NEWBIE!!

[callum22]

Hi all! well me and my girlfriend have been blessed with the news we are to be having a baby, our first, problem with that is i have a calibra (3 door) and a corsa (3 door) so im after some advice from you all as to what i should buy, i want to keep it vauxhall and i want big for safety, aint i going to be the good dad?? oh but i want to be able to take my child off roading too is there any preferable engines? years? swb or lwb? i dont mind 3 doors as much if the cars bigger lol. we have decided (i have decided) that the frontera is the vehicle for us i just want to do my homework first, many thanks in advance to any replyers

[jcv1968]

Welcome! If you want to put children in the back, don't go for SWB as it will drive you nuts trying to get them strapped in. Its an act of contortion.

[Krusher]

Welcome callum and girlfriend, congrats on your imminent arrival. LWB would be best for family use, choice of engine will depend on so many things from what you want from performance and economy. BTW if your looking to get rid of the cali, shoot andysd1 a PM, hes on the look out for one....

[Drift]

Hi, congrats, been there with a baby and a swb... no fun

What budget do you have in mind and we can keep our eyes open

[robbie]

Hi and welcome. It will be a nightmare with a shorty and a baby seat been there my self and wont do it again. lol

[jcv1968]

I think the best way to get into the back of a SWB is through the back and over the top of the seats.

[callum22]

haha quite an opinion on the short wheel and baby seats there then lol, well long is ok but for going off road will it be same case as the defender and be useless long wheel base? engine wise and extras im not fussed, obviously the more the better! a petrol 1 would get lpg'd but its going to be submerged in puddles, the bigger the puddle the better we do have a 5 door astra when it works but i want to buy me a car that can accomodate for girlfriend and my little rally driver/ess and we have horses, whats the best frontera to go for reliability wise and usable off-road? BY THE WAY GUYS im very impressed at the warm welcomes so quickly, im a member on many other vauxhalll forums and this 1 is by far the most polite and helpfull, you guys rock! thanks again, callum.

[Drift]

Thanks for the kind words

Get a cuppa and have a read of this thread, pretty much covers all the engines for a given price of £1500.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=30304

[jcv1968]

Both SWB and LWB are both pretty good off road, I prefer the SWB but there will be lots out there who will prefer LWB, as for engines thats a long running saga, petrol is ok if you have very deep pockets. The 2.2 can be an arse for blowing up and cracking exhaust manifolds (I've done both recently) and fuel consumption is spectacularly poor at 23mpg if you drive carefully. I'm sure someone will enlighten you as the foibles of the various diesel variations.

[callum22]

well going on that rather usefull piece of info and many peoples experiences i think it can only be the 2.8td?? and on the baby front it has to be the lwb not sure if they only do the 2.8 in a lwb anyway but thats what i need, so is there any particular age to pick ive noticed there seems to be "A" series and "B" series, is there much difference apart from the exterior in these 2? anything i need to look out for?? many thanks again guys callum.

[Drift]

Mine is a 2.8 LWB and I love it, not much to look out for on them other than smoky engine and all gauges read correct when warm.

[gregster]

Hiya mate and welcome...and great news about the new addition...

Deffo a wise choice going LWB...still good offroad, in fact better at climbing I have found..

The 2.8 was only available in a fronty A...the b's had the 2.2dti lumps...

The 2.8 is an unrefined ultra dependable torquey lump...the 2.2dti is a lot more refined and goes well but complex if it goes wrong!

Me I like things I can fix with a hammer, so that puts the b's out of the equation as far as I'm concerned...

Both a and b have torsion bar front and coil rear (if you are thinking 2.8 in an A)..so are similar like that, but body, trim etc are different

We have 2x 2.8's and they are brill....and a 2.5tds which goes like stink, but scares me, as when it goes wrong my hammer wont fix it!

Welcome again matey...and I hope this is helpful..

Laters

Gregster

[Sir-Doris]

Congrats on the family member and welcome to FOG!

[4x4 bobby]

Congratulations on your addition and welome to the Forum..

[callum22]

thank you all again guys, well ive started looking for a lwb 2.8 but i cant find any, i think there maybe the odd 1 but none that have decent pics, good m.o.t or basically anything going for them, any body know of either a cheap 1 with a bit of m.o.t but sound or maybe 1 which is perfect?? im wanting something along the lines on some1 on here i think is called trugga?? thanks again for your help guys cant wait to get my fronty and become a proper fogger? lol!

[Drift]

Truggas has been sold and Jim who bought it is retiring it in the summer for a much needed refurb (Nice one Jim) its very difficult to get a tricked up 2.8, wouldnt even consider selling mine
Best get a reliable base car and we can help and advise with mods

Trust me, your registered here your a proper Fogger

[callum22]

hey hey well i want to find a good base car like that then, just a good condition, cheap 2.8 lwb, by the way happy new year guys, to our new fogger family, from my growing family

[gregster]

They do come up matey now and again....you just have to be really quick when they do and be willing to travel...!!

[Wilberforce]

Yeah, what Greg said, lol..
There is this one though, viewtopic.php?f=51&t=30178, could be worth a try.

And as for what Ste said, I'd not consider selling my LWB now, in fact I count myself lucky to have managed to get my hands on it, but if you find a decent car to start with, you can have all the fun fettling with it to get how you'd like.