i got to drive a samurai that a friend's sister needed some emission work done on, fully stock on some a/t's got to take it to a dirt lot and play with it while we had it for the day, i fell in love.
they are a great 4wd. i tried to find one of my own a year later when i decided to go away from my little turbo hatchback i had.
i couldnt find anything in my price range, all of the ones i found were rusted out or out of my price range. i looked at the sidekick in the same way, they dont have the rugged look of the samurai, they are more of a girly look to them stock.
i ended up finding one locally in my price range that was lifted up 3.5" on some 31" mudders, bush bar, offroad lights, and such. took it for a spin and loved it. more power then the samurai, more room, less road noise (even with the mud tires).
i would have bought it right then, but it had rust issues and wouldnt have been a good commuter vehicle.
i ended up buying another one i found that was completely stock, had a hardtop, was lower km's and very little rust.
drove it stock for half a year, commuting and trail running on the weekends, had it at stave lake (big mud pit) but mostly ran it down the trails in the okanogan, lots of dirt, large hill climbs, and a little bit of mud. even did some snow wheelin.
then it got some 235/75r15's (big improvement in the look department, makes it much less girly)
also gave it some better handling, gave it some more height as well.
with some coil spacers, and a locker they go anywhere.
the sidekick is a better truck if its going to be highway driven, the samurai is not made to do highway speeds for any extended time. the sidekick wont flex out like the samurai will when out in the rocks after being lifted just because of the suspension design. but if someone was to match a stock samurai for a stock sidekick they come up fairly even in the dirt and mud. with cheap mods the sidekick gets better, the samurai gets better with more money as it isnt as simple as coil spacers.