Sunday, Nov 23, 2003 at 15:40
Patroller,
To best honest I wouldnt have a clue!! I don't take delivery of my SWB MQ for another 5 more days! But heres what I do know about them that swayed me to getting one:
Weight: ~1800kg for the SD33-T (turbo diesel) and ~1700kg for the petrol SWB. SD33-T puts out only 105Hp but 255Nm of torque so it should pull pretty well.
The MQ isnt as good as the GQ, but then the GQ is twice the price at least and doesnt have a removable fibreglass roof (which if you ask me is a big character point of the SWB MQ)!
Performance wise, don't expect it to be quick, but when I took it for a test drive, it certainly didnt seem to slouch around like other old 4WDs I've driven. The 5 speed manual SD33-T seems very happy to cruise at 110kph which was a big selling point for me. My mate's Chev V8 MQ SWB was a stock MQ 4spd and did not seem to cruise as comfortably at highway speeds.
Fuel economy wise, the petrols I hear are pretty high on consumption (17L/100kms?) where as the diesels should get about 12L/100kms on average and I think get about ???6-700kms from its ???90L fuel tank.
Offroad, my mates old V8 SWB MQ certainly never seemed to have too many problems offroad, but then that had aftermarket springs and 35 inch tyres on it. I'll be considering a lift kit of some sort on mine as it doesnt seem to have a lot of ground clearance (maybe due to sagging springs? i dunno). I think a lift kit would also be neccessary if I want to fit 35 inch tyres to mine (we'll be doing a fair bit of sand work in it hopefully).
My SD33-T has 397,000kms (still on same turbo and engine i think??) on it but seems to have been carefully looked after and serviced regularly by its past owners. I can't see any sign of engine wear as the car still seems to drive well and I can't spot an ounce of smoke from the exhaust. I hope to get at least another 100,000kms from it before it possibly needs reconditioning. Apparently the SD33 engines are well known for long life when serviced regularly and treated well.
Note that diesels are more expensive to recondition than petrol engines. Expect about $3500 installed for a recond SD33-T engine from a workshop - cheaper if you can find and install one yourself from the second hand classified ads.
Hope this helps,
Dave.
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