Hello from Winnipeg

[brewskie]

I am very interested in the Delica 4X4. With a young active family, it would work well for us, not to mention the price. I will also look at the Toyota Lite Ace. Living here in Winnipeg we get a lot of cold weather. Anyone have experience with these vans in bone chilling conditions.

Maybe I should be asking this on the general discussion threads but how do the Mitsu and Toyota stand up against each other, (reliability, ect....).

I am sure I will be asking many questions. Only recently discovered these cool rides.

Thanks in advance.

[MardyDelica]

Hi, toyota lite ace hard to pass compliance headlight, this lite ace has no power as its 2.0cc, cannot go up hill when full load & do overheat,
no parts available.
delica is a cool van, nothing on any jDM vehicle could bit this nice looking delica its a number 1 choice off road , highway & city use van in the market.
no overheating issue & reliability is good either for parts & service.
its a way to go:
Cheers;
Mardy

[mblack]

Hey Brewskie,

I have both a Liteace and a Delica. There are a couple things on the Toyota that I prefer - depending on your needs they may be important; Better fuel economy - Toyota averages just under 10L/100km vs Mitsubishi with a little over 12L/100km (wind seems to make quite a difference in the delica); Toyota has manual locking front hubs; 4WD Low on Toyota is nice and lowwww - more like my old Landrover.

I do not notice a big difference in power, the Mits is pushing a fair bit more air. Most would agree that the Toyota 2CT is not Toyota's best engine... but overheating can be minimized by replacing/modifying the thermostat/rad cap, viscous fan, replace the head gasket and taking care of the coolant system. Although, I do agree that the Mitsubishi is more capable of dealing with heat, and so you are probably less likely to get one that has had overheating problems. Apparently there are ways to modify the Toyota lights and get them approved, but being able to buy factory made and approved Mitsubishi lights is much nicer. Generally speaking, the Toyota is less intimidating for people to drive (feels more like a car)...but my partner and I both prefer driving the delica. The Toyota starts better in the cold, but the Mitsubishi has never let me down. I have the cold weather option, and I imagine it would be invaluable on a February morning in Winnipeg!

When I have to choose to keep one, it will be the Mitsubishi. Lots of grease fittings in the front end, bigger tire capacity (although more expensive and more waste) smooths out the ride and gives quite a bit more ground clearance, more room to make modifications for wvo, and in general just a tougher vehicle. I've also been reading about a fair number of turbo replacements on the Toyota, and I had to replace mine as well. Mardy is right about the parts, easier to find for the Mitsubishi. I've also found the Mitsubishi dealers to be more helpful, although that could just be my local experience. Both groups have wicked support networks, although most of my Toyota help comes from a uk based site. Obviously you've noticed how sweet this site is for delica support.

I'd say go for the delica, and convert it to wvo to make up for the loss in fuel economy.

matt