New Montero Sport 4x4, Fortuner 3.0 4x4 or Sta. Fe 4x4.

[niky]

MY ANSWER:
If this is your evaluation/ opinion then I respect you on this. I will just leave this thing with our fellow Starex owners. I know there are many out there who can relate to this since there are too many Starex owners who are still enjoying their 3rd gen Starex rather than the 4th gen one. But I have to admit that Hyundai Vans are the best in the market today even if the new one is bouncy. (Sorry if out of the topic)

Granted. And I'll respect your opinion on the ride of the new Starex, which, it appears, others complain to be bouncy, also. Suspension comfort is quite subjective and can be affected by the speeds and type of roads one drives on. For high-speed long-distance use, a stiffer (but not too stiff) set-up is best... but I'll admit the old Starex is relatively comfortable in traffic. And despite the floaty ride, I think the old Starex was pretty good. In fact, I recommended it to my father for purchase. But I still don't like riding in the back on long trips... makes me queasy.

I still prefer a double wishbone suspension which is fitted in the old starex since it rides better compared to the new one with Macpherson suspension set up.

But again, the difference in ride is all due to the shock and spring tuning rather than the suspension type. The only suspension type inherently inferior in terms of ride comfort is the beam-axle or rigid axle configuration, since single-wheeled bumps always lead to a deflection of the opposite wheel. Something which doesn't happen with independent suspensions (double-wish/multi-link/McPherson/etcetera)... and even then, proper tuning can make it comfortable in 90% of the road situations you're bound to see.

Common Man is this the best you’ve got? I can only expect a mechanic to answer like this? Sorry man but I can’t help but to comment in this way. Your comments have no basis actually. For me they are all based on assumptions.

Any man with an understanding of Diesel Engines can find good and bad arguments for any type of engine. The greatest assurance of success lies not in the type of an engine, but in the details of design, materials, and workmanship. An engine should therefore be as conservatively rated in speed and Mean Effective Pressure as the purchaser afford to use. Crowding a high horsepower rating into a given engine lowers the cost per horsepower and shortens the life of the engine. Every step in the direction of simple design, if proved successful, is an advantage for the purchaser.

If you still don’t believe this, then I suggest that you go back and study the Power Plant Engineering in order for you to understand what I mean and also to have additional knowledge regarding Diesel Engines.

But then, I'm not a mechanic, I'm a hack and a tuner... and I'm certainly no Power Plant Engineer, and a car isn't a power plant. A shipboard diesel motor or a stationary powerplant motor can be run at a steady, fixed speed. There are no restrictions in terms of absolute displacement and no need to design for flexibility. You design for long-cycle operation at constant loads, and you tend to overbuild things so they stay in one piece.

Yes, the simpler the motor, the better... but that's on the assumption that any CRDi/D4D/DiD/TDCi motor is simple. And they're not. All CRDis have high pressure fuel systems and complex electronic controls, and are meant to work over a larger rev range than a large, stationary motor.

Generally, for durability, yes, a big, unstressed motor would be great, but if we all went around driving 6 liter pre-combustion turbodiesels (such as found in US pickups), we'd all be getting dismal fuel economy. That's why the trend is (whether we like it or not) towards smaller and smaller engine displacements.

And the assumption that one CRDi is more durable than another because it's bigger and under-stressed due to the lower specific power ignores the line in your quote that says: "The greatest assurance of success lies not in the type of an engine, but in the details of design, materials, and workmanship." Which means that it's important that an engine is built properly. Otherwise, why would the fuel efficient Isuzu 4JX1 have so many problems? It's not as highly-stressed as some motors.

A motor that's designed to survive high revolutions and power outputs can last longer at low revolutions than an engine not designed so.... it will often be better balanced, with a stronger valvetrain and with stronger bearings and a better lubrication system. Obviously, if you have to rev it to make power and you rev it all the time, it will wear out quicker, but that's up to the end user and the style of use. Typically, though, high-revving engines don't make much low-end torque, but since we're only talking about turbodiesels here, the turbocharger itself can provide the torque that a smaller engine is lacking.

And direct injection technology helps you build more powerful motors with less stress on the motor itself. It promotes better combustion, cooler running and allows you to increase the turbo boost safely. It allows you to theoretically make more power at the same reliability as before.

But that's theoretically... and yes, it opens up a whole new kettle of problems, thanks mostly to the fact that the high pressure rail and injectors require high quality fuel, and our local fuel is crud. Too big a risk of water contamination, too many impurities. But this is a problem with the fuel system per se, and not with the engine itself or the engine's size. All direct injection diesels are vulnerable to this.

The only way to assure simplicity in design on a brand-new motor? Buy a Crosswind. OHV, timing gears (no chain or belt to snap), pre-combustion injection... the fact that it makes almost no power (we've just dyno'd mine... 48 horsepower at the wheels... whee!) and smokes a lot are the price you pay for the durability and relative economy... (8-10 mixed... 12 highway... AT). Everything else is complicated.

Well I guess it’s time to end this argument since it’s going nowhere. I’ll just continue enjoying Tsikot. Continue reading and learning new things about new rides etc...

For me Tsikot is great and very useful so I hope that only premium info should be fed in Threads in order to give our fellow Tsikoters an accurate data on every new and old vehicles in the market. But I would also like suggest to test drive the vehicle yourselves in order to know and feel the ride first hand...

To the thread starter, sorry if I populate this Thread but I guess it worth to justify what you experienced and believed in. Cheers to you man! Montero Sport is darn beautiful! hehehe
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I'll agree on that.