Have a V6, should I swap over to a D4D?

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

On the range discussion, the diesel is great in the Vic high country, while the petrols are on their trip off somewhere, some town hours away to get fuel for the next 2 days, Diesel owners are relaxing back at camp, the diesel will last twice as long out there, usually no need for inconvenient refuelling.

No need to be nervous about owning a 1kd if you do as the expert tells you.

Fuel contamination is out of our control, lucky it's accidental damage & we have insurance. No biggy.

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Yes! Me. For any outback trips I remove both the middle and back rows of seats. Close on 90kg saved!! For the CSR I had 6 jerries [petrol] tied down with ratchet straps across where the middle row of seats were, as well as 50 l of water. All the weight is thus down low and in the centre of the car. All 6 jerries were tested by being half filled with petrol and left in the summer sun for a few hours. If they leaked they were chucked. There has never been any smell of fuel in the car and the jerries aren't filled until the last fuel stop before the desert eg. Willuna, so no highway speeds with inside fuel. Each night a jerry can be emptied into the main tank so by the end of the trip no fuel is inside the car! Incidently, Willuna to Well 23 refuel was about 18 l/100km and from there to the top especially after Well 33 was about 24 l/100. All of the Simpson from Oodnadatta to Birdsville covering most of the tracks ie not a straight line, was done with about 160 l ie about 24 l/100km. The V6 auto trick on dunes is high range first gear and about 1600-1800rpm where there is a huge amount of torque and plenty of power if you need to put your foot down. Rev the crap out of it like you see in some 4wd mags and you will use a lot more and break stuff. In the desert the relatively flat bits between the dunes is where you can save fuel with a light foot. I have not [yet] done the Madigans Line but I know that each end there are a lot of kms of ok track where consumption will be a LOT better than the dune consumption. So yes ,the V6 is fine for the occasional desert foray! The desert highways -Great Central Rd etc are a non issue as far as fue rangel is concerned.

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Hey,

x4 Jerrys = 70kg
spare = 30kg
gas bottle = 18kg
chairs = 4kg
awning = 10kg???
tent = 3kg
shovel = 3kg
rack = 30kg???

So maybe more like 160-170kg I reckon.

Best

Mark

Have you told your insurance company? I can see things going awfully wrong if you are involved in a bingle with that sort of load on the roof...

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Apparently another advantage of the diesel is stability, as you don't need to carry as much weight on your roof Rack!

Cheers Andrew

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

If you are doing huge trips, obviously it's much safer to carry diesel over fumy petrol. Diesel smells ok, petrol is rank. Grab a headache.
You don't really want your petrol out in the hot sun & 40 degree heat, well I don't.

Now I wonder is the o.p doing long trips? Or busy giggling at some of these replies?

[topic97 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close topic97]

As far as I'm concerned, in a Prado the whole V6 v Diesel is a moot point.
No one has been able to come up with significant data to show that a Diesel is THAT much more economical, or more importantly, cost saving when you take into account servicing costs etc.

Other 4X4's that are carrying around a lot more weight stock like cruisers etc, then yes it does become a significant factor.
But I don't think it matters with Prados, and if you already have your rig totally set up, you are going to have to invest a decent amount of money swapping over to a diesel to get it back to what yours currently is!

If its that much of a hassle & you are worried about economy as a daily, buy a cheap little shitbox as a daily driver & keep your prado for the long trips & offroad excursions!!

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

I am expecting to take delivery of my customised 3.9l V6 twin turbo Cummins diesel. Now this is the limited edition that pulls 10.2 seconds on a quarter mile based on an equivalent weighted drive train to that of the Prado. Also having to slot in a modified auto trans which is basically a custom jobbie straight from the US of A. The downside? I have to remove the second battery to make it all fit.

The package will give me 150HP+, slightly shy of the Toyota V8 D-4D, but more overall power, reliability and fuel economy than either the petrol v6 or the D-4Detonation.

Thanks

Oh, when? well it should all come together right after I take my hand off it and wake up..... buy a bigger car if you're not happy with what you got.

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

Nice work. MLC..


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[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

+1

Doing the Simpson without carrying spare fuel in a V6? Hmm...

I drive a 5 speed auto petrol 120. ARB bar, driving lights, 2" lift, BFG's, snorkel, roof basket with 2nd spare + other stuff (within limits), 2 aux batteries, 2 x fridges, 2 adults and 2 kids towing a soft floor CT with water etc. Filled up at Mt Dare and the scan gauge said I had 2L left at the base of Big Red when I tipped a jerry can in. If you are not towing you would make it to Birdsville.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I drive a 5 speed auto petrol 120. ARB bar, driving lights, 2" lift, BFG's, snorkel, roof basket with 2nd spare + other stuff (within limits), 2 aux batteries, 2 x fridges, 2 adults and 2 kids towing a soft floor CT with water etc. Filled up at Mt Dare and the scan gauge said I had 2L left at the base of Big Red when I tipped a jerry can in. If you are not towing you would make it to Birdsville.

Just for comparison, with a very similarly set up Prado and CT, I used 135lts of Diesel Mount Dare to Birdsville.

That was via the Rig road, WAA, French and QAA lines.


Cheers Andrew

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

I used about 160l Oodndatta to Birdsville. On lots of trips with people with D4D prados they use consistently about 30% less fuel under all conditions to my V6auto. At 30,000 km a year this would be a pain but my usual is less than 10,000 so it makes buggerall difference and if I do a big trip like I have just done [14500km] I just suck up the difference safe in the knowledge that my friend who had a 100 ser petrol auto on the same trip used 30% more than me. Horses for courses. If I was to change to diesel it would be to a 150 not a later 120 but then the crap layout of the rear seats would drive me crazy.

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

Thanks for all the replies and advice guys, wow! Sorry i haven't replied, i had to fly up to site urgently and wasn't near a computer.

Lots of contrasting opinions here as expected. For myself the range isn't really a consideration at all. I barely have time to get away for more than a weekend as it is so i can't see myself doing anything remote in the near future. (Although I dream about it daily). I was just mainly after a cheaper week to week running cost as it does put me off going away knowing what my fuel usage is going to be.

Doing my maths I'd love the D4D for the weekly costs but really don't like the outlay for maintenance. I also don't like my chances of finding another VX in the condition of mine.

My head is spinning now with options haha

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

In your case Rosie I think the answer is pretty obvious. the three big costs in owning a vehicle are.

Devaluation: the Diesel wins hands down here, but as you already own the V6 you have already taken that hit, as you say in your original post you are looking 5-10k to upgrade to the diesel,.

Fuel: Once again the Diesel wins hands down here, opinions vary but the figure of 30% that has been thrown out in this thread is probably around the mark. Even at a 30% saving your going to take a very long time to recoup your upgrade costs.

Maintenance: The Petrol would be cheaper here, how much would depend on who you believe.

So in your case sticking with the devil you know seems to be the only logical answer to me.

In my case however having owned 2 Diesel Prado's from new, I am in front by tens of thousands of dollars over the 10 years of ownership. Everyones circumstances are different though, so each individual needs to do the sums based on their situation.

Cheers Andrew

[awwricecracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close awwricecracker]

Something else with the petrol, I enjoy driving my v6 120 a couple of laps around bogged 150 diesels at the river before getting in position to pull them out. The power on tap in low range with the auto is unbeatable.

[Mattfunk 120 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattfunk 120]

Something else with the petrol, I enjoy driving my v6 120 a couple of laps around bogged 150 diesels at the river before getting in position to pull them out. The power on tap in low range with the auto is unbeatable.

Are you sure the diesels aren't waiting beside the river to pull the petrols out that drown while crossing? 😃