| tseeb |
| I spent part of Thanskgiving week in a turbo-diesel 4WD SUV that is not sold in the US. It weighs about 400 lbs. less than a Pilot and has reasonable performace with 5 pseed manual transmission considering it has less than 1/2 the horsepower and more torque than the Pilot. It did not ride as well as Pilot when heavily loaded and seemed more biased towards off-road with body on frame construction and transfer case with push buttons for 4WD and low range. Space seemed comparable to Pilot, but middle row middle seat was uncomfortable due to rear driveline. Can anyone guess what it is and where picture was taken? |
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| sfhondapilot |
Looks like a Pontiac Vibe on steroids.
:D |
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| tseeb |
Warm on location.
For a hint on manufacturer, check out tires. |
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| Jet-Pilot-64 |
| I think it's a Toyota... |
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| Jet-Pilot-64 |
| But "Venture" leads me to Chevy. Maybe a Trailblazer??? |
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| tseeb |
| It's not manufactured by company currently selling cars in USA. |
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| FamilyGuy |
quote:
Originally posted by tseeb
It's not manufactured by company currently selling cars in USA.
Daewoo? |
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| Pairallel |
Autoworld.com:
Rexton SUV
By jonig50@1 Monday, December 23, 2002
A luxury SUV from Korean manufacturer?...well kind of...
Oh dear...this is just a re-cloaked Musso, but the handling of the latter is so much better. A luxury SUV from Korea? Kind of a contradiction in terms, but this manufacturer is jumping on the "selling like kim-chee" bandwaggon. After the Musso/Daewoo debacle, SsangYong salvaged the Musso pieces (essentially the chassis, running gear and engines) asked Guigiaro of Ital Design (Ex Pininfarini/Ferrari designer) to wrap it up in a modern body design and hey presto the Rexton was born. The name unfortunately sounds too close to a part of the human anatomy. Externally the body design looks kind of weird, like some exotic startled dog, but only from certain angles. The frontal views are the worst, side and rear much better. The rake of the bonnet and funny headlight design are all wrong...sorry Giugiaro, not quite up to your high standard! The front nudge bar also looks as though it will break easily. Interiors are impressive looking, but the materials are very very average, so probably will look very shabby after a few months of use. The vehicle comes with a standard electric sunroof, (completely useless in this climate, just a sales gimmick for European markets) electric seat adjustment (mine packed in after a few hours) electric steering wheel tilt etc...lots of electric everythings to impress the unsuspecting buyer. A so called seven seater provides occupants inside with average space, a bit cramped in front for tall people, so should not be a problem for the local dwarves. 3rd row of seats definitely for kids, though I am not sure I would want to put mine in there in the event of a rear end shunt (so common on our roads nowadays). On the road, the Rexton is taller than the Musso and rides on very skinny tyres so it leans horribly in corners. The ride is awful, evry bump, wiggle jiggle...you name it the Rexton has it. The leather seats also creak if no-one is sitting in them. So on long journeys, for single occupants, better take a flight to your destination, if you want to arrive stirred but not shaken. Don't be fooled by the Mercedes Benz link....the engine designs are very old and everything is manufactured and assembled in Korea. On the Musso Turbo-Diesel models, cracked gearboxes were very common, and the engines leaked oil and fuel after a short while and blew head gaskets regularly on the TD model. Comparing the diesel engine's performance figures with others...the Kia Sorento TD has a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder 16v DOHC diesel engine churning out 175 bhp, and 320N/m of torque at 2000 rpm....
the Rexton engine is a 2.9 litre 5 cylinder 8v SOHC and can only mange 118 bhp and 270N/m at 2400 rpm!!! (Road tax is also double the Kia's) well the facts speak for themselves, don't they? (The Kia's engine is also much smoother and quieter.) The 3.2 is not much better, only thirstier. 4WD modes on the diesel are selected by dash buttons, easy to cofuse on the highways, so you don't want to be pushing these by mistake at 110 kph! Auto 4wd only on 3.2 litre petrol model, but this one is pushing RM220k + on the road. There must be lots of fools around willing to buy these models as just about every used car lot has a bunch of new Rextons on display. (Maybe buyers exploiting low interest rate). Buyers beware of after sales service, as spare parts are almost non-existent. Fortunately the vehicles are not locally assembled, but fully imported from Korea, so owners may not be spending the whole warranty period screwing everything back together again, as on the previous Musso's. Korean cars used to be cheap, after a while you could afford to throw them away and buy a new one. Unfortunately the main dealers, Competitive Supreme (yeah, right) jacked up prices after a few months. The Kia's by comparison are cheap and durable, something SsangYong has not proven yet it can achieve. In Malaysia's crazy car price market, drivers have been screwed for years by Proton and it's Government sponsors by lousy products with competitors edged out by punitive taxes. If you are forced to pay 3 times the cost then your judgment gets clouded when it comes to buying cars. This Rexton is too suspicious a proposition at these prices, so go for a safer bet if you want Korean, like Kia. Proton and Perodua sure haven't got anything to offer in this area! |
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| desertpilot |
quote:
Originally posted by tseeb
It's not manufactured by company currently selling cars in USA.
It's probably a Korean manufacturer like Asia, Samsung or SSangYong?
The country could be Brazil or somewhere in South America. |
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| tseeb |
Pairallel is correct with picture named Rextonsuv and desertpilot guessed correctly that it is Ssangyong which is made in Korea which is the same place Kumho tires are made. The are also sold in England, Australia and Malaysia. Vehile is Sssangyong Rexton RX290 with Italian styling. For more information see:
http://www.star-motoring.com/research/specs.asp?id=309
For another picture that gives away one of the countries I visited, to anyone who has been there, see below: |
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| tseeb |
| This picture is crossing the border from El Salvador to Guatemala. Both of these countries have US State Dept. travel warnings due to chance of crime and violence. We did not have any problems. We went to the capital San Salvador and to the beach at El Sunzal in El Salvador. In Guatemala, we spent two nights in Antigua and one night at Lake Atitlan. It was our first trip to Guatemala which is a beautiful country with many volcanoes, winding roads and people who still wear native dress. |
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| Phat Man |
I agree with the thoughts of Korean, looks kinda like a Kia Sorrento
:1: |
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| Larryl |
| Is your mystery SUV the Daewoo SsangYong Marque SsangYong Rexton luxury 4x4 SUV? |
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