Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Suzuki Samurai vs Sidekick

I am looking at getting a little hunting/woods running buggy and I have found both a sammi and a sidekick for the same money. Both are in good shape, similar mileage, tires, etc. Is either more desirable and dependable? I am not going to be rock crawling or mud bogging, no 37" swampers, just a dependable rambler.


Thanks

Suzuki Samurai because they can be converted if you wish.

I.ve been in some rough places with my 93 Sidekick.Rear seats come out easy,and I've had a couple of reasonable mule deer stuffed back there!Get a hardtop if you are hunting in the cold. Cheers,Monashee

Personally, i would go with the Sidekick based on the size alone. Of course, I am 6' 5" and leg room is an issue.

I've owned 2 Sammis and loved them. I'd have another in a heartbeat.

If you don't think you will need to modify either vehicle to meet your requirements, get the Sidekick. The fuel injected 1.6L is more powerful, reliable, and gets as good or better fuel mileage than the 1.3L that came in the Samurai. Most of the 1.3's were carburated. Also the Sidekick will ride better, is more aerodynamic, and has a higher top speed.
If you were wanting lift, big tires, gears, and lockers, I would say get the Samurai. I am on my 4 Samurai, and they are loads of fun.

+1 though I am only 5' 10". I have a Sidekick four door for the extra room. It has hauled a lot of game with and without the back seat in, and has enough room for me to sleep in without unloading my stuff. It is ideal for one hunter, OK for two on shorter trips.

My son and I have owned two Samurai's and two Sidekicks between us. As indicated by others, Samurai is a better off road 4x4, Sidekick does all I want it to. Last winter while hunting predators I drove up a steep logging road in snow without thinking much about it, explored new areas awhile and came back to find two new 4x4 pick-ups trying to get up the same steep stretch.

A fellow in Oregon near Portland makes diesel conversion kits or will put a diesel in a Suzuki for you. I've driven two of the diesel converts and they are NICE.

Okanagan;
I trust that this finds you and yours well tonight sir.

The story of your Sidekick going up the logging roads made me smile and grimace at the same time - I'll bet the pickups were Dodges like mine, weren't they?

Mine is great for turning into a first class bobsled on snow.....

Anyway the smile part of it was that a good friend took our youngest daughter and I out turkey hunting up the east side in his two door Sidekick/Tracker machine.

We're going in some goofy steep places, traversing a fair bit of snow too and since I'm sitting in the back seat with his bow and pack I'm looking around for recovery gear and not seeing any.

So I casually ask, "You don't have come along do you?"

"No" comes the reply from the driver.

"How about a shovel and a piece of rope?" I ask - now a little more concerned.

"Nope, them neither Dwayne" he says.

Now I'm full blown interested in the situation - so I inquire as politely as possible, "Just when do you make the decision that it's too steep or too much snow then?"

"Oh that's easy Dwayne" he laughs, "it's when I have to stick it in 4 wheel drive!" Then to add insult to injury sir, he shows me by popping the transfer case lever into 4WD....

Much as I love our Cummins for some things, for others like steep, snow covered ice roads it's close to not much use at all.

Oh, our eldest and I are trying to convince my wife that she needs a Tracker. We found a nice 2 door, tin top in Summerland that is really clean, but the guy wants two arms and a leg for it.

All the best to you and yours sir, good luck on your hunts and as always you all are in my daily thoughts and prayers.

Dwayne

having had one f each and loved them both,there are more advantages than disadvantages to the longer wheel base

Thanks guys, I am going to look at the sidekick this weekend.

I have a 2011 Tracker with 260k, been a great ride, low maintenance costs, but she is getting to the end. Will be tough to get rid of her.

I just bought a Tracker 4x4 for the farm; has a 186K on it. I couldn't stomach the cost of the UTV's, so this will have to do. Runs great, burns no oil. Roll bar, winch, and a custom fabricated dump box and it will hopefully serve the same purpose.

I was in the same place. Couldn't justify the cost of a 4 wheeler that I use mere hours a year but wanted something for hunting. Looked at a Sami and the solid axle and 1.3 engine left a LOT to be desired. Found a 2dr soft top 4x4 '95 Tracker for $3k with 125k on it. There was no comparison in ride or power to the Sami. Good thing too since in a weird twist, since it got 30mpg (a 'little' better than my Avlanche ) it wound up being my daily commuter until a few months ago. I sold with 50k more on it after owning it for 7 years for the same money I paid for it. Zero complaints.

Hi Dwayne, hope you are having a great Fall of hunting with your girls.

I can't remember for sure what brand of pick-ups but think they were Chevys having trouble. Full size pick-ups are a lot more comfortable ride and haul a lot more than my Sidekick, but the Skuzuki got 32 mpg US on a run down to Oregon on the freeway last time I checked the mileage. Everything is a trade-off.

Grab that Tracker. They ain't making any more of them, though somebody should make an equivalent.

If its for hunting and you don't want to modify it much, I would get the Sammi in a heart beat.

Live front axle, and lower gears in "4WD low" make it that much better off road than the Sidekick.

The Sidekick does have a bit extra room, but not a huge amount. Where the Sidekick wins out is "on road", its just a big more civilized/comfortable.

While the Sidekick has a slightly bigger engine, it also weighs more, so its not a huge advantage.

If you think of the Sammi as a modern reincarnation (for better or worse) of the original WW2 Willys Jeep you won't go far wrong..

I found a nice sammi all original for $2000, it will need new tires. It's pretty slick, my Tacoma is a 5speed but I just don't care for clutching trying to ease up a slick hill with jump up rocks.


I also found a nice 1990 Sidekick 3 speed auto trans for $1400, it will need new tires. I like the idea of the auto but it looks like the low range on the auto's isn't real low.

Bearcat,

Not sure about for the autobox, but you can definitely get "after market" gears for both the Sidekick, Sammi and the newer Jimny for the manual trany.

In fact some conversions allow you to fit the gear box from the Sammi into a Jimny for instance.

Some of the conversions drop all the ratios in the box, while others just drop the Low gears.

If you go this route, you need to consider if you intend fitting taller tires as these will need to be taken into account also.

Regards,

Peter

Totally agree on all counts. I've had both.

First time I saw the Samurai was in Nepal in 1983... had never seen one and couldn't get over what a cool little reincarnation of the Willy's it was/is.

For crawling through Eastern woodland, Sammi all-day.

'98 1.6 5spd JX

That's not a tippy canoe on top. The tippy canoe was the driver. Me! The Sidekick just rested there for the night and I stayed in a nearby camp until morning where we went into town to hire a wrecker to pull it out. I still drive this as a second vehicle.




Damned logging trucks had made a curve very treacherous by causing a substantial amount of loose golf ball sized gravel and rocks to be sitting near the right side of the left turning banked curve. I turned the wheel but it was if I was on ice. Brakes were useless on those 'marbles' as well.

Being more than half blinded by the setting sun on the horizon, speed and road conditions, plus a few beers (a number of times in a row) added up to making a strange way to park your ride for the night. By the time the glare was gone, I saw the curve and realized the conditions, it was too late! If I had gone in the ditch a mere 10 feet sooner/closer, I would have flipped it into a brook and just about submerged the whole vehicle. Under those branches to the right lies a huge pool of water. The branches are remnants of a deconstructed beaver dam.