Bighorn vs surf

[smallzoo]

Outside of this forum I see lots of people saying good things about the 3.1td trooper/bighorn vs the 3.0 surf..

anyone got 'actual' experience of both of these especially ON the road rather than off road

thanks

[slobodan]

My Mrs drives a pickup with the 3.1 Isuzu lump in it.
It has over 350,000kms on it and still pulls like a train, I think it has more power than my Surf.

[smallzoo]

Trooper

Thanks for that observation on the engine..I was also wanting to know how the trooper/bighorn handles on the road as opposed to the 3.0 surf..

[Sancho]

Thanks for that observation on the engine..I was also wanting to know how the trooper/bighorn handles on the road as opposed to the 3.0 surf..

SteveS has a Trooper. Not sure where he's got to though. Instinct/Prejudice tells me that a Trooper would have a bit more body roll and be a bit bouncier than a surf.

[markp2]

My local garage warned me off the Trooper (and the 2.4 Surf). They had seen quite a lot with engine problems - don't know if it was the 3.1 or a different sized Trooper engine.
However, Troopers are very popular in Devon with farming and horsey types.
Cheers,
Mark

[slobodan]

SteveS has a Trooper. Not sure where he's got to though. Instinct/Prejudice tells me that a Trooper would have a bit more body roll and be a bit bouncier than a surf.

He has the thing in this thread.

[smallzoo]

Trooper

Interesting that the consensus is the 3.1 isuzu engine is better than the 3.0 surf one...

is that to do with pulling power, longevity etc..

I know that people keep on telling me ( or should I say warning me ) about surf/hilux cracked engines ..

[smallzoo]

surf

I have seen a 94 3.0 surf with 120k, full 12 months MOT and I am told VGC..

I asked about the cracked head and they have just answered...

....No paintwork needed as surfs dont really suffer from bad rust also 2.400cc surfs tend to suffer from cracked heads 3.0l surfs are a far superior engine in every way...

comments on this ?

Also he is asking £1995.. is that way out ?

I am looking at p/ex my 2003 crv with cashback for it

[Wolfracer]

That's ball park.
£1500-£2500 seems to be the range for a "decent" 2nd Gen. Don't settle for second best, there are loads of surfs out there. Most have something that doesn't work - a well looked after one will have everything working.
If you can find one with a new head, then you have done all you can to buy a dependable vehicle...
Then again there are 3rd gens out there now for £2500 ish...

[smallzoo]

Surf

I have heard mixed words about 2nd gen vs 3rd gen but anyway I need some cash out of my deal so £2500 is just too much..

[Pete The Tart]

I wouldn't touch one with a stick!

I had briefly a Trooper with suspension by Lotus...it was a big bag of festering sh@t. It overheated when towing, was underpowered, huge amounts of body roll and it was an auto trans and I f#$%ing hate auto's

The only plus it had going for it was the extra seats in the back. I really don't think that troopers and surf's compare at all. Do yourself a favour and buy the Surf, unless you want an underpowered, wallowy rolly bag of puss...in which case by a landrover..or a trooper....not that I'm biased you understand!

[night trunker]

Part exchanged my old trooper for my SSR-X

I had a J plate Isuzu trooper Citation 3.1 TDI a couple of years ago (photo of it below). The engine pulling power was very good, and found it very reliable. It had a bit of a dodgy manual gear box, but the one thing that was a loosing battle was the chasie was rusting out badly. I was forever having to get the subframe welded. Had to replace out riggers, rear cross member Ect. Always had to get plates welded to patch rusted through holes in chasie for MOT failures. Ended up getting fed up with throwing money at it, so traded it in for my Hilux Surf. My surf is a 1996, 2.7 3RZ-FE petrol engine, and has the 4 speed auto box (3 + OD). It goes like a rocket compaired to the Trooper. Sorry about any spelling mistakes, I tend to type phoneticaly as I am slow on the keyboard, and can't find a spell checker.

Cheers all......
Stew