Buying an 80 series

[jsttry]

The old folks are thinking of replacing their 4.5L 80 series and with my sale of the Land Rover I'm in the market for a new 4wd.

Looking for an every day car around the city as well as camping and medium to hard offroading (hills and mud)

Know the history of the car and is in great condition which is good however, not sure if its that ideal as its a petrol. Stock 1996 4.5L petrol GXL, 120000km with 2" lift kit and standard road tyres, probably around $12000.

1. How do the petrol cruisers go in water? Can they cope with a bit of a splash over the bonnet?
2. Do you need to do any other work if you want to fit a 4" spring/shock combo and 35's?
3. Or is it better to find a turbo diesel?

After driving turbo'ed V8 commodores and V8 Land Rovers not sure if I'd be happy with the power of an NA Diesel.

[stinky]

Welcome to the dark side luke... you will rule the world in an 80.

IMHO, the 1HZ is alot better fuel wise than the Petty motor. but you are right, after the cars you have owned, the NA diesel is a barina motor stock standard.

try Struddy's out for feel, hes got aftermarket extractors on that give it a nice little power gain, still not TD tho.

sounds like a good buy for 12k. i got mine for 10 and its only a standard with 200'000 on the motor.

[topend-yobbo]

You will love it
Top vehicle but somewhat thirsty as Stinky said.
If you spend a bit of time waterproofing the electricals shouldn't be a drama.

[jsttry]

I post on a national forum and the first 2 replies are from locals

Have a T/D in mind, but need to test drive one first to see if I like it. No good going interstate without knowing how they feel first.

[sniper]

TD are th best (im biased though )

4.5 are ok too, and if anything breaks take it too the original owners(parents) and claim warranty

[rezpkt]

80 diesels:
1HZ Std: 96kw
1HD-FT turbo: 125kw

Petrol:
1FZ-FE 158kw

you decide
As much as i love my diesels, it costs the same to turbo a petrol.
Fuel shouldnt be an issue for any serious 4WDr

[jsttry]

Rez, do you have torque figures for each too?

[Emo]

I've had water almost to the bottom of the windscreen on a couple of occassions with no snorkel and gotten away with it. I wouldn't make a habit of it though. I reckon they are great buses. It's well worth putting LPG on, especially now the Gov't will pay the first $2k. You'll get 90l+LPG and 95l unleaded.
They really do need some kind of traction aid though as the rear LSD is useless.

[RUFF]

The old folks are thinking of replacing their 4.5L 80 series and with my sale of the Land Rover I'm in the market for a new 4wd.

Looking for an every day car around the city as well as camping and medium to hard offroading (hills and mud)

Know the history of the car and is in great condition which is good however, not sure if its that ideal as its a petrol. Stock 1996 4.5L petrol GXL, 120000km with 2" lift kit and standard road tyres, probably around $12000.

1. How do the petrol cruisers go in water? Can they cope with a bit of a splash over the bonnet?
2. Do you need to do any other work if you want to fit a 4" spring/shock combo and 35's?
3. Or is it better to find a turbo diesel?

After driving turbo'ed V8 commodores and V8 Land Rovers not sure if I'd be happy with the power of an NA Diesel.

For the same model T/D with similar Ks and condition your going to pay 20K+. How much petrol can you buy for 8K?

Petrol is cheaper to service and way cheaper to replace if it farks up.

The 96 4.5L i just got rid of got 16L per Hundred around town.

[dow50r]

Safari turbo 4.5 240kw/540nm

80 diesels:
1HZ Std: 96kw
1HD-FT turbo: 125kw

Petrol:
1FZ-FE 158kw

you decide
As much as i love my diesels, it costs the same to turbo a petrol.
Fuel shouldnt be an issue for any serious 4WDr

[sniper]

Dont listen to all these people favouring petrol............it sux

Diesel is the way to go for any REAL 4WDer
(flame suit not on, 3rd degree burns for me )

But seeing you can get a good truck and its still an 80 go for it

[DGS4WD]

240kw Turbo 4.5L Petrol 80 Series.... How could anyone turn that away!!!

[jsttry]

reality check, not after a turbo 4.5L...that's what the Commodore is for (5.7L putting out 440rwkw at the wheels).

Looking for something good for every day use and not a complete slug

[dow50r]

Cobber Ruff hit the nail on the head....
The petrol is a limo to drive compared to the diesel, it goes better and with gas onboard, is cheaper to run...you can buy seriously good petrols cheap...last one i saw was a 97 40th annaversary with ABS and twin bags for 12200...now i know of a guy who played with a 4.5 turbo and got 400kw at the wheels with 24 lb boost b4 it threw a leg out of bed. std petrol with aftermarket injecters/pump and computer. they are very driveable under 4000 rpm...after that you need to be a tyre dealer.
Andrew

reality check, not after a turbo 4.5L...that's what the Commodore is for (5.7L putting out 440rwkw at the wheels).

Looking for something good for every day use and not a complete slug

[shanegtr]

dont know what the costs/availbility of petrol in remote NT is, but here in the north west I'd favour diesel myself. Its a much better fuel choice for remote areas

[simkell]

dont know what the costs/availbility of petrol in remote NT is, but here in the north west I'd favour diesel myself. Its a much better fuel choice for remote areas

$1.37 litre.

friend at alice said $1.85 litre. f^%k that.

[RUFF]

$1.37 litre.

On any given friday in Brisbane we can pay up to this. And im pretty sure its the norm lately in Sydney.

At $1.37 per Litre your going to buy 5839.41 Litres of Petrol for your $8000 saving on purchase minimum which at 16L per 100 will get you 36,496.35 ks up the road before you even get to what your going to spend on a similar condition T/D.

[stinky]

dont know what the costs/availbility of petrol in remote NT is, but here in the north west I'd favour diesel myself. Its a much better fuel choice for remote areas

$1.37 litre.

friend at alice said $1.85 litre. f^%k that.

thats the price in town anyways. dont even ask for the remote areas.

[Mad Cruiser]

$1.37 litre.

On any given friday in Brisbane we can pay up to this. And im pretty sure its the norm lately in Sydney.

At $1.37 per Litre your going to buy 5839.41 Litres of Petrol for your $8000 saving on purchase minimum which at 16L per 100 will get you 36,496.35 ks up the road before you even get to what your going to spend on a similar condition T/D.

On a friday up North brissy is about $1.25 per litre.

I own a 100 series 4.5L petty and wouldn't go back to a diesel, i find it cheaper to run, service and MORE POWER !!!! ARR ARR (tim taylor)

[jsttry]

Found all engine specs at Marks 4WD Adapters.
http://www.marks4wd.com/misc_info/engin ... andcruiser

While the petrol has more power/torque, the T/D produces it lower down. Does anyone have any dyno graphs of the two? Does the low down torque of the T/D make that much of a difference?

[carts]

Found all engine specs at Marks 4WD Adapters.
http://www.marks4wd.com/misc_info/engin ... andcruiser

While the petrol has more power/torque, the T/D produces it lower down. Does anyone have any dyno graphs of the two? Does the low down torque of the T/D make that much of a difference?

After driving all engine configurations of the 80- 3f, 3fe, 1fzfe, 1hd-t, 1hz, 1hdf-t and a 1hz (aftermarket turbo), i would rank off the line acceleration best on the 1fzfe. I actually thought the 1hdf-t was a slug right off the line. It wasnt until about 1500-1600rpm you can feel it start to pick up, then its good. 2000rpm up its great (1hdf-t), but by that stage, the 1fzfe has got it beat again. Personally, i think the 1hd-t has better bottom end than its multivalve counterpart, but the multivalve is heaps better in the top end. Aftermarket turbo on the 1hz impresses me more than both factory motors though for low down grunt stakes, but fuel economy is nothing to write home about in comparison.

3f, 3fe- dont go there.

I have a 97 40th auto 1fzfe, and the auto goes really well for what it is. Fuel consumption around town is crap at 20L/100km, but highway running, i can get it in the low 14's. On the highway, the auto has a much better overdrive than the manual, hence why it can get better fuel economy on the highway. At 110km/h the auto is roughly doing 2200rpm, whereas the manual is doing about 2750rpm.

At the end of the day, diesel people will be diesel people, petrol people will be petrol people. Both have as many good points as bad points.

[shanegtr]

dont know what the costs/availbility of petrol in remote NT is, but here in the north west I'd favour diesel myself. Its a much better fuel choice for remote areas

$1.37 litre.

friend at alice said $1.85 litre. f^%k that.

Thats a good price for petrol. Last fill I had here, diesel was $1.45 and petrol was $1.51

[jsttry]

Is there much work involved in getting a petrol 80 series to do water crossings. Nothing extremely long, just a bit of a splash over the bonnet.

[guzzla]

Getting it safe for water crossings is as easy as having a snorkel fitted.

Its when you want to or may have to go charging through waterholes etc that the following help as well. note that doing the following costs next to nix - just a bit of your time.....

You can also move the coil from the passenger shock tower (very suseptible to water splashes which can cause it splutter and stall) up higher - i bolted mine to the back of the battery tray there is enough cable as is to move it.

The ignighter which is a little silver box bolter near the top of the passenger guard can have a splash shield mad but its not critical though thtas where my 3rd battery sits so its naturally covered now.

I have done fast flowing water crossings with water upto the windscreen with no problems with these mods.

hope this helps

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

I would go a Turbo diesel but if you know the history and get a good price a petrol is ok.