Vauxhall frontera 2.0
Discussion
I ran a 3.2 Sport for a few months and it was a huge improvement over an earlier 2.0 Sport (1993/K plate model year - this was utter c**p but was leased to me and eventually returned to Mann Egerton Lease due to mechanical failures).
Not many V6 Sports were made, but I remember Off Road & 4 Wheel Drive Magazine gave it a 'thumbs up' and it was cheap, reliable and not bad to drive.
Very inexpensive to buy now.
I put some B F Goodrich All Terrain tyres on and it was good offroad.
However the 3.2 soon went and made way for this:
Not many V6 Sports were made, but I remember Off Road & 4 Wheel Drive Magazine gave it a 'thumbs up' and it was cheap, reliable and not bad to drive.
Very inexpensive to buy now.
I put some B F Goodrich All Terrain tyres on and it was good offroad.
However the 3.2 soon went and made way for this:
Melvin Udall said:
300... Did defenders not come with open diffs? I must say, I never had an issue getting stuck, except for when I ended up down a snow filled ditch. Never got stuck in mud, or out on the trails, etc. never got stuck in the Vitara either, despite being open diffs as well.
Landy's are open axle diffs too, I presume it was the suspension flex and articulation, or lack thereof in the Frontera that made the difference.I'm honestly not hating on it - why would I, I'd have nothing to gain by it. But as a comparison from having driven a number of different 4x4's in varied conditions and terrain, sadly the Frontera was the worst performing of all of them. If it had rode and handled better on the road I could have forgiven it this, but in fact it actually rode and handled worse. So I was always rather confused to what the designers where thinking exactly when designed the vehicle.
300bhp/ton said:
Landy's are open axle diffs too, I presume it was the suspension flex and articulation, or lack thereof in the Frontera that made the difference.
I'm honestly not hating on it - why would I, I'd have nothing to gain by it. But as a comparison from having driven a number of different 4x4's in varied conditions and terrain, sadly the Frontera was the worst performing of all of them. If it had rode and handled better on the road I could have forgiven it this, but in fact it actually rode and handled worse. So I was always rather confused to what the designers where thinking exactly when designed the vehicle.
Not saying you're hating. Just telling it from my experience. The earlier Fronteras were solid front axle by the way. Oddly enough, the stock frontera won the Baha stock category, so clearly can't be all that bad, and certainly isn't from my experience. I'm honestly not hating on it - why would I, I'd have nothing to gain by it. But as a comparison from having driven a number of different 4x4's in varied conditions and terrain, sadly the Frontera was the worst performing of all of them. If it had rode and handled better on the road I could have forgiven it this, but in fact it actually rode and handled worse. So I was always rather confused to what the designers where thinking exactly when designed the vehicle.
The Moose said:
Are these any good, or are they pretty crappy?
Looking at a swb (2 door) 2 litre manual from 1997 or 1998.
Just fancy a change of car and saw this. As I say, any good?
Possibly because I've already had opportunity to do many many miles in a Frontera, so been there done that sort of thing. But Personally I'd look for a Ford Maverick (Nissan Terrano is the same, but some reason fetches more money Looking at a swb (2 door) 2 litre manual from 1997 or 1998.
Just fancy a change of car and saw this. As I say, any good?
) as a cheap winter 4x4.
Edited by 300bhp/ton on Wednesday 23 November 13:07
I had one, impulse buy for the winter. Found a local one with silly tyres, no idea how it passed it's MOT with the sills the way they were when I had it, that rust didn't just occur in 4 months since the test
It wasn't fast, topped out at mid 70's but I'd put that down to the tyres that were on it and that it was the 8v engine. Offroad it was a mini monster, though I only properly had it off road twice.
Usual VX interiors, seats looked like they'd come out of or were shared with a Nova but worked fine.
It wasn't fast, topped out at mid 70's but I'd put that down to the tyres that were on it and that it was the 8v engine. Offroad it was a mini monster, though I only properly had it off road twice.
Usual VX interiors, seats looked like they'd come out of or were shared with a Nova but worked fine.
Tyre Smoke said:
Melvin Udall said:
Tyre Smoke said:
You mean an Isuzu Trooper then.
I think your thread might be over there -------------->
This is about Fronteras.
Fronteras came with the 3.2 as well.I think your thread might be over there -------------->
This is about Fronteras.
Loads of those Troopers and their Vx equivalents though.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/vauxhall/fro...
Melvin Udall said:
Not saying you're hating. Just telling it from my experience. The earlier Fronteras were solid front axle by the way. Oddly enough, the stock frontera won the Baha stock category, so clearly can't be all that bad, and certainly isn't from my experience.
Didn't know they had a live front axle on earlier ones. Interesting. 
And yeah, I'm sure they can be capable, as you say you've experienced it so I'm happy to concede that. Love the colour of your one
it seems familiar.I swapped a Golf GTI for this, 3.2L V6, 15mpg at best
It's the Jap/USA version called the Isuzu Rodeo.
Loved driving it but couldn't deal with the fuel consumption so it was sold.
Few years later and I got this one.(Excuse the extremely crap picture)
2.3 Diesel, slow, noisy, but it would go anywhere I wanted it to, and it didn't matter if it got dented, just added to the character.
It's the Jap/USA version called the Isuzu Rodeo.
Loved driving it but couldn't deal with the fuel consumption so it was sold.
Few years later and I got this one.(Excuse the extremely crap picture)
2.3 Diesel, slow, noisy, but it would go anywhere I wanted it to, and it didn't matter if it got dented, just added to the character.
Tyre Smoke said:
Melvin Udall said:
Tyre Smoke said:
You mean an Isuzu Trooper then.
I think your thread might be over there -------------->
This is about Fronteras.
Fronteras came with the 3.2 as well.I think your thread might be over there -------------->
This is about Fronteras.
Loads of those Troopers and their Vx equivalents though.
Sport 3.2:
Maximum power:
205PS at 5400rpm and maximum torque of 290 Nm (214 lb. ft) at 3000rpm.
Towing:
Maximum towing weight of 2400 kg. Trailer noseweight is 112 kg. Unladen weight is 1786 kg.
Suspension:
Coil sprung, five-link rear suspension features an additional fifth transverse link to give greater axle location over the full range of travel.
Maximum power:
205PS at 5400rpm and maximum torque of 290 Nm (214 lb. ft) at 3000rpm.
Towing:
Maximum towing weight of 2400 kg. Trailer noseweight is 112 kg. Unladen weight is 1786 kg.
Suspension:
Coil sprung, five-link rear suspension features an additional fifth transverse link to give greater axle location over the full range of travel.
Here are my old ones;
1993 = 2.0 Petrol/not so good on road, but great off it:
1998 - 3.2 V6 Petrol = drove well and made a nice sound:
For the money they are a reasonable purchase now? (the post 1998 models rather than the 1992-1998 versions)?
For some strange reason I like the old Fronteras
1993 = 2.0 Petrol/not so good on road, but great off it:
1998 - 3.2 V6 Petrol = drove well and made a nice sound:
For the money they are a reasonable purchase now? (the post 1998 models rather than the 1992-1998 versions)?
For some strange reason I like the old Fronteras
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