Are they any good off road?

People have told me that the Tracker/Vitara are too light to be good in snow or mud. Is this true. I live in Chicago and would like to have the four wheel drive for when we do get snow. Recently I rented a Wranger out west. I had fun driving on the rocks in Sedona, AZ. Does the Tracker/Vitara have enough ground clearance for that type of driving?

I used to live in Chicago and when it snowed really bad about 2 yrs ago I just put it in 4hi and went you can't expect to race around in anything but it did great I thought. If you think it's too light in the rear put a couple sand bags or a big speaker box in the trunk. I never went rock climbing or playing in the mud because I still have stock tires but once I get new ones I'm gonna try atleast the mud. There are alot of places around here for that.

Thanks for the info. Is the current generation a lot better than the previous one?

Sorry I can only give you my opinion on that one

I think they alot better than the old ones. There bigger, and have more power but they still have the great 4x4 ability that the old ones had.

THese rigs are the bomb on the snow.......trust me, I have one and we got a fair amount of snow last winter here in Pee AY and even with the rather lousy stock uni-wont-royals......it still chugged along.

http://www.geocities.com/benjamin_380xd/blake-jump.jpg :biggrin:

I just got mine about a week ago and have yet to really test it out, but I can say this, Most of the requirements for a good off-roader are in place.

solid rear axle with coil/link suspension
this provides for better axle articulation during rockcrawling and less hardware hanging down to get snagged (take a good look at the clearance on a CRV or Ford Escape sometime.... none) Not to mention less moving parts to wear out than on a independent suspended rig.

An actual Hi/Lo transfercase with the ability to engage and disengage when needed.

An actual body on frame design as opposed to uni-body construction.

Available locking differential (ARB)

All these things add up to a decent little wheeler. Don't expect to wheel the Rubicon trail anytime soon, but for light duty snow runs and muddin', it should do just fine.

I live in the sierras and we get 20" of snow in a given storm..... this is precisely why I bought mine ;-)

I am now running cooper weathermaster winter tires and these make a night and day type difference in the performance of my rig on snow.

My 27" super swampers do me just fine. :iceslolan

I got me a 89 vitara (short weel base) 3" body lift and 31"x10" mud terrain tyres. I also have aftermarket header and exaust (a little more power). Now i can go any where land cruisers and patrols go. With these miner mods, about 3 grand worth (auz doller) and a car that cost me 6 grand I can go more places than any stock 4x4 on the market. Just coz its 89 don't mean its looks crap its the same shapoe as they ran right up to 98 or somefin. The bottom line the short weel base modles are better coz this means better rampover angle and a lighter car. Any one whos say its not tough enough is a nut, its on a prober frame as apposed to mono-coc body which most new 4x4 have.

Oh well that my 2 cents cya.

here's my truck...

http://re-all.co.uk/vitara/victor%20outside%20garage.jpg

I've done a 3 inch body lift, ironman springs & procomp shocks, K&N filter, BF Goodrich 31x10.50x15 Mud terrains, uprated exaust and plenty of other bits n' things...

it kicks ass off & on road, it drives better than it did when it was stock and is now an official land rover/toyota/nissan/mitsuibshi/etc recovery vehicle!

as for snow n' rock? BRING IT ON!!!

hehe

Alex

i rented a suzuki XL 7 and took it into California Pismo sand dunes and it did great had lots of fun

As for the snow, I would rather take our Grand Vitara to work on the snowy or icy days than my Jeep. The Vitara does great on the highway in the snow and ice. Off road in the snow not so well. I have taken it 4 wheeling on a moderate trail and it performed better than I thought that it would. With some careful driving we made it to the top of Mt. Princeton. It does not compare my wrangler by any means but for a daily driver it cant be beat.