I want a new Montero. I only do moderate 4x4'ing mostly historical and scenic trips like the Mojave road. My main issue is the 500 plus miles of pavement to get anywhere.

My Gen 1 runs great but you grind those miles and with a 12 gallon tank at 75 mph I'm stopping every 150 miles for gas 12 x 15mpg = 180.

So I'm looking at this Gen III 2001 Sport. 19.5 gallon at 20 mpg at fueleconomy.gov . That's 390 miles and 25% gain in fuel economy.

http://dealers.idealer1.com/base/details.php?VID=1-254l1234906000

On the other hand I don't think I can part with my SWB

Montero Sports are not Montero's at all, they drive completely different since they are actually the SUV bodied Strada L200 pickup (mighty max). They are not bad at all but don't buy one expecting a montero, that's what i did and it really made me want a pickup. The Montero Sport is not as comfortable as any generation Montero I really didn't like roadtrips in that thing. If you want a newer Montero get the Gen II or III, even though Gen III's are fully independent they still drive like a Montero and have that Montero feel.

Les,

I regularly get 16-18 mpg with my Raider, about 225 - 250 miles for the 16-gallon tank. My normal fill lately has been 13-14 gallons.

R-

for less than 5k you could get a gen 2 SR, you'll be alot happier and it will have a locker and more than 20 gallons of gas.

I feel the small tank lower MPG pain for travelling. One of my regular daydreams is a big tank and cruise control for the SWB.

x2 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

well he wants gas effeciency more than he want's capacity. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Try driving the speed limit. 65 mph = 19 mpg

Also, I don't know which is more troubling, the fact that you want to get rid of your great looking Gen 1 or the talking voice on that link you supplied.


I hope you keep what you've got. I just got a great compliment on mine this morning and know its a great truck to have.

If you want drivability and are thinking of driving the miles why not buy a crapped out gen 3 at a parts yard and swap the 3.5L and auto trans into your rig. You would end up spending the same ammount of money but would retain the look of you ride but obtain better fuel economy and a bigger engine.

If you're going thru all that get a 3.8. Or better yet, a 4.3 Chevy. I think Don and Curtis both are seeing high teens/low 20's. And the swap isn't that difficult or expensive.

Like Toasty said you may need a GenII SR. You'll get close to or better fuel economy then what you've got now. And, you could wheel it if you wanted to.

If it were me though, I'd keep the nice looking GenI and try to get all the economy out of it I could muster. It really sounds like you could be getting more out of it. I'm getting 16ish around town out of my LWB with bigger tires, bumper, winch, tools, and other weight gain stuff...