Which box do you tick ??

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

I think the auto TD is a bit of a slug compared to the new D4D auto, but if you aren't in a hurry to get to your journeys end and you are not worried about over taking every slow moving vehicle, is the power really an issue ? I believe a D4D will easily do the tonne

Diesel was always half the price of super for many years so I guess it has done the circle.

I return a minimum 1500-1600km and two jerries returns ~2000km mark. Personally I much prefer sitting on 200+ lts of diesel than the equivalent of ULP due to its reduced explosive nature.

Some further questions:

What is the future of ULP vehicles when Peak Oil has its effects, other than ethanol what will you run a V6 on ??

Diesel has many alternative sources but has the D4D become to refined on crude oil diesel to accept slightly inferior fuel ??

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

What is the future of ULP vehicles when Peak Oil has its effects, other than ethanol what will you run a V6 on ??

gas :wink:

[Spurio Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spurio]

Is there any one on here who has done the full conversion to gas ??

If so, what kind of economy are you achieving ??

I had an old bronco that ran both and I had endless troubles until I ran it exclusively on LPG. It was amazing the difference, I should have done it earlier.

[martybuzz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close martybuzz]

What is the future of ULP vehicles when Peak Oil has its effects, other than ethanol what will you run a V6 on ??

gas :wink:

Is it a by product of oil? http://www.e-lpg.com/lp_gas_faqgen.asp#c

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Whilst I love my D4D Prado I would think very carefully of getting another in 4 years time unless something is done to reduce the cost of diesel by then. I doubt that will ever happen, if the price difference is large enough then I would opt back into a petrol or Toyota may even bring out a LPG Prado by then.

[lofty Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lofty]

Am i missing something here or is this not exactly the same question as is being discussed in http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=3146 at the moment :? :?: :lol:

[waifamily Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waifamily]

Ive had my D4D prado up to 185kph.(NB: with chip and exhaust done)
My old 4ltr Vx struggled at 170kph.

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

i bought my diesel because of the proven reliability and economy. but that reliability and economy comes with regular servicing, while they need a service 5000km i think this is a small price to pay for an engine that should get an easy 300000km or so, im not saying that the petrol engines cant get these sorts of km. what i am saying is that ou generally have to spend a little more on a diesel on the servicing side but you r rewarded with something that runs like a swiss watch. as to the performance side of things, the old diesel is buy no means a speed machine, it will easily do the wrong side of the speed limit, i get good figures , around 1300 to 1400km per tank and it suits my driving style. yes sometimes overtaking can be a little heart in mouth but, just need a little but for road or a chip and exhaust. having own a v6 4 runner before i wa very suprised how the td handles the sand, i recken the prado is a better vehicle in the sand because the torque comes on heaps earlier than the v6. But as matt said the gap between the performance of d4d versus the v6 has closed a heap. is it worth the extra 25cents pr litre between diesel and unleaded, i dont think it is, diesel is to expensive seeing it is more easily refined than unleaded, but if ya want a diesel you have to pay the price, thats my 2 cents samo

[plucker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close plucker]

How do petrols go in water crossings.
In the old days with the HQ, I used to have a can of WD40 ready just in case some water splashed on the electrics.

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

The performance / economy differences between Petrols and Diesels is certainly narrowing. No question about it. I wonder what sort of engine a 4 cyl turbo petrol engine would be? Now if you could switch off some of the cylinders in the V6 like the latest engines can do and have them come back online when you put your foot down then I really wonder how the economy figures would stack up. Turbo the petrol in the mix and things could get even more interesting.

In the real world though, diesel should be far far cheaper to refine from crude than petrol is. I'm not 100% on the refining process but I believe more energy is required to produce petrol from crude than is required for diesel. Diesel should be cheaper at the bowser for that exact reason. Added to this is the ability to produce a diesel fuel from cooking oil and now I also read about producing diesel using coal. Some years ago I also saw a documentary detailing engine oil based on Aloe Vera plant extracts if I remember correctly. However, modern diesels now require further refining to remove sulphur and other nasties, which must bring the costs of refining petrol and diesel closer together.

The fact that petrols are easily converted to run on Natural Gas (from stand alone gas fields), or Petoleum Gas (Oil drilling by product) is a huge plus for me going forward. I just paid $1.73 for diesel. Gas at that same station was 60c a litre. I even heard reports this week that there is no reason you couldn't plug your gas vehicle into your house gas lines to fill up. Then, there's no extra handling of the gas which should make it even cheaper. Apparently, Australia has natural gas reserves in abundance. We sell HUGE volumes of gas overseas to countries who have already woken up to the fact that gas is the next big thing. The only issue with gas right now is being able to get it away from the city. But given time this will change. I read and hear that you don't get the same power / performance from gas that you do from petrol / diesel, so you'll need more to go the same distance.

The petrol and diesel price difference at the moment which is up to a good 30c a litre must be basically negating any economy headway the diesels currently have. Unless we find more oil, petrol and diesel prices won't go down any time soon. There's too many issues with the energy inputs required for biofuels and the reluctance of vehicle manufacturers to support it.

I've driven diesels all my life and my current D4D is simply an amazing machine when compared with diesels of even just a few years ago. However I'm not at all sure my next vehicle will be diesel. I drove a 88 diesel hilux for years and if you want to know what "trouble with passing" on the highway is like then get yourself one. The D4D gives me more than enough boot to pass trucks in good order, even going up hills which i was never able to do before. I see so many people belting past me with precious little road to spare and me already doing 110km/h. Maybe with more powerful vehicles our expectations of being able to pass when we want has become a little misguided. If you want to know what having to wait for the right opportunity to pass is like then go get that 88 diesel hilux.

Basic Diesel engines of yore hardly ever went wrong. Certainly the 3L in my hilux was basically bulletproof. Modern diesels have a lot of electrics hanging off them, the price for extra performance I suppose. I really wonder now about how bulletproof the D4D really is. Time will tell I suppose.

Thats my 3c....

[boof Member Find all posts View Profile Close boof]

Its my understanding that the later diesel engines while closing the gap are also making themselves suffer the same dramas that people preferred them over petrol for. They have just as much electronics, and with the fuel situation they require a more refined fuel and can suffer badly from bad fuel. I am not 100% if the more refinement costs less or more than petrol but it may be a contributing factor to the higher diesel price.

I am a petrol fan and am more than happy with the economy and performance of our V6 and in the long run the cheaper fuel, cheaper servicing and cheaper purchase price will no doubt cover over the extra consumption costs. I cant see me buying a diesel at this stage but who knows what the future holds.