Hello,
I am interested to hear from people who own a 150 Series Diesel Auto OR Manual. In Oct “11 I placed a deposit for a Prado GXL 150 D4D Manual, after some thought I took a stab and changed it to an Auto. As no dealer anywhere near me has either to test drive I’ve posted this question to see what other owners think. Gotta do something to kill my time for the March/April delivery...
PS Yes I’ve read many forum posts about Auto’s/Manuals (PradoPoint has a few good ones) but want to ask a few specific questions.
1. Is the Prado 150 Diesel Auto a “Drivers” car OR is it just a car people drive to get somewhere? Does that make sense?
I mean a vehicle that you jump in and have fun driving, perhaps allowing you to re-live
your teenage youth (until you realise you’re not in a Bugatti Veyron or in the WRC).
My last 4x 4WD’s have been manual’s (’99 Sierra, ’00 Pajero, ’88 LC Bunderra Diesel, ‘02 GU Patrol) and I would have hated every single one in an Auto version. I’ve had many Auto’s for work vehicles including 2x GU Patrols and they were certainly not cars that I enjoyed driving. The Auto Box just did not do any justice to the power plant.
Yes I’m a “manual man” but sometimes the manufacturer just gets it right! We owned a Ford Falcon BF XR6 with the German ZF 6-Speed Auto and this was purely FANTASTIC! Responsive perfectly timed gear changes, adaptive to the driver, changed down 1-2 gears when going downhill on the brakes, etc
So is the Auto in the Prado like the XR6 or a power sucking mis-matched excuse for those that can’t (or don’t want to) drive a manual?
2. Does anyone know the 0-100km/h specs for the Manual & Auto? Couldn’t find on Redbook.
3. Does the Auto change down gears to assist with engine braking (I live in a VERY hilly area)?
4. Is the Auto Adaptive to drivers mood/driving style?
5. DAC (Down hill Assist Control) work in reverse??
Lets say you drive up a difficult (single track) assent, you get ¾ the way up and for whatever reason you decide to abort and reverse down. In a Manual you may perform a Stall (if not already stalled), put both brakes on, change into LOW reverse, gently release brakes, and start the engine over then use the engine braking to control your decent.
What the heck do you do in an Auto? Does DAC help in this situation?
6. Is the Transmission overheating issue with Auto D4D’s fixed for new vehicles? I read that it could in part be as a result of software that short shifts the gears to maximize fuel consumption and use the torque curve of the engine. Do Toyota only change the programming for customers that complain of this issue?
7. What the Auto like for towing? Have a Offroad Camper trailer that could reach 1,000kg fully loaded. Does the Manual outshine here?
Well that’s it. Thanks to all that got this far, and especially those that take the time to respond.
I am interested to hear from people who own a 150 Series Diesel Auto OR Manual. In Oct “11 I placed a deposit for a Prado GXL 150 D4D Manual, after some thought I took a stab and changed it to an Auto. As no dealer anywhere near me has either to test drive I’ve posted this question to see what other owners think. Gotta do something to kill my time for the March/April delivery...
PS Yes I’ve read many forum posts about Auto’s/Manuals (PradoPoint has a few good ones) but want to ask a few specific questions.
1. Is the Prado 150 Diesel Auto a “Drivers” car OR is it just a car people drive to get somewhere? Does that make sense?
I mean a vehicle that you jump in and have fun driving, perhaps allowing you to re-live
your teenage youth (until you realise you’re not in a Bugatti Veyron or in the WRC).
My last 4x 4WD’s have been manual’s (’99 Sierra, ’00 Pajero, ’88 LC Bunderra Diesel, ‘02 GU Patrol) and I would have hated every single one in an Auto version. I’ve had many Auto’s for work vehicles including 2x GU Patrols and they were certainly not cars that I enjoyed driving. The Auto Box just did not do any justice to the power plant.
Yes I’m a “manual man” but sometimes the manufacturer just gets it right! We owned a Ford Falcon BF XR6 with the German ZF 6-Speed Auto and this was purely FANTASTIC! Responsive perfectly timed gear changes, adaptive to the driver, changed down 1-2 gears when going downhill on the brakes, etc
So is the Auto in the Prado like the XR6 or a power sucking mis-matched excuse for those that can’t (or don’t want to) drive a manual?
2. Does anyone know the 0-100km/h specs for the Manual & Auto? Couldn’t find on Redbook.
3. Does the Auto change down gears to assist with engine braking (I live in a VERY hilly area)?
4. Is the Auto Adaptive to drivers mood/driving style?
5. DAC (Down hill Assist Control) work in reverse??
Lets say you drive up a difficult (single track) assent, you get ¾ the way up and for whatever reason you decide to abort and reverse down. In a Manual you may perform a Stall (if not already stalled), put both brakes on, change into LOW reverse, gently release brakes, and start the engine over then use the engine braking to control your decent.
What the heck do you do in an Auto? Does DAC help in this situation?
6. Is the Transmission overheating issue with Auto D4D’s fixed for new vehicles? I read that it could in part be as a result of software that short shifts the gears to maximize fuel consumption and use the torque curve of the engine. Do Toyota only change the programming for customers that complain of this issue?
7. What the Auto like for towing? Have a Offroad Camper trailer that could reach 1,000kg fully loaded. Does the Manual outshine here?
Well that’s it. Thanks to all that got this far, and especially those that take the time to respond.
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