Samurai owner here and love my little behemoth. Awesome 4x4 stock and perfect for wheeling with SOA and 32s while still getting 21mpg. Can’t go fast but great mpg for running 32s with stock gearing. The 1.3L was also bulletproof like most import 4cylinder from that era. The Samurai was the greatest little commuter 4x4 that was ever made.
I got a 88 with a Weber carburetor,Iron horse racing header,ignition system,2 inch spacers for better stability,2 inch lift,30 inch tires and it was stripped off everything that was extra weight,so its around 1900ibs and has the original engine but Instead of 63hp it now has over double that now and I've had it up in the 80's mph and it has open headers so its loud😁
Actually the truth is, if you watch the videos of the Samurai testing by Consumer Reports, that the first time around they rated it with top marks. An executive made them retest it and can be heard saying "if you can't get somebody to roll it, I will." In a test where they intentionally tried to roll it, it took them nearly 60 tries. Consumer Reports settled out of Court with Suzuki to avoid further embarrassment. What they did was orchestrate a hit piece on a well made(for the time) vehicle. No more, no less.
@@PerformanceOnWheels yeah, I'm not even sure what the motivation behind it was, but the footage is out there and so are some of the court documents and stuff. All we know for sure is a kid who worked for consumer reports rolled his over and it was most likely going well over 40 and then executives forced a hit piece. It could be because at that time, Suzuki increases prices as the Yen was growing as a true competitor to the dollar as Japan was having an economic boom, but that's speculation. Obviously we can never know for sure because they did what rich guilty companies do and settled out of court. Too bad it killed the Samurai for the US Market. Things are amazing offroaders and actually engineered well.
@@PerformanceOnWheels this is why I love Automotive History. The obscure stories and details you find out. We really need a network of people piecing all this together.
I totally agree. We are starting to do car stories similar vin wiki just to hear some of this history. Such a cool experience and there's so much to learn and just be in awe on. Check out our gtr story we just uploaded. It really is pretty crazy
@@PerformanceOnWheels I agree!! I'll go check out the GTR story now thanks!! If you're interested in some of the Samurai CU test videos some are cut and compiled in this video I just found! th-cam.com/video/-PgOgm9rd8k/w-d-xo.html
I did a 15,212 mile road trip through 28 states, 4 Canadian provinces in my 94 Samurai. Either stayed with friends or camped the entire time, can't even tell you how long it took- months. Toasted an aftermarket Alt- twice. Put a hole in the floor while off-roading Blew some fuses, toasted the harness fusible link Replaced a blown shock I found along the way Motor ate a ring and part of a piston (still ran pretty good) not long after returning with 130k on it- but it made it trip, and even more surprisingly, I did too.
I’ve pulled my dads ‘88 jx tin top out of the barn and have started restoring it with him and I can say without a doubt that is the easiest, simplest car I’ve ever worked on. It brings me back to the days of when I would change the chain on my bicycle.
My buddy had a 88 Samurai that we used to go 4 wheeling in. He bought so many accessories for that little jeep, it truly was impressive. I can't remember all the mods but he managed to squeeze quite a bit of horsepower out of it. He had light racks and custom rollbars, custom seats, a winch, extra gas cans, and a 3-inch lift. He went through 3 or 4 different styles of rims to go with that lift and it actually looked and sounded good for what it was. It was totally reliable and I remember when 4 of us drove from LA to Yosemite to go camping for 4 days and to go climb Half Dome. Talk about an adventure, we had a blast. I don't remember that little Samurai having a hard time going up the mountain roads in fact I remember we were all holding on for our lives because we were going pretty fast and that thing handled really well with 4 guys and camping gear. He had that Samurai for 5 years and it was his daily driver. There is something to be said about being a good driver because I was never worried when he was driving it. He built it and knew what it could do and what it couldn't. It all ended one day when his girlfriend sadly rolled it over. It was her second time driving it and she went to fast on a curve in the rain and hit the curb doing about 50 mph. She rolled about 4 times and came to a stop back on its wheels. But it was to badly damaged and insurance totaled it. For the price he paid and all the aftermarket stuff they used to make for it, you couldn't go wrong. They were boring stock but add about 7k in aftermarket upgrades and it was a completely different car. I wish I bought one in the '90s when you were able to find a decent one for $1500. I could have thrown it in the corner of the yard and covered it up till I had some time and money to throw at it. It always turned people's heads and it was a lot of fun for what it was. If I ever come across one in decent condition for 2 or 3 grand, I'll probably jump on it.
Did you mention multi-day road trip? Drove mine from Redwood City CA to Anchorage AK back in early April of '03. At the time it had the 'short version' soft top on it (which descends from the rollbar directly to the tailgate, which makes it look even smaller. As many of you know, the heater in these things will not make you sweat. I forgot how cold it gets in the Yukon, so after a night in a lodge, the contents of my water bottle had frozen in the car, The Suzuki heater would not warm enough to melt it again until I made it to Anchorage. I love these things.
...my wife and I have made 10 round trips from Colorado to California in our Samurai... ...with camping gear and 2 or 3 Basset Hounds... ...did the speed limit most of the way... ...shifting early and keeping the revs up kept us at 50 or better on the worst hills... ...it's the last vehicle in my fleet I would sell... ...has 340,000 miles on it with one engine rebuild...
The new jimny is no joke. It has a waiting list a year long and that joke video .. the guy who did that video recently said he is going to buy one and may modify it because he loves it. He ran an offroad race chasing that g63 and it kept up
Oh really? Over here we don't know much about it and there's not much online either. The only thing I can find is people making fun of it but really it does sound pretty cool. Its to bad we don't have it over here. Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed! Subscribe
It's true, they're no joke. The new Jimny including the first generation that came after the Samurai are off-road beats and well respected. They're more popular and more capable than the jeeps as shown in Australia, where all you'll see doing extreme trails is the Sierra's (Samurai) and the new Jimnys
This car was inadvertently featured in the starting scenes of Terminator 2. I grew up In India where a variation of this car is sold as a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy. It's a very popular car which ceased production only two years ago for civilian market and now only available for defense purposes.
I have a 1988 Samurai,, white,, looks new inside and out..This is my third one.. live a fool I sold the other two.. Young folks have no idea what it is.. I have a Tonka tag on the front.. Fun ride..
Well guys I hate to burst your bubble. But my 1988 which is still running like a champ, with 129000 miles on it. Drove from upstate New York to San Diego California. With two kids in the back and a Great Dane in the front seat. Been offered up to 65 hundred for it numerous times, but I am not going to part with it. I have even run the trails of the California, Arizona desert completely stock alongside rubicon's.
It's very capable off roader, Its not meant for high speed runs, I have one, And I love it. And in off roading, It puts to shame to big and Fast off roaders!
I want a Suzuki Jimmy. Perfect for city living with the want to be able to go offroad. My 4runner feels huge, and I used to putt around in a abarth and it was awesome.
don't make fun of it i will take that little ride any day as a matter of fact i got me a 88 1/2 love it its better then walkin and also speed kills lol
I have 88 ,235-75-15 thunder trac mt tire .toyota carb,2” shackles .soft top I luv that little thing wouldn’t sell it for 10k give it to grandson in 15 years
Hey guys, liked your vídeo, but there's some things i got to say, as a samurai owner 1-About consumer union, they (as you can find it here in youtube, just look for "the truth of the suzuki samurai") didn't rolled it easily, the car surprisingly done pretty well until they really modified the course to make it roll 2-the samurai is the 2nd jimny, and is the jimny with most names of all; Samurai, jimny, sierra, katana, corsica, caribian....... Sold also as chevrolet samurai, maruti gypsy, santana, and holden drover 3-maybe because all the story with consumer union, they modified the axles, to make the car 9cm wider 4-the new jimny is not nearly to the samurai, true, is MUCH more, it totally overpassed it, people all over the world is getting waiting lists of over 1,5 years to 3 years to get one, suzuki sales prediction FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD, in the first year was 15k kei cars (just for japan) and 1500 sierra (wide model big engine), well, just in japan has been like 31k kei cars and +11k sierra, forcing the factory to the max, even with that nobody knows when he will receive his car Plus, we got that shitty emissions laws in europe, thanks to that suzuki retired the car from sales Plus maruti in india is going to start making it, to help japan to match demand, and they're developing a 5 door body, option only seen back in 80-90's with the south east asian samurai, the "katana 5 pintu" Good to see the samurai is loved there too!! Did you ever get the long wheelbase version? Thank you for your time!!
I do not recall ever seeing the long wheelbase version. There is definitely a following for them in the US. I would say a good majority of them however are modified for off roading. Thanks for the comment, not all vehicles have the unique history like the Sammi does.
You are wrong. Suzuki week the law suit. Evidence was released about how stable the samurai was and how consumer reports faked the role over of the samurai.
Your comment is kind of correct. I believe the finding was the Samurai is not more likely to roll over then any other vehicle in it's class. There was no deal or official findings when it came to the courts. Consumer reports, purposely tried to roll over the Samurai vs. the normal testing that is portrayed with any other vehicle.
Yes you are right. That is the only thing you can conclude from their testing. They altered the parameters of the testing multiple times tying to get it to roll. I’ve watched the video. What no one talks about is why they had to try so hard to get it to roll. The samurais light weight explains that nicely. The samurai wants to slide before it will roll
@@ironwill04 I was riding down the road and hit a curve going sixty before I knew what was going on I was 100% sideways, stable as anything going that fast and didn’t roll
The federal government refuted CU and pronounced the Suzuki to be safe. The same federal government pronounced the 737 max to be safe. A skilled test driver can intentionally make the samurai roll on a test track. So how does an unskilled driver know what not to do in a panic situation?
You guys are clueless. Your chronology is wrong. Your Consumer Union details were sloppy and inaccurate. Your sarcasm is misplaced. Your ignorance is on display.
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 3 // FNC vs FUT | EDG vs PRX](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pw2T5v0ogDI/mqdefault.jpg)
Samurai owner here and love my little behemoth. Awesome 4x4 stock and perfect for wheeling with SOA and 32s while still getting 21mpg. Can’t go fast but great mpg for running 32s with stock gearing. The 1.3L was also bulletproof like most import 4cylinder from that era.
The Samurai was the greatest little commuter 4x4 that was ever made.
I got a 88 with a Weber carburetor,Iron horse racing header,ignition system,2 inch spacers for better stability,2 inch lift,30 inch tires and it was stripped off everything that was extra weight,so its around 1900ibs and has the original engine but Instead of 63hp it now has over double that now and I've had it up in the 80's mph and it has open headers so its loud😁
Actually the truth is, if you watch the videos of the Samurai testing by Consumer Reports, that the first time around they rated it with top marks. An executive made them retest it and can be heard saying "if you can't get somebody to roll it, I will." In a test where they intentionally tried to roll it, it took them nearly 60 tries. Consumer Reports settled out of Court with Suzuki to avoid further embarrassment. What they did was orchestrate a hit piece on a well made(for the time) vehicle. No more, no less.
Thats really interesting. What a crazy story was behind this thing
@@PerformanceOnWheels yeah, I'm not even sure what the motivation behind it was, but the footage is out there and so are some of the court documents and stuff. All we know for sure is a kid who worked for consumer reports rolled his over and it was most likely going well over 40 and then executives forced a hit piece. It could be because at that time, Suzuki increases prices as the Yen was growing as a true competitor to the dollar as Japan was having an economic boom, but that's speculation. Obviously we can never know for sure because they did what rich guilty companies do and settled out of court. Too bad it killed the Samurai for the US Market. Things are amazing offroaders and actually engineered well.
@@PerformanceOnWheels this is why I love Automotive History. The obscure stories and details you find out. We really need a network of people piecing all this together.
I totally agree. We are starting to do car stories similar vin wiki just to hear some of this history. Such a cool experience and there's so much to learn and just be in awe on. Check out our gtr story we just uploaded. It really is pretty crazy
@@PerformanceOnWheels I agree!! I'll go check out the GTR story now thanks!! If you're interested in some of the Samurai CU test videos some are cut and compiled in this video I just found! th-cam.com/video/-PgOgm9rd8k/w-d-xo.html
I did a 15,212 mile road trip through 28 states, 4 Canadian provinces in my 94 Samurai. Either stayed with friends or camped the entire time, can't even tell you how long it took- months.
Toasted an aftermarket Alt- twice.
Put a hole in the floor while off-roading
Blew some fuses, toasted the harness fusible link
Replaced a blown shock I found along the way
Motor ate a ring and part of a piston (still ran pretty good) not long after returning with 130k on it- but it made it trip, and even more surprisingly, I did too.
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing Greg. I bet some life long memories were made as well. I would agree it's just as surprising you made it.
I’ve pulled my dads ‘88 jx tin top out of the barn and have started restoring it with him and I can say without a doubt that is the easiest, simplest car I’ve ever worked on. It brings me back to the days of when I would change the chain on my bicycle.
Lol..... I like it.
Love em , got a '95 tracker . Motors been knocking for 3 years now , lol
Lol.... Just letting you know the motor is still there.
@@PerformanceOnWheels hahahahha.
My buddy had a 88 Samurai that we used to go 4 wheeling in. He bought so many accessories for that little jeep, it truly was impressive. I can't remember all the mods but he managed to squeeze quite a bit of horsepower out of it. He had light racks and custom rollbars, custom seats, a winch, extra gas cans, and a 3-inch lift. He went through 3 or 4 different styles of rims to go with that lift and it actually looked and sounded good for what it was. It was totally reliable and I remember when 4 of us drove from LA to Yosemite to go camping for 4 days and to go climb Half Dome. Talk about an adventure, we had a blast. I don't remember that little Samurai having a hard time going up the mountain roads in fact I remember we were all holding on for our lives because we were going pretty fast and that thing handled really well with 4 guys and camping gear. He had that Samurai for 5 years and it was his daily driver. There is something to be said about being a good driver because I was never worried when he was driving it. He built it and knew what it could do and what it couldn't. It all ended one day when his girlfriend sadly rolled it over. It was her second time driving it and she went to fast on a curve in the rain and hit the curb doing about 50 mph. She rolled about 4 times and came to a stop back on its wheels. But it was to badly damaged and insurance totaled it. For the price he paid and all the aftermarket stuff they used to make for it, you couldn't go wrong. They were boring stock but add about 7k in aftermarket upgrades and it was a completely different car. I wish I bought one in the '90s when you were able to find a decent one for $1500. I could have thrown it in the corner of the yard and covered it up till I had some time and money to throw at it. It always turned people's heads and it was a lot of fun for what it was. If I ever come across one in decent condition for 2 or 3 grand, I'll probably jump on it.
That is a great story. That's what it's about. Making memories. Crazy putting 4 guys in one..... definitely an adventure. Thanks for sharing.
Suzuki samurai never dies!!!
Sure dosent
Did you mention multi-day road trip? Drove mine from Redwood City CA to Anchorage AK back in early April of '03. At the time it had the 'short version' soft top on it (which descends from the rollbar directly to the tailgate, which makes it look even smaller.
As many of you know, the heater in these things will not make you sweat. I forgot how cold it gets in the Yukon, so after a night in a lodge, the contents of my water bottle had frozen in the car, The Suzuki heater would not warm enough to melt it again until I made it to Anchorage. I love these things.
That is a serious trip! I am sure it was awesome.
...my wife and I have made 10 round trips from Colorado to California in our Samurai...
...with camping gear and 2 or 3 Basset Hounds...
...did the speed limit most of the way...
...shifting early and keeping the revs up kept us at 50 or better on the worst hills...
...it's the last vehicle in my fleet I would sell...
...has 340,000 miles on it with one engine rebuild...
Man. These are some cool stories about these Sammie's thanks for sharing!
I never see these anymore and their values been going up on craiglist. 10 years ago in my area these were only about $1000 on average, now about 3k
This one could be yours🤔. My buddy has people offering to buy it often when it is out and about.
where u at?
$5k for OK shape here. 10k gets basically new
MN
Sounds about right
The new jimny is no joke. It has a waiting list a year long and that joke video .. the guy who did that video recently said he is going to buy one and may modify it because he loves it. He ran an offroad race chasing that g63 and it kept up
Oh really? Over here we don't know much about it and there's not much online either. The only thing I can find is people making fun of it but really it does sound pretty cool. Its to bad we don't have it over here. Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed! Subscribe
It's true, they're no joke. The new Jimny including the first generation that came after the Samurai are off-road beats and well respected. They're more popular and more capable than the jeeps as shown in Australia, where all you'll see doing extreme trails is the Sierra's (Samurai) and the new Jimnys
This car was inadvertently featured in the starting scenes of Terminator 2. I grew up In India where a variation of this car is sold as a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy. It's a very popular car which ceased production only two years ago for civilian market and now only available for defense purposes.
I have a 1988 Samurai,, white,, looks new inside and out..This is my third one.. live a fool I sold the other two.. Young folks have no idea what it is.. I have a Tonka tag on the front.. Fun ride..
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Hold on to that one.
Well guys I hate to burst your bubble. But my 1988 which is still running like a champ, with 129000 miles on it. Drove from upstate New York to San Diego California. With two kids in the back and a Great Dane in the front seat. Been offered up to 65 hundred for it numerous times, but I am not going to part with it. I have even run the trails of the California, Arizona desert completely stock alongside rubicon's.
That is awesome! Hopefully there are pictures of this family adventure. 😂
It's very capable off roader, Its not meant for high speed runs, I have one, And I love it. And in off roading, It puts to shame to big and Fast off roaders!
87 tin top...love it😁
I want a Suzuki Jimmy. Perfect for city living with the want to be able to go offroad. My 4runner feels huge, and I used to putt around in a abarth and it was awesome.
I love my abarth! Subscribe to check our build out... we are in the process of making the first upgrade video now!
Nice movie, best regards from Poland
I’m in love with this car I wish they still made them
Jimmy!
@@PerformanceOnWheels I know but I don’t like how the top isn’t removable and I would get a jeep but they’re too expensive for me right now
The new bronco is pretty sweet😏
don't make fun of it i will take that little ride any day as a matter of fact i got me a 88 1/2 love it its better then walkin and also speed kills lol
I have 88 ,235-75-15 thunder trac mt tire .toyota carb,2” shackles .soft top I luv that little thing wouldn’t sell it for 10k give it to grandson in 15 years
Super fun to drive I got 2
Thats awesome!!!
Nice rims👌🏿👍
What the heck is that buzzing that happens every few minutes?
It is the ignition on noise. 😂🤷♂️😂
think it's the turbo booster😜
Rookie film students
Less expensive than a wrangler yet far more spight after today 🤔... could one say, it was better?
Hey guys, can you tell me details and dimensions of these Samurai tires and if they have any additional parts (tunning)?
________
Cheers
I think it's 215/60/15 tires on 15x7 rims.... Performance wise, not much....header, straight exhaust.
Performance On Wheels thnxs!
Stock was 215/70/15
Oh yah hey, you guys make me miss the twin cities, where no one talks with an accent dontcha know.
Ope yabetcha no accent here.
Soft top, hard top, and tin top.
I never heard anything about a tin top!
twin cities😁...love that accent. hard to hear till you've been away tho...
True story! We talk normal. Everyone else has an accent.
Hey guys, liked your vídeo, but there's some things i got to say, as a samurai owner
1-About consumer union, they (as you can find it here in youtube, just look for "the truth of the suzuki samurai") didn't rolled it easily, the car surprisingly done pretty well until they really modified the course to make it roll
2-the samurai is the 2nd jimny, and is the jimny with most names of all;
Samurai, jimny, sierra, katana, corsica, caribian.......
Sold also as chevrolet samurai, maruti gypsy, santana, and holden drover
3-maybe because all the story with consumer union, they modified the axles, to make the car 9cm wider
4-the new jimny is not nearly to the samurai, true, is MUCH more, it totally overpassed it, people all over the world is getting waiting lists of over 1,5 years to 3 years to get one, suzuki sales prediction FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD, in the first year was 15k kei cars (just for japan) and 1500 sierra (wide model big engine), well, just in japan has been like 31k kei cars and +11k sierra, forcing the factory to the max, even with that nobody knows when he will receive his car
Plus, we got that shitty emissions laws in europe, thanks to that suzuki retired the car from sales
Plus maruti in india is going to start making it, to help japan to match demand, and they're developing a 5 door body, option only seen back in 80-90's with the south east asian samurai, the "katana 5 pintu"
Good to see the samurai is loved there too!! Did you ever get the long wheelbase version?
Thank you for your time!!
I do not recall ever seeing the long wheelbase version. There is definitely a following for them in the US. I would say a good majority of them however are modified for off roading. Thanks for the comment, not all vehicles have the unique history like the Sammi does.
@@PerformanceOnWheels my pleasure!!!
Do you think this would be a good first car?
Its a bit old so you may run into issues being daily driven I would look for a more "comfortable" first car and have one of these for fun
You are wrong. Suzuki week the law suit. Evidence was released about how stable the samurai was and how consumer reports faked the role over of the samurai.
Your comment is kind of correct. I believe the finding was the Samurai is not more likely to roll over then any other vehicle in it's class. There was no deal or official findings when it came to the courts. Consumer reports, purposely tried to roll over the Samurai vs. the normal testing that is portrayed with any other vehicle.
Yes you are right. That is the only thing you can conclude from their testing. They altered the parameters of the testing multiple times tying to get it to roll. I’ve watched the video. What no one talks about is why they had to try so hard to get it to roll. The samurais light weight explains that nicely. The samurai wants to slide before it will roll
@@ironwill04 I was riding down the road and hit a curve going sixty before I knew what was going on I was 100% sideways, stable as anything going that fast and didn’t roll
@@ironwill04 37 times
I have 2
That's awesome!
I’m laughing too hard with all the annoying buzzes y’all put in, when the car starts
It's the little things.
Watch the Aussie Review lol:
th-cam.com/video/TRYAyb7bNYk/w-d-xo.html
I'll go check it out
I love my Samurai. Bone stock and still smokes big offroaders
Haha that's awesome!
Ok
Ok
It is also more reliable than a Fiat 500.
That's most definitely true.
Lose the wheels and Donald Duck music. Otherwise cool guys
Haha glad you liked it
The federal government refuted CU and pronounced the Suzuki to be safe. The same federal government pronounced the 737 max to be safe. A skilled test driver can intentionally make the samurai roll on a test track. So how does an unskilled driver know what not to do in a panic situation?
Very good question
Fake laugh 7:49
Story of my life
You guys are clueless. Your chronology is wrong. Your Consumer Union details were sloppy and inaccurate. Your sarcasm is misplaced. Your ignorance is on display.
You're so kind to spend time to comment! Thanks for your support! Glad you enjoyed the video don't forget to subscribe