I've heard people say bad things about the looks of the VehiCross. I think they're cool. What are the specifications on them (engine, tranny, suspension, traction control options like LSD, lockers, etc)? Because they are more rare than Land Cruisers, what sort of upgrade options are there (lifts, etc.)? There aren't too many short wheelbase 4X4 options outside of Wranglers in the US market.
Yeah, it's definitely an odd looking vehicle and not for everybody. They made about 4200 for the US and only 1800 for Japan, so it didn't come with many options: color and with or without a roof rack.
It came with Isuzu's 3.5L V6, GM's 4L30E 4-speed automatic, independent front, solid axle rear, rallycross style shocks with external heat-expansion chambers, full-time Torque-On-Demand 4wd traction control, limited slip rear, Recaro seats.
After market/upgrades: there are 3" lift kits available from a few companies like Calimini. The stock shocks have decent travel, so I did the cheap lift. I put a new set of springs in the rear and cranked the torsion bars up front. Later, I made brackets to drop the front diff because the strain was too much on the CV joints. ARB lockers are available for front and rear, although they are getting tough to find. I put an Aussie autolocker in the front and installed manual hubs and kill switch for the traction control computer.
One of the other Vehicross owners found a way to put in a 5-speed manual transmission. That same guy came up with a nice mod for the front suspension too. It ties the torsion bars together in a way that when left side tire climbs an obstacle the right side is pushed down, and vice versa, effectively acting like a solid axle. You don't get the same travel as a solid axle but it's a huge improvement over standard IFS. I'm hoping to have that mod done on mine in time for Moab, but we'll see. There are at least 3 or 4 options for getting lower gearing too. I haven't done that yet, but will eventually.
Like any rare vehicle, parts are hard to find and usually very expensive. It's a lot of fun though... a very capable vehicle and always gets a lot of strange looks.
