The Big Utes

Sabah, North Borneo is a really unique place when you look at our transportation. Yeah sure, you get to see heaps of the latest cars from Honda Accords to Toyota Camrys to Mercedes Benz SLKs. However, you'll notice one thing - the abundance of 4 wheel drive vehicles. On our urban roads, you get the 4 Wheel luxo class, dominated by Isuzu Bighorns and Troopers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Prados and Surfs, Mitsubishi Pajeros, Range Rovers and Discoveries. Contrary to popular belief, these 4 wheelers are not just a fashion statement. In fact, these high class people carriers are the best 4 wheel engineering masterpieces of their companies. Okay, okay, so the owners rarely take these big babies on rough terrain. Can't blame them actually. Heck, if I had a Range Rover 4.6 HSE, I wouldn't even take it through mud puddles left after tropical rains.
The Isuzu Trooper (above) is one of the most popular vehicles used in Sabah. The Sabah Foundation bought heaps of these big and spacious off roaders. It's not surprising when you take into account the Trooper's superb ride, interior space and appointments and the torquey turbo charged diesel engine. Now THIS is a fast way to shuttle around Sabah.

So......any of you driving a Mitsubishi Pajero out there? If you are, you're probably smiling with satisfaction. Check it out, car newbies, the Mitsu flagship has a shift-on-the-fly 4 wheel transmission, 16inch rims holding huge chunky rubber bands, a 3.5litre V6 engine and a cavernous cabin. But wait.......that's only the top of the range imported version. Spoiled it all didn't I? Buyers on a budget can settle for a not so.......not so....nice version, with only a 2.7litre engine. Lacks power, but it's okay. Pajero's main contender is the Toyota Prado.

Mitsu also sells a 2.8litre turbo diesel version of the Pajero and by the looks of it, it's quite popular here in Sabah. Hey, why not when diesel's only two thirds the price of premium unleaded gasoline.

The Land Cruiser is a 4 wheel drive legend. I guess I don't need to tell you that. This super tough Toyota has a 4 decade reputation behind it making it one of the most trusted off roaders of all time. Here in Sabah, The imported Land Cruiser VX Limiteds are really plentiful both on and off road. It's kind of old by now and Toyota has probably added as many upgrades as it can to improve this vehicle. With a good ride and a powerful 4.5litre engine, the Land Cruiser became the benchmark of the full size sport utility. Expect an all new Land Cruiser to appear by the turn of the next millennium.

The Range Rover is currently the best you can get out of a 4 wheeler. This British sport-ute is a masterpiece of design and engineering. A rather stiff sticker price hasn't prevented it from being grabbed by Sabah buyers. What do you get in this package? A luxury car with high ground clearance. Variable ground clearance would be a better phrase. Range Rover has a computerized variable suspension height system. Unlike the Japanese makes which have a sport and plush suspension mode, this system allows you to actually adjust ride height depending on the terrain you wish to conquer.
The Range Rover 4.6 HSE......It's more like a sports luxo cruiser.

The Mini Utes

Ah......the minis. They're becoming increasingly popluar now. They're cute, they're tall, they're slick and they're 4 wheel drivers.

This mini-ute is one of the most popular ones in Sabah. The Toyota Rav4 was a comparo winner in one of Car And Driver's geoup tests beating the Suzuki X90 and the Wrangler. It's a slick vehicle whose capabilities off road are just as good as they are on the pavemant. With rather tall gearing, it's easy to understand that this ute wasn't built to be bashed up on rough terrain. On the road ride and handling are equivalent to other cars of its size.

Meet the new mini-ute to hit the streets of Sabah - The Kia Sportage. It's a cute little thing but it has excellent interior space. The 2 litre engine is reasonably powerful and the styling is new and pleasing to the eyes. The Koreans have done it!

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