4 door Sidekick interior space

Bdiddy11

Adventurer
Is any 4 door Sidekick/Tracker/Vitara a bad choice for a 6'3" driver and a wife and baby in a car seat? Never been in one, or seen the interior space.. but the MPGs of them peak my interest. I have a Jeep Cherokee right now and MPG isn't stellar.

Would one of these make a viable expedition type rig for a slowly growing family?

Eventually a smallish trailer would be pulled behind for longer trips... similar to the one in the "post your Zuki" pics thread of the green trailer.
 

deepmud

Adventurer
well - it has more back seat legroom than a Cherokee. Rear cargo is a bit smaller as a result. The 16v 4 door can get up to about 28mpg, back door is easy to load the kiddo's into. Pulls a trailer ok (assuming you have a stick - no automatic experience myself). I kept 235's on it, and it was a good all-road care, and the low range is a bonus.
 

matt t

Observer
This is my fifth sidekick and I am 6'6". They are great vehicles. If you have any questions about them feel free to contact me.

front bumper.jpgrear bumper3.jpg
 

dck47

New member
As an owner of a 1993 Sidekick 4-door, I would say it depends on where your height comes from. If you're long of leg, it might be troublesome, but for those more torso-y, it should be fine. There's tons of headroom. They're a bit narrower than your modern day CUV/SUV's, but otherwise, they are surprisingly comfortable. My biggest ergonomic complaint comes from the lack of adjustable steering column. I wish the steering wheel was closer, and a little lower.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
All I can say WRT to Suzuki is if you are interested in good MPGs, stick to a pre-2006. My wife's 2006 GV is an awesome vehicle in the snow but MPG is terrible. It actually gets worse MPG than my significantly larger 4runner. My guess is that this is either due to the 2.7 V6 requiring a lot of RPMs to get around, or the full time 4wd, or both.
 

Mrknowitall

Adventurer
We had a 94 JLX in the family until a few years ago. Awesome vehicle, if:
You don't insist on running on the freeway above 80- it'll do it, but it'll hate you. Fuel economy suffers greatly with speed.
You're willing to do routine maintenance regularly- 8V's need valve lash adjustments, and the clutch needs continual attention.
You can see the value in keping things light- they get around with 85 lbft of torque, because they weigh 2800lb. I think 4000lb is about the limit for happy motoring for any distance at all. I'm sure you can drag a trailer around locally just fine- hell, just stick it in low range.
You can find one that isnt miled out beyond belief or is just too far along its path to returning to the earth.
You don't insist on modern safety features.
Some OME coils, maybe a low range gear set, and a big ATV winch... you'll go just about anywhere. Sadly, with twins and a big dog, I need to look up in the food-chain. Trooper time!
 

Warn Industries

Supporting Vendor
We had a 94 JLX in the family until a few years ago. Awesome vehicle, if:
You don't insist on running on the freeway above 80- it'll do it, but it'll hate you. Fuel economy suffers greatly with speed.
You're willing to do routine maintenance regularly- 8V's need valve lash adjustments, and the clutch needs continual attention.
You can see the value in keping things light- they get around with 85 lbft of torque, because they weigh 2800lb. I think 4000lb is about the limit for happy motoring for any distance at all. I'm sure you can drag a trailer around locally just fine- hell, just stick it in low range.
You can find one that isnt miled out beyond belief or is just too far along its path to returning to the earth.
You don't insist on modern safety features.
Some OME coils, maybe a low range gear set, and a big ATV winch... you'll go just about anywhere. Sadly, with twins and a big dog, I need to look up in the food-chain. Trooper time!

I'd say you hit the nail on the head.

My Sidekick on 235/75/15 tires is happy up until about 70mph (however, I have vibration at 65+ that I need to look into). As far as keeping things light, also very true. That was the major factor behind getting a WARN VR8000-s (with synthetic rope) vs. steel.

I'm currently running a BDS lift kit, but it didn't come with new struts. I'd love to pick up some OMEs or Bilsteins eventually.

It is worth noting that the 1996+ Sidekicks/Trackers did come with airbags.

- Andy
 

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