Outer Limits 4x4 Board

G'day all,

I am thinking now of buying a Prado. A good all round car for what I need.
Just a couple of quieries though....
Which are the better motors for efficiency & power? 3L TD or the 4L V6 Petrol? I have a family and will be doing the occasional long runs, frequent off road missions looking for fishing spots etc. with the view to towing a smallish boat in the near future. I have heard the 4L gets around 13L/100km. What does the 3L do?
Also I have heard that the size of the Prado interior etc. is the same now as it was in the 2003 GXL model. Is this true? Or is the newer models bigger inside, in particular the back compartment.
Any info. help etc. you can provide to help me decide would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

The new 3.0 td gets under 10L/100.
The petrol won't be getting close to 13L/100 when towing - a friend's Grande 4.0 averages 15L/100 all-round city/hwy/4wding.

Personally I'd go the TD, except for the width in the middle seats for my 3 kids...

My sisters got a fairly new prado, the kids get car sick in the third row of seats as the airconditioning doesn't have vents to the back in her model.

Good point..I will keep that in mind. Are the 3L TD reliable?

Go the 3L TD. a good mate of mine picked up his new prado a month ago. I took it for a drive last week and swear you can't tell it is diesel. It is so quiet!

It also has the pickup of a petrol. The 6 speed is a good editon.

Take both for a test drive, but i don't think you will go to wrong the the 3L TD.

At one stage a review of the Prado stated that the Turbo Diesel has better economy than a Mazda 323 ! ! !
For a mid sized 4wd that's really pretty impressive. Especially as many of them have a huge (IIRC - 180litre) fuel capacity standard, so even at 10L/100Km that's going to get you 1800kms between servo's, and I've heard they can be driven below the 10L/100Kms.

It's what I'm seriously thinking of replacing my kettle with.

The 4.0V6 is a very impressive engine, and for outright performance I expect it will beat the diesel.

But that doesn't mean the diesel is a bad performer, and for fuel economy - there's no contest.

Buy the diesel.

I was in the market for a new 4x4 in the last few months.I test drove the new d4d prado auto and what a fantastic engine/auto combination.As someone else said sooo quiet for a diesel and pulls like a big six diesel.I did alot of research on the new prado and I could not find anything negative about it at all.I was very close to buying but I had to take into account the amount $$ involved in modfications(lack of clearence/protection)so I went for a fullsize rig instead because I wanted something bigger/stronger to start with.

Are were talking the latest models here? Is there much difference in say a 2003 or 2004 model to the latest models 2006/07? Other than say about $12-15K. The shape I am told changed in the late 03 models and has stayed the same size/shape etc. since.

Well from what I know..

Late 04- prado v6 went from 4 to 5 speed auto.
Nov 06-Turbo diesel went comman rail diesel (Hilux engine with more power 127kw/410nm)and 5 speed auto from big brother landcruiser.

Depends on your budget but I would go 5 speed auto,excellent strong auto in either pet/diesel.

My budget is probably maxed out at $35K so I guess I will struggle with trying to get anything beyond late 03. May even find it hard to get a 3.0TD. What do you reckon? Would like to but obviously cannot afford the newer models.
Are the late 03 (newer shape) & 04 3.0TD models okay?

The earlier TD was considered a great motor (smooth, quiet, economical) when it was released, but the state of the art jumped not long after. There's nothing inherently wrong with it - just no longer competitive against the new stuff.

From memory, power is around 96kW, torque about 320Nm.

So for power it maybe worth sacrificing a little economy and going for the 4L Petrol which I believe has alot more guts even though I am in a country environment.

Mate had a 2000 model Prado 3ltr. Couldnt fault it for comfort on and off road. It was modified, locked, lifted, chipped. The only issue i had was with the front CV's (2 in six months) but i did use it as an off roader. Are you limiting to a Prado or just a midsized 4x4? Consider the Paj, or even the Disco? But i'd goe for the oils over the petrol - nice and smooth these days.

Not limited to the Prado but have heard that they good all round vehicles. I like the 3.2 DID Paj but a bit pricey for me.
Stick with diesel ya reckon hey? Interesting alot of people are saying that. Are they just more robust and fuel efficient than the petrol?

MagicFev wrote:Not limited to the Prado but have heard that they good all round vehicles.

Agree - they are but if you use/abuse offroad be aware of the limitations.

MagicFev wrote:I like the 3.2 DID Paj but a bit pricey for me.?

Fair enough - What about the Pommy cars

MagicFev wrote: Stick with diesel ya reckon hey? Interesting alot of people are saying that. Are they just more robust and fuel efficient than the petrol?

Fuel these days is comparable in the econnomy they all sux offroad but the offroading in a diesel (stock Standard) is to be experienced - torque, more torque and torque. The 3.5ltr Paj I had was great - did what i wanted but did run away down hill and did need revs in climbs, the 3ltr Prado would crawl all day but it was chipped in the end so the response was alot better than standard. Both were Manuals - now have a 3lt Troll Auto and the auto makes it easy - I miss driving a car but i love the ease of auto. Though it runs away on hills so rockcrawlers may go in . But for a Medium 4x4 - Prado, Paj, Disco - Defender(rural feel) - fields a little limited - good luck but I'd go Oiler over Petrol.

In looking at it, yes 3l TD looks better than the petrol 4.0. I'm not going to be doing the real hard yards offroad. So I guess the petrol would be better suited to me. I will be probably be doing more beach runs, boat towing etc. rather than full on offroad tracks. However after viewing the Toyota website the 3.0 TD apparently is far more economical with around 9L/100kms where as the 4.0 petrol is around 13L/100km. The 4.0 Petrol late 03/04 second hand is around $38K where as the 3.0TD 03/04 is around $42+K which is what I have been looking at and trying to decide. Also the running repairs would be slightly cheaper with the 4.0 than the 3.0TD I would imagine. Cost vs Economy I guess. hmmmmm..????????

The diesel will be better for towing, more low torque. With the rear seats removed Ive found the Prado has better use of space, more usable room than my '94 NJ Pajero.
All so, the Prado in standard form works better off road than the Pajero. But the Pajero has much better protection: ie steel plates not plastic and will carry a load better. The Prado will need heavyer springs in the rear when towing and loaded up.
Don't have any experience with 2000 +Pajero but that's what I'm looking at (2003 models with traction control) With the new model out now, some good used models are coming on to the market.
My wish list: '03/04 GLS DiD Auto or maybe new Jeep unlimited Sport Diesel 6speed/M.

Yes looked at the Pajero. Nice beast. Especially the 3.2 DID. However they looked smaller in the back than the Prado.