up if I hadn't learnt about rebuilding from my classics ;)

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Got to admit that I know very little about bikes - my passion has always had 4 (or more) wheels! I like the idea of the jap cars, but driving is about an experience as much as the reliability etc of the car for me. I have always found the Jap motors kinda soulless, even the 4x4's. With a Brit Motor there is always more to the drive.

Having said that, my first car (other than the IIa) was a nissan cherry - very reliable, very cheap to run, and dead simple to repair (when I blew the engin through neglect!). Since then I have had German cars - VWs and now an Audi Quattro. The Germans seem to have got the idea of reliablity, a bit of character and quality into the same package.

Personally, I think the Brits have the best designs and engineers (just look at the top designers in motorsport - they are all british) but they just can't do production.

</2p>

Mark

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I don't like Japanese trucks as they look brash and bling. Not overly impressed by the ride either in most cases.

The green oval has more character. :)

Got to admire the Japs for their reliability though, this Toyota just goes on and Ariston

here

Not dialup friendly!!

:rolleyes:

Every time I see that... truely is the best top gear ever, and it was indestructible, just don't like the looks of them though. and if I laid my hands on an E reg hilux, I'd probably do the same.

on a side note, anyone read the comment at the side of the video. obviously from some yank not quite understanding.

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Much as I would love a Scooby or a NSX or whatever, how easy will it be to keep them on the road in 15-20 years time?

....easy :) Once there's a huge enthusiasts following, after market suppliers and of course 100's in scrappys anything becomes easy to maintain B) Don't forget, the first Impreza's are already coming up to 15 years old...

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....easy :) Once there's a huge enthusiasts following, after market suppliers and of course 100's in scrappys anything becomes easy to maintain B) Don't forget, the first Impreza's are already coming up to 15 years old...

I don't think it is that easy anymore as scrappys in the UK are not the "dismantle it yourself" heaps of semi-damaged cars these days. Health & Safety and anti-pollution legislation have made most yards become dismantlers for stock, which massively increases the prices of recovered bits.

Although I can imagine a healthy demand for the posher Impreza bits, I cannot see much of a market for L200 or other Japanese 4x4 bits 10 years hence. Getting some parts for grey import Japanese cars is already difficult, (early Soarer, anyone?), as there is a restricted market for old stock in Japan - Japanese inspection laws mean a lot of cars get exported or scrapped very young.

More modern vehicles with "bussed" wiring and multiple CPUs can be an absolute pig to recommission, needing the know-how and the dealer software to tell each bit what to do. The Land Rover and Morgan community is quite lucky as there is in enthusiaist hands Rovacoms and the nouse to use them.

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Well the good thing about the japanesse market is the part you need for one vehicle invariably came from another, Impreza shares parts with nissan etc.etc. although I agree it may be hard finding specific parts for obscure trucks it's not out of the question with the majority of bits. This is, after all, where LR get's it's strength - it brakes alot but it's easy to fix! :rolleyes::lol:

As for scrappies - you just need to know where the more traditional outlets are B)

More modern vehicles with "bussed" wiring and multiple CPUs can be an absolute pig to recommission, needing the know-how and the dealer software to tell each bit what to do. The Land Rover and Morgan community is quite lucky as there is in enthusiaist hands Rovacoms and the nouse to use them.

Mm, this isn't just LR and Morgan, there's pretty much software available that'll help anyone, our Hampshire Subaru Club has 3 lots of it just in our membership. Computers aren't the be-all-and-end-all they previously were, many people have copied and adapted software to suit - that's the beauty of owners clubs. Alternatively it can all be ripped out and aftermarket products put in at a more than reasonable price.

As far as it goes, I can't see a simple product like LR being beaten for the enthuiast market. I stand by my original view though, one of each suits me - and when the Scooby engine evenutally dies I'll get a 2.5l in it and fit it myself, they're only nuts and bolts after all :blink::D

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I find some of the "4x4" adverts distasteful (especially the one that comes on during scrapheap- Nissan I think it is) about getting "respect" etc. :o Another ad is some ol boy tear-backsiding about with logs in the back all over the place and a bit of crumpet with an angle grinder (showering the windscreen with sparks) while Jed Clampet and his orchestra supply the music if i remember rightly. There is always "regulation shade brown mud"...Its the whole perception of 4wd thing and it makes me cringe.

If I didn't have a Land-Rover I wouldn't have a four wheel drive at all as I am a Landrover enthusiast first, offroading a close second. However all the vans and the pick up truck at work are Jap and so reliable, we get them set in the Fen dirt when we go up there all the time and knock em about getting up fields and they never go wrong, always on the verge of being of XS weight. The oldest is only 4 yrs younger than the 90 and gets lots more daily stick but never seems to fail us. I wish LR would take note especially with corrosion. My S3 had a slightly rusty back door my Defender's is like an aero and its one of the better doors ive seen. Ok, on a series maybe but 25 years is long enough to improve the product.

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I think the "all Land Rovers are still rubbish" thing is exaggerated. They do have silly niggly quality problems but I can't complain about my Discovery 2. I have had it for four years during which it has seen extensive use on rough gravel roads (not much actual off road use but still quite hard on a vehicle) and:

- The back diff needed changing - due to a manufacturing fault from new and was done under warranty

- Steering box bolts came loose, once, also done under warranty

- Brake disc guards cracked due to the very rough roads here - which will happen on any vehicle. Took them off and welded them up, still OK.

Other than that as far as I recall the only things its used are half a dozen oil filters, half a dozen air filters, a set of spark plugs, a set of BFGs and a set of brake pads. I can't really grumble about that I don't think... :unsure:

The only other complaints are that the ABS warning lights occasionally come on (about four times in total - ignition off and back on sorts it) and the chassis is quite rusty for the age of it but the Waxoyl I have been sitting on for a year will sort that out - it should have been done properly at the factory though. The difference between this vehicle and my old 1996 model Discovery is like night and day - I once sat down and wrote down all the things that went wrong on it in three years and it filled a page and a half of A4....

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Japanese stuff is generally more reliable than LR, but when it does break, you'd better have deep pockets.

As it appens I don't have deep pockets so when the Warranty goes so does the t-sport :( or psooibly before

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The only other complaints are that the ABS warning lights occasionally come on (about four times in total - ignition off and back on sorts it)

Since you drive a lot off road and grave roads that sounds just like one wheel or more not going at the same speed as the others, the ABS ECU going "duhhhhh, that aint right!" and then tripping out. I'd suspect it wouldn't have happened if you did most of your driving on tarmac :)

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Since you drive a lot off road and grave roads that sounds just like one wheel or more not going at the same speed as the others, the ABS ECU going "duhhhhh, that aint right!" and then tripping out. I'd suspect it wouldn't have happened if you did most of your driving on tarmac :)

on a normal vehicle of course, dind't LR sort something so this shouldn't happen when off-roading or was there a trip switch to turn the system off? BMW R-GS motorbikes have a switch for this purpose :)

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No, sometimes happens just driving along and it has happened on tarmac. Though I have got the ETC to cut in at about 60mph on a couple of occasions which was interesting :D but a couple of the occasions when it flipped were accelerating hard from a standstill on loose gravel with a bit of steering lock on, it doesn't seem to like the fact that the inside front wheel suddenly starts paddling rock backwards at an alarming rate :D

There's no switch to turn the system off, though sometimes I wish there was (for the ETC anyway) it's F annoying sometimes on gravel at low speed, every time you touch the throttle you get a rattle from it!

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