Vauxhall frontera 2.0
Discussion
I ran a 2.3D Fronty last year over the winter, great fun in the snow but obviously not very quick. The 2.0 will suffer the same fate - a very agricultural vehicle, not something you'd want to spend extended periods of time in, but for what it is I found it quite a decent car for the money.
You're bound to get some folks on here spewing some crap about it being the worst 4x4 evaa lol, something they've heard off someone else without ever owning or extensively driving one; if it can climb Snowdon then it should be able to cope with a road - of course, if you're planning on greenlaning then an old Landy would be better!
(I recommend the Frontera!)
You're bound to get some folks on here spewing some crap about it being the worst 4x4 evaa lol, something they've heard off someone else without ever owning or extensively driving one; if it can climb Snowdon then it should be able to cope with a road - of course, if you're planning on greenlaning then an old Landy would be better!
(I recommend the Frontera!)
I had a sport, (called an Isuzu Amigo in the US), with the 2.2. Decent enough engine for what it was needed for, to be honest.
Despite being a bit agricultural, (but not that much to be honest), it was comfortable enough. Brakes were decent. Mine was raised 3.5 inches, and had the teralow transfer case gears thrown in. Very good offroad, despite what folks say. Had no issues with mine reliability wise, despite doing a lot of miles, and beating it up on trails, etc.
Despite being a bit agricultural, (but not that much to be honest), it was comfortable enough. Brakes were decent. Mine was raised 3.5 inches, and had the teralow transfer case gears thrown in. Very good offroad, despite what folks say. Had no issues with mine reliability wise, despite doing a lot of miles, and beating it up on trails, etc.
Edited by Melvin Udall on Wednesday 23 November 11:02
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?
Love the way they look, but in truth didn't get on with them at all.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?
My Mum had a lovely looking 2.2 petrol 3 door. But the motor felt gutless and lacking in torque, even compared to a 1.8 petrol Freelander.
I liked the fact they had low range, but in truth it isn't that low. I wasn't impressed with their off road ability either, very poor suspension flex (although it was a "Sport", so don't know if it was meant to be stiffer), no TCS and no locking diffs, so it got stopped with ease.
On road wasn't great either, it neither handled nor rode as well as a classic Range Rover, despite having supposedly superior IFS front suspension.
Inside is typical Vauxhall plastic, although I did quite like the layout and seating position. It wasn't that good on fuel either.
Overall I was not hugely impressed with it's abilities. That said I didn't hate it, it still had a charm about it.
This was it:
As I say I love the way they look, and this colour. But it was replaced with this:
Which is better in every measurable way bar maybe looks.
Edited by 300bhp/ton on Wednesday 23 November 11:42
Melvin Udall said:
I'd take the Frontera over the freelander any day of the week.
Well it was quite easy to compare back to back as one replaced the other directly and used for the same sort of use.Things I can note:
-mpg about the same from both, circa mid 20's
-Freelander rides a lot better
-Freelander handles a lot better
-Freelander more comfy
-The 1.8 feels more responsive and more flexible than the 2.2. This was hugely evident when touring in the Lake District, I was staggered at how smooth and how grunty the 1.8 felt with the hills, and the fact it didn't need it's nuts revved off, quite the opposite it was truly happy in the low to mid rpms on the hills. Which was 100% opposite of the 2.2 in the Frontera which when touring Snowdonia was truly gutless and forced you to thrash it constantly. The 1.8 also revved smoother and happily to the red line, while the 2.2 became thrashy and very noisy towards the red line.
-Gearboxes about equal, I think the shifter in the Frontera was quite nice iirc
-Seats and interior materials easily better in the Freelander
-That said I did like the more laydown seating position of the Frontera, but the dash and interior contained a lot of easy to scratch grey plastics and looked and felt a lot cheaper
-Low range, missing in the Freelander, so a plus 1 to the Frontera, but as stated in stock form the low range wasn't actually that low and the HDC on the Freelander controlled descent speed far better than low 1st in the Frontera.
-I got the Frontera stuck a few times on very easy obstacles. On worse tyres the Freelander has gone everywhere I've tried to get it, the TCS system makes it hugely superior in terms of traction.
-No centre diff in the Frontera, so meant rwd on the road, but with an open axle diff it'd spin one wheel with far too much easy. When touring in Wales on Welsh country lanes following a couple of Land Rover's I had a real job to keep up, the road was tarmac, but very narrow, steep, twisty and covered in lots of decomposing leaves. The Landy's had no issues but the Frontera kept spinning a wheel and slowing or going backwards. Luckily the on the fly electronic 4wd engagement was easy and quick to use. But no centre diff meant I couldn't leave it in 4wd on these roads as they kept varying from slippery to high grip. So it meant constantly switching.
But as I said above, I didn't hate it. I loved the way it looked and it had a charm about it, but it was inferior to the Freelander.
Melvin Udall said:
Pffft... I went deep into the Adirondacks in the heat of summer, and the cold of winter, hooning down trails, through water, through mud, etc, and not once required outside assistance. 
You say yours had a lift, I suspect the different suspension and better tyres made a difference. But I was truly shocked at how easily it got stopped in standard trim.The frist time was a lovely hot sunny day out over the fields during harvest. Nice steep lose bank out of the corner of the field to the track. My brothers RR V8 on normal road tyres simply tootled to the top. The Frontera would get half way up (on equal or better tyres) and then start digging in. I think the ruts where causing it to lift enough weight off a couple of the wheels to induce wheelspin, and with open axle diffs that's not good. I put it down to lack of flex in the suspension.
I tried a good handful+ times, meantime the RR had gone up and down 3 or 4 times consecutively with no complaints. In the end my brother had a go too, same result. Eventually he went hell for leather so the front wheels left the ground cresting the ridge and landed with a thump. So it could make it up, you just had to drive it in a brutal and potentially damaging way.
Another memorable occasion was off road in mid Wales, an obstacle I'd driven several times before in Range Rovers, Disco's and Defenders. When down into the trench and straight away a rear wheel was dangling in the air and that was that. I did self recover with a bit of effort, but it would just pick a wheel up far too easily and seemed to resits flexing.
If it had had more flexy suspension or the addition of TCS I think it would have transformed its abilities. But it didn't.
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.
My only experience is as a PDI test driver back when they introduced them.
The ‘job’ involved a visual then round to the local service station, bung 5 litres of fuel in then a quick sprint around the ‘test-route’ checking nothing squeaked / clonked or rattled excessively.
Check the brakes. i.e. ‘Do they lock?’ and bring it back with the wax underseal burning off the hot bits.
My conclusions are that they were noisy, slowish, agricultural, would go round corners faster than you would expect but leaned over a very amusing amount and made a hell of noise from the tyres. They felt tinny and the interior was a bit cheap. However I can’t imagine there is that much to break on them although the few you see on the roads do tend to be a bit frilly around the edges.
As a 21 yr old it was the funniest summer job I ever had. Omega Elites, Calibra Turbos, V6s, Corsa Gsis etc. TBH I would have done it for free!
The ‘job’ involved a visual then round to the local service station, bung 5 litres of fuel in then a quick sprint around the ‘test-route’ checking nothing squeaked / clonked or rattled excessively.
Check the brakes. i.e. ‘Do they lock?’ and bring it back with the wax underseal burning off the hot bits.
My conclusions are that they were noisy, slowish, agricultural, would go round corners faster than you would expect but leaned over a very amusing amount and made a hell of noise from the tyres. They felt tinny and the interior was a bit cheap. However I can’t imagine there is that much to break on them although the few you see on the roads do tend to be a bit frilly around the edges.
As a 21 yr old it was the funniest summer job I ever had. Omega Elites, Calibra Turbos, V6s, Corsa Gsis etc. TBH I would have done it for free!
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