Duncan

Hi there Comparing an SUV to a car is like chalk and cheese. So don't attempt this comparison. The Toyota Fortuner is one of the very first products to roll out from Toyota's new "Global Manufacturing Centres". The vehicle along with the new Hilux is built in Thailand, South Africa and Argentina each production centre specialising in a certain area of the overall production. As these vehicles are produced for the gloal market (which includes Japan) the build quality is second to none. As for the vehicle itself, well it is a very capable off-roader with respectable on road manners. Very practical too compared to some of the other offerings in the same market segment. Certainly not a soft roader like its little brother (RAV4), at the same time not harcore like its bigger brother (L/Cruiser). Though based on the new Hilux frame the suspension is more adopted to a comfortable ride and handling. There are several power plants in offer for this vehicle with the biggest being a V6 4litre motor. I am not sure as to what is available in SL as I don't live there. But having said that, the diesel motor is also quite capable with good torque. In this day and age most SUVs are part off road and part on road wise. Not specialising in any one area due to market demands. So don't expect it to be a good ole 4x4. As for pricing, I am not sure as what it would cost in SL. But in other markets the Fortuner has been hailed for being value for money. In my personal opinion it is a very good vehicle coupled with Toyota reliability, build quality and resale value. In this market segment, considering the competetion, I would go for the Fortuner. Cheers

Hey there Gorgeous car!! Once you drive a German car, you'll always want to drive one. Once you drive a Beemer, you'll only drive a beemer. Enjoy the ride. Cheers

Hi there Thats a great car. Love the pony cars. Not the more recent ones though. I am currently in the process of rebuilding a 67 pony. The going is painfully slow though. Time being the biggest problem. As for your problem with the starter, did you match the starter with the flywheel? This could sometimes lead to a problem like the one you mention. If not have the armeture checked out. Let me know of developments. Cheers

(1) make sure you are using the correct brake fluid (DOT #) (2) get your servo checked. Could be a faulty vaccum pipe.

Hi there I have to agree with GUMMYBR. Coil springs will certainly give you better wheel travel, thus better traction. However, if it is serious off-roading you are looking for, then stick to solid axels. Don't go for independent suspension. The ride might be hard, but solid axels gets the work done. One word of caution though, when getting the conversion done, make sure that a person/workshop that knows their stuff handels it. Impropper conversions can lead to balance problems. Once the conversion is done and you want to improve on this, then you could think of front and rear diff locks. Cheers

Amen to that !!!! I lose track of the number of times I have been saying this and for how long I have been saying it....... .......start a club !! Take it to the next level !!! Get Organised!!

I don't know how these vehicles perform in SL, but since their recent intorduction to our Southern African market, they have performed quite admirably. Though crude in design and most of the interior fittings very very plasticy, considering the price, these are true work horses. A company I know bought 7 of these to work in their construction sites, and we all know how construction vehicles get abused. Well after almost 100,000kms they are still running like new. Another company bought 10 of these to do deliveries to their verious furniture branches scattered around the country. Each vehicle averages 4,000km a week. Absolutely no problems!! I think the Indians will be like the Koreans in time to come. Just like the Japs were 35 years ago.

I think it's the real thing. MeanGreen does not need to post other ppl's pics and make it look like his. He is genuinely into it. Cool video MeanGreen!! It is always a pleasure to build your own car and then be able to do what you really want to do with it. Cheers

Hi guys Need some help. I have been doing some work lately on my Mini 1275 Cooper. However, I just can't seem to get the twin SU carbs synchornised. I thought of replacing them with a webber carb, but thats against my desire to keep the car original as possbible. So back to the SU's. I have taken it to every engine shop I can think of and ran it through all sorts of equipment. I have messed around the settings endless times my self, but still no luck. No matter what it reverts back to the same old problem....two pistons run perfect and the other two run rich. My only other option seems to be to replace the entire carbs and inlets with a brand new one. But thought of trying you guys before that. Any advice or experience of this nature and your solution to it will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the site.....TeamAutolanka hope that you find our joint- fun, useful and informative. By any chance a 4x4ing person? Been to the outback much? I live in Southern Africa and we are hoping to do an expedition to the Oz outback (CSR) sometime next year.

Considering the level of quality in fuel in SL, vehicle owners don't seem to have much of a choice. Despite new age cars being imported into the country the support services and necessary consumable quality has not been improved. If I were you, I will go with the 95. The difference in performance will not be that significant.

Development levels in F1 is next to none other. So every team, no matter what amount of money they have at their disposal goes through differing stages. Just look at McLaren. I've even forgotten the last time they had a decent season. However, they are a team to be looked up to. Every team goes through this. IMO it will only be a matter of time before Honda is in form again. Infact we should see a lot more of this in the remainder of the season. As for Toyota, they have only been in F1 for five years. Thats very short to make any significant achievements.

Hi there Well yes the rain and tyres did play a big role in the outcome of the race. But thats racing, come rain or shine at the end of the day it is the team with the best package that wins. Bridgestone did not have a good enough wet wheather tyre to compete with Michelin. But I felt a bit let down by Ferrari. During MS's final pit stop they could have changed to a fresh set of dry tyres but they opted to run the intermidiates that had by then turned slicks. This to me seemed pretty foolish from such an experienced team. 95% of the track had dried and dry tyres seemed to make sense. So instead of finishing with some solid points and capitalising on FA's retirement, Ferrari chucked it all away. So it was Honda who got it all right with the right package and right strategy. They deserved the win.

Thats exactly my point........today because of people's attitudes the real enthusiasts are losing out.

The problem is not really manufacturers not knowing how to build proper 4x4s, but rather majority of today's buyers not using these vehicles for proper 4x4 use. Stats show that only 4.5% of 4x4 buyers world over put these vehicles off the road. So majority rules I suppose. But what gets to me is when dealers sell these vehicles they don't inform the buyer.

I am sure all Honda F1 fans will be happy with the outcome of the F1 race this weekend. Honda seems to have made a huge leap in development. Really happy for JB as well as RB and Honda in general. Though not much of a Honda f1 fan, I was quite pleased to have seen a South African behind the teams success. Cheers

It is all very well manufacturers coming up with all sorts of fancy gadgets in today's vehicles. But do they really give much thought? Then you get the marketing guys who promise all sorts of capabilities from their vehicles, yet falling short in real life situations. I just returned from a bush trip. We travelled in a convoy of 8 off road vehicles of this one was a Discovery 3 with all the bells and wistles money could buy. Firstly, though pretending to be an off-roader the stock tyres were useless as they picked up punctures in the mildest of gravel tracks. Then when the vehicle picked up it's first puncture, the auto-leveling system decided to drop the height to level the Disco. Well thats sounds very nice, but then with the lowered suspension, we could not get the stock jack into place as the car was now too low! No hi-lift jack could be used as there are no jacking points for a hi-lift (unless serious modifications had been done). So eventually the good ole sissor jack had to be employed to do the job. After three such punctures, we arrived at a little town where we could not find a single tyre shop that had the size and profile of tyre needed for the Disco. Eventually we found the size from a scrap yard, but not the matching profile. But it did the job, though for over 800km all the bells and wistles were going off as there were mismatched tyres. So much for a mega buck 4x4. They should really call them "urban 4x4's" and stop insulting the real 4x4s. Cheers

As much as European (esp German) cars are my firm favourites in performance and balance, they can be a b***h as they age. Your problem could be due to several reasons. Could even be a problem that just surfaced and had nothing to do with the A/C. However, if I were you, I would get a second opinion on the A/C and the cooling problem from another reputed garage. Also remember, not all expert garages that predominatly work on Japanese cars can be good when it comes to German makes. Hope this helps and keep us posted. Cheers

Nissan 300ZX TT Mini Cooper -Classic Chev Lumina SS Alfa Romeo Spider - classic Pajero V6 3.5 LWB Pajero 2.5TDi SWB Hilux 4x4 D/Cab

Thanks for all the info guys. I was just curious. With all the political crap that is going on around the world, I expect a barrel of crude to hit the $100 mark in the next 12 to 14 months (if not sooner) and something like this might not be a bad consideration for daily travel. The savings I can spend on my other "normal" cars.

Hi guys Firstly, I can see that my wife and her friend seems to be making an appearance on the forum. Well be warned.....mae gahanu kiyena dewal welata mang waga kiyanne na !!.....and Pooh and his bros don't ride in my cars!! Now to the topic....I can remember sometime back, an electric car was marketed in SL. Come to think of it, I think it was tested in the MOTOMAG. If anyone knows the name of this car and who did the import into SL, please let me know. Thanks in advance. Cheers

I know I am a self confessed MS fan and always will be one no matter what. But what gets to me is the amount of MS bashing thats been going on since Monacco. Every single person in the other teams have worked their way out of the wood work and has started bringing out the past. For what reason did they keep quiet all this time??!!! It is quite sad as to how corporate and formal F1 has become. It will never be like to good ole days when it was true enthusiasts racing for the spirit of motor sports. F1 has turned into a multi billion $ business where dog-eat-dog is the order of the day. Very Sad !

Hi Velocity Class-SP was won by Nissan Navara factory team. This is the 3rd year in a row they have won this event. The Desert race is the 3rd race out of a total of 9 races in the season. I have been involved in this race in one form or the other for the past 14 years and this year I was one of the official photographers.

Hi guys Off-road racing is only done in a very few regions in the world and we here in Southern Africa are quite fortunate to have both off-road racing as well as rallying. Much tougher than Rallying and much more demanding ,off-road racing is done in specially built vehicles or extreemly modified production vehicles. These vehicles run on anything from 2.0l stock standard motors to mega powerful V8 6.0l+ motors. Some vehicles as big as an large sized SUV (L/Cruiser) can top speeds in excess of 200km/h in the bush and accelerate to 100 in less than 6 secs. In its 25th year of running the Toyota 1000 Desert Race held in Botswana is considered to be one of the toughest off road races in the world and the second toughest in Africa after the Dakar. The attrition rate on this race is horrifying with less than 20% of the starters finishing this two day event. Either due to mechanical problems or the crew giving up. Here are a few pics from this years race. Nissan Navara - factory works team. V6 4L, Class-SP CHENNEWORTH - Chev V8 5.7L, Class-A Toyota Hilux - factory works team. V6 4L, Class-SP Castrol Toyota Hilux, 2.7L, Class-D Ford Range - factory works team. V6 4.0L, Class-SP PORTA, Chev V8 5.7L, Class-A ZARCO, Audi V8, Class-A Team Nissan Pit. Two race 4x4s, three support rigs, 28 crew, 1 support chopper.

Any form of vibration from any part of the vehicle is not good and should not be ignored. Vibration caused by worn out mountings will eventually lead to other parts in the drive train to wear out leading to even bigger problems. So don't ignor the problem. The very first thing to check would be the mountings before trying to worry about other "could be" issues. The vibration you mention could be due to several reasons, or a combination of several reasons. So start with the mountings. Cheers