In preparation for a second child, I have come to the painful realization that I cannot keep my 88 SWB. I have decided to replace my 88 with a Montero Sport. I know the Montero and the Montero Sport are compltely different animals, but what's the real deal? Are they even worth a consideration, or should I look for a full-size Monty?

-Austin

i basically had the same questions a few years ago. do a search under posts with my user name, alot of guys chimed in with fact/opinions about the different variations. if memory serves, the 95' is the holy grail of montys. just out of curiosity, there are still alot of genI lwb's kicking around that are in awesome shape with low miles, have you considered one of those?

It all depends on your needs, preferences and intentions. My family fleet includes a GenI, a GenIII and a Sport. There's nothing wrong with any of them, but each is unique in its own way. The Sport is based off the truck chassis and rides like it. I can say that the Sport feels like it's less substantial than the Gens I or III, but that's not a real fair comparison, if you know what I mean. In fairness to the Sport, if you were to compare it to other vehicles in its class, like an Explorer, Blazer/Jimmy/Bravada, Pathfinder/Xterra and even a Durango, it stacks up pretty well. I would encourage you to establish a budget and go drive both a GenII and a Sport and see which has the features and comforts that appeal to you and yours. That's the only way to really answer this question.

Good luck and happy hunting! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

A 95 is considered the holy grail.. Crap then i got a real good deal on my 95 sr. it was free... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

As was noted, it really depends on your needs, but for wheeling purposes, I prefer my 96SR which has the features of the 94/95SR's but also has a passenger air bag and is OBD2 so you don't need a special reader from mitsu or an analog multimeter to read it's codes. That said, they're similar enough that either the 94/95 or 96 SR are fine.

95 SR, for the win. But the 96+ features are quite desireable.

John B.

One way to look at the Sport, consider it a continuation of a Gen 1. The 4 cylinder Montero and the Mighty Max were very close in design. The Sport is a continuation of the Mighty Max so it could be considered the closest in lineage to the original Montero that so many of us love.

This is also the way I look at it. The 4 door coil sprung montero evolved into the Gen2 montero line, and the 2 door leaf sprung version turned into the Strada(truck we did not get in the US) and montero sport.

The 97-99 sports were leaf sprung with optional rear locker and the 00-04 sports were coil sprung with no locker option. I really liked my 2000 sport, it was a really well built truck but it is much smaller than a Montero but the hatch back makes it easy to load with gear.
As far as Gen 2?s go 92-93 are the odd years; random options like locker, LSD, bouncy seats and 4.88?s. 94-96 SR are the so called holy grail of Gen 2 monteros due to their 3.5 DOHC engine, big axles and 4.63 axle gears. 94 and 95 are the same and 96 is slightly updated and the latest year for that engine, other than what Offroader said i think the gauges are a little different and seat heaters are more common maybe offroader can confirm this. 97 SR?s are like the previous years with the 3.5 but SOHC and 4.27 gears and blue backlit gauges. 98-00 are the blister fender montero?s (gen 2.5) they are the same as the previous year SR?s but do not have the body cladding, 98 is the same as the 97 but with big fenders and new style bumper, grill and headlamps, 99 was the first year for the tiptronic transmission but doesn?t have a manual shift mode like the gen 3 (yes it gets confused sometimes if you radically change how you drive, 4.90?s fix this for some reason), 00 dropped the locker and tried to be more luxo but is otherwise the same.
Of the gen 2?s I personally like the blister fender the best because the 3.5 SOHC is still plenty powerfull and the fenders fit the bigger tires plus no body cladding to get all loose. Some people don?t like the gen 2.5 because they come with 4.27 axle gears but that?s what montero sports are for (cannibalising their axles for 4.90?s) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hope i answered some questions <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

No seat heaters in mine. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> They may have been an option though. I know they are available in the gen 2.5 (98-00) Monties. Not sure about the 97 having them.

I've considered finding/using a pair of brown gen 2.5 front seats for the likely better condition leather (especially the driver side) and wiring the heaters in.

From what I've read aftermarket seat heaters are not so desirable because their reliability is an issue... but I digress and this should be discussed under a different thread... (as usual)