So I recently bought my first Samurai after years of thinking that for off-roading this little rig made a lot more sense than bigger 4x4s. Took it to the beach last week and it was perfect.
But like everything in life it could be even MORE perfect.
Like if the Sami had the same 1.9 td in 'Vanomo' (my VW (DIY) Doka) or the same 1.9 mTDI in my '83 VW Jetta. Those engines make approx. 90hp and 120hp respectively. Vanomo weighs about 3,700 pounds, pulls really hard up to 75mph and still gets about 30mpg. I expect the Jetta will get about 40mpg if I can keep my foot out of it.
So why aren't much more efficient (and powerful) turbo diesels more popular in Samurais? Cost? The hassle to do a motor swap? Just curious...
I bought the Sami because I couldn't find a speck of rust on it (and I looked a long time) and coming from the Midwest rust just freaks me out, but the transfer case, transmission, or rear differential is kind of noisy. Or is that normal?
And finally those gauges... The speedo and fuel level, coolant temp are almost unreadable day or night. This is an 88 Samurai and I understand the speedo/tach instrument cluster didn't come in until '89(?) Is it easy to swap in white gauge faces? What is a source?
thanks in advance for all the input!