Eric,
I thought about this on the way into work this morning and the more I thought the more I dis-liked the thought of a unibody style Suzuki 4x4 to build for off road use. Why

Wow! You DO have a long communte! But seriously, I think you make a really valid point or two. I'd agree that a vehicle that is built for a certain type of use should work well for that use and may not work well for anything else. Also, the idea of changing model designs every 4 to 5 years does make it difficult to get a strong 'following' going which in turn gets aftermarket entrepenuers envolved. I'd only slightly change that argument to how many units sold vs. how many years being made. I think smart vendors look at the production numbers which in turn should roughly equal demand, if there is an enthusiast base for that vehicle.

-Eric

PS. Sorry for the thread-jack Zaggy... 

Yea I would agree with that  But I think it would be impossible for vendors to produce as good or as many parts for a vehicle that changes drastically every 4-5 years compared to one that last 10 years. I just hope they find their edge in the market where they get to keep a certain style for a while instead of changing it trying to find the right combo to boost sales.

They did it before with a crazy idea like bringing an inexpensive mini 4x4 into the US market to compete with Jeep and blew them away. I cant wait to see them do it again. But I believe it will take a drasticly crazy idea instead of conforming to the 'standard' of todays SUV's.

Zig

PS- yea, sorry Zag  ;)  (pstttttt: I'd complain to the mod about this hijack if I were you )

Well I can get the Jimny here and I'm still not convinced that I'd want one. It really needs to be more like the older Samurai with some upgrades to be worthwhile.

That's roughly what a jimny is ...

	Sami	jimny
LxWxH	135 x 60.6 x 64.6	143.1 x 63 x 65.5
Track	51.6	53.7
Weight (curb)	2059	2211
Engine	1.3l 8V TPI	1.3l 16V MPFI
HP/Torque	66/76	80.5/81.1
Suspension (f/r)	SPUA leaf, solid axel	3-link Coil, solid axel

(english units)
(Tranny, TCase, Differentials ... same)

"FORENZA"

How many of you remember the Sami commercial back in the early 80's. It's a red sami in Hawaii and the guy is moving cross island... Narrator is talking about the Suzuki's list of features and then the guy is looking at a fridge... Next shot you see the fridge in the back of the sami going down the road.

"FORENZA"

That's what it will take to sell vehicles in this country. Not fancy thrills, luxury packages, Unibody's, etc... SHOW the vehicles capabilities and how a person can utilize it.

"FORENZA"

This is how we got the damn SUV craze anyways, it was ALL marketing. Some of the best commercials were showing what so and so's SUV can do. Not talking about it's warranty or screaming the name of the vehicle each second.

"FORENZA"

Whatever they build it will take strategic marketing and better advertising to sell it. I like there current ad placement but the commercials SUCK! All there selling is "Change the channel that commercials on again" ritual...

"FORENZA BY SUZUKI"

Personally I think the Jimny would sell well in fact I can come up with a great commercial for it as well as a campain. Even the Wagon would kick butt over here in current form with the 1.3L turbo motor. But...

"FORENZA"

Quote from: cj on August 10, 2005, 07:03:53 PM

Well I can get the Jimny here and I'm still not convinced that I'd want one. It really needs to be more like the older Samurai with some upgrades to be worthwhile.

That's roughly what a jimny is ...

	Sami	jimny
LxWxH	135 x 60.6 x 64.6	143.1 x 63 x 65.5
Track	51.6	53.7
Weight (curb)	2059	2211
Engine	1.3l 8V TPI	1.3l 16V MPFI
HP/Torque	66/76	80.5/81.1
Suspension (f/r)	SPUA leaf, solid axel	3-link Coil, solid axel

(english units)
(Tranny, TCase, Differentials ... same)

Actually the t-case is different so you can't use Samurai crawler gears unless you do a t-case swap and it's not a straight swap. Also the front axles and cv's are smaller/weaker than the Samurai. The wheelwells are tiny, you need a 2" suspension lift to get 215/75's on and big suspension and body lifts to get 31's on and you'd better like cutting  Another plus of the older style is the ease of removing body work which makes it a lot easier and cheaper to repair body damage. Don't get me wrong as they are not a bad little unit but they aren't the perfect Samurai replacement either.

what CV's?

jimny is solid front axle. Are you talking about the drive shafts?

Oh no! Solid front axle, how do I steer? 

Maybe you've heard of people talking about Birfield's? They're CV's.

Hey CJ

     Over here when you say CV's most guys think CJ axles....one of those slang things....

     As for those thread jackers Eric and Zig....after I complain to the guy in charge all will be forgiven....LOL

By the way Eric/Zig what color can we put yoou down for in our order count?

Zag..............hey Zig/Zag   took me a while to notice that one.

Maybe you've heard of people talking about Birfield's? They're CV's.

Ah, ok the birfields. When I hear CV's I think of IFS axels.

By the way Eric/Zig what color can we put yoou down for in our order count?

Zag..............hey Zig/Zag   took me a while to notice that one.

  I like White  It doea not show scratches 

The other part of Zig Zag

The way gas prices have jumped (40+ cents a gallon in 2 weeks here), I am sure the public would jump all over a cheap mini 4wd that got 25-30mpg.....I know I would.