Basic Info

Hi chaps, new to the forum and looking for a bit of help please. I'm after a 4x4, originally I was after a Discovery as a mate had one however I'm looking at different options and I hadn't considered a Frontera. I know nothing about them other than what I see on autotrader / pistonheads. How do Frontera's compare to other 4x4s? Are they generally reliable or are they renowned for certain problems?

Not sure if I'd want a swb or lwb, or which engine, again are certain ones better or ones to avoid etc?? How are they inside in terms of kit / space, I'm 6'3 if thats any reference will it be too small?

I want it for a bit of offroading, pay and play days. Shooting with the dog in the back so a bit of capability in remote places and more than likely I'll need to tow a bike trailer from time to time. I assume it all ok for this?

Sorry for lot of questions and unknowns, I'm sure i'll answer a lot of them when I test drive but just looking for a bit of background info first.

Thanks for response in advance.

Adam

I can only speak from experience, I've had my fronty 2.2 LWB, '02 model now for 3/4 years and have loved every minute of it, I've moved house with the beast and it's taken a good old spanking, have had very little work done on it in the last 4 years with only a couple of things here and there coming up, exhaust brackets and the like, only recently I've had the Head Gasket go, but i think that's due to my sister driving the nuts off it whilst i was away on deployment and the thermostat had seized but after replacing that she's sweeter than ever and sounds amazing, just took her on a 300+mile round trip and she's gotten better and better, seems like she's settling in now and the power is amazing, my dog loves the car and regularly sits at the door to go on trips even when I'm not going anywhere lol, in the snow it's been fantastic and the option of 4x4 mode via the switch is great i can drop in and out as and when i have to, I can't say I've done much green laning with her but since joining this site I'm looking forward to the next event so i can splash some mud around.

all in all I would recommend the fronty above a discovery as I've tried one of them and found them to be wobbly around bends whereas the fronty seems to sit on the road quiet nicely, as the wife says it drives just like a car (funny old thing that!!!!)

hope you get yourself a fronty, and I'm sure that they guys on here will be quick to tell you that theirs is better, but i like my little baby

VAN

Hi, forgot to ask - What websites do accessories / modifications for them? Same for tyre size available, what will fit as standard as a good mud tyre?

sooo many questions....not a problem mate, but all the answers are on the forums already...

Have a gander through the wheels and tyres section for tyre advice, and the modifications and conversions section will yield loads of info on how to do up ya truck...
The search function up the top rh corner is also handy for finding stuff... :wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T169OD0tHA4&feature=related

whooop whooop, check it, you'll love it

Cheers for replies lads, found a lot in the mods section. From my original post though how do they fair in general, are there certain things to avoid or engine models etc? (Couldn't find that with search lol)

Ad

Hi and welcome to the site. Well I own a 2.2DTi long wheel base and once all the little niggly bits are sorted, they are just brilliant. Size wise I'm 6'1" and it's comfy for me, I'm sure a couple of inches of height won't make that much of a difference (mine is actually for sale in the for sale ads via ebay if you just want to look at pics and specs etc).

Everybody has different preferences when it comes to engines, they each have strengths and weaknesses. Petrol wise (and I'm sure I'll miss some) are in the series A 2 litre which I am familiar with, pretty hardy engine, and 2.4 which I'm not, but don't hear too much. In the series B, the petrol engine is a 2.2 where the most notable problems seem to be crank sensors and cracking exhaust manifolds, again, if you can get past those probs, they're a peach.

Diesels: A Series are 2.3 (don't often see problems with them but are a little underpowered according to some) 2.5 which is slightly older tech but more powerful (weakest link seems to be overheating at the rear of the engine causing head gasket failure), and the 2.8 Isuzu engine which is my personal favourite (you see the odd couple of dramas with glow plugs and EGRs, but the EGRs in these can be blanked off). In the series B it's the 2.2DTi which works out roughly very slightly more powerful than the 2.8, but you do have more maladies with these owing to vacuum line failures, pump failures and sensor failures. Again as with all of them, they're a real treat once you get past the problems.

Really just depends how much you want to spend, and what you want from it.

Hi Chaps

From what I've read I think a 2.2 3 door sport will do the trick. One thing I can't find any answers to, in my mates disco it has a high low selector. What's the deal with this in a frontera? Is it the same story or?

Lots of info here in our Wiki

http://www.fronteraowners.co.uk/wiki/in ... _FAQ/Guide

on the frotnera you have a 4wd activate button then you use the transer gear to selcet ur high and low range as england had some pretty bad weather recently with snow i gurantee you will not get stuck frontera is they way to go my friend some people just tend not to like them cuz its vauxhall and a cheap mans 4x4 but yet it can do alot of stuff u would spend on a pricey disco or range rover and to be honest my dad owns the land rove td5 and he says he just misses the frontera lol