Lude Generation

Hi folks,

As I mentioned in my other thread I have a new daily, I got myself an Isuzu Bighorn Lotus Edition. I thought I'd get a profile thread up and going as I hope to get up to some off road shenanigans in it as well as a little bit of tinkering

It's a bit of an 'interesting' car to use as a daily... I've already put some nice scratches along the roof by taking it into a multi-storey car park - I managed to hit the dangling height restriction bar on the way in, then scrape under the concrete aperture on the way out very embarrassing Other than the the ridiculous width and height, and inability to corner it's actually a very comfortable car to drive The seating position is great, it's like sitting in a big comfy chair. Visibility is great too, you can see over everyone else most of the time Fuel economy hasn't been as bad as I expected either, although I have been driving like miss daisy. You can stick SVO in to it though, and my friend buys it in bulk for their pizza shop so I should be getting a nice cheap fuel source sorted in the near future hopefully.

Anyway, for the time being here are some pictures












I'd take the Lotus handling package with a pinch of salt - my house handles better than this land whale

Loving it though!

SVO? Isn't that a oil and fuel mix? Or am I thinking TVO . This is either way. I'd love to get an old 300tdi disco and go off roading. But too many vehicles

You going to be using used svo?

I used new straight from cost cutter or tesco. If you use used have a read up on the various issue with it. The big things are water and animal fats, niether are very good for your pump or injectors.

If you go down the route I do have an svo pre heather in the garage some where.

Id love a big off roader/4x4 but couldn't justify the running costs

My mum's had two of these. They are great, but believe me, the Lotus package makes a difference! Much better with it!

SVO is straight vegetable oil I believe, the used oil is WVO or waste vegetable oil.

4thgenphil wrote:If you go down the route I do have an svo pre heather in the garage some where.

To start with I'm just going to cut new vegetable oil with diesel so hopefully waxing shouldn't be an issue, but apparently the Isuzu lumps are good for 100% SVO in the summer, and if preheated they can run it neat in winter too! I think I should make a fair saving as 20 litre drums of veg oil is £20 or so apparently.

As for the running costs, the main thing I'm concerned about is servicing. you need the best part of 7 litres of oil for the engine, then you've got ATF, plus 2 diffs to flush and the transfer box. Mercifully, spare parts seem to be fairly cheap for Isuzus though. Also, one of my best mates is a commercial vehicle mechanic, so anything I can't sort at home due to the size of the thing he can sort at mates rates

Doggo wrote:My mum's had two of these. They are great, but believe me, the Lotus package makes a difference! Much better with it!

I hate to think how it would drive with softer suspension/ARB's in that case

I could also sort you parts, we became a Isuzu dealer as of 3 months ago, so as well as Honda, We have to deal with trucks too. The new D-Max parts are defo not cheap

jjmartin349571 wrote: I hate to think how it would drive with softer suspension/ARB's in that case

Easy to find out - just fit extra rubbery stops and take the dampers off.

The body control is just way better.

I didnt have an issue I winter with my pugs on a lucas pump, I used to put 5 litres or so of petrol in it, that was a cold winter aswell me and the missus ran them.

Have a look around locally aswell, my mate gets his for 70p a litres, used but washed and de watered but not fit for cooking

Have you looked into the legalities of it all aswell?

4thgenphil wrote:Have you looked into the legalities of it all aswell?

I had pondered about the fact that there isn't fuel duty on it, so is it not legal to run in your motor?

Provided its not red chip fat I think you are OK