Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

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

so i wanna no does any petrol owners wish they had diesel and visa versa which generally do people think is the best advantages and disadvantages of both?

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

I have a petrol and on occasion wish I had the diesel. The main reason is travelling in groups, most vehicles are Dieso and as such carry spare Dieso and associated parts where as when you are the lone ULP vehicle then you have to rely on yourself for everything (fuel, parts etc).

Also, personally I think Diesos are easier to work on and there is more option for realistic engine mods (chips etc) whereas the Petrol rigs are considerably limited.

The down side of Dieso vehicles (second hand at least) is they are much more expensive and unfortunately that was a deciding factor when I got mine. But in all honesty I am certainly note disappointed with the performace of the petrol engine overall.

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Thank you very much for your opinion that is true parts and spare petty is always a problem and i will be faced with the same problem most trucks are diesel...water crossings would also be better in a diesel too i spose...mmm

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Make sure you drive a Diesel first before you buy....they are no speed machine by any means...

Often with overtaking its better not to plant the foot as that will make the auto change down to 3rd. The best performance of the engine is at low revs & runs out of puff anything over 3500rpm (redline is 4500)...a chip for the engine would help with this though.

If loaded & with a trailer & a head wind I could only just maintain 110 on the freeway & being an auto it kept wanting to change out of overdrive & into 3rd which was probably safer for the gearbox anyway.

That aside the Diesel has much better engine braking even in the auto & the auto loves the sand

Cheers

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Well i was ddefinatly going manual so that might help a little bit but wow that is a little lack lustre only being able to maintain 110?

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Hi Fellas. Manual 90 series has a lower overall gearing than auto so will pull better in top with a load on behind. Mine runs around 2300 RPM or so at 100 k's. this is smack bang in the power range so is good for towing. And - yeah they are no speed machine. Around 140 - 145 tops. The auto's are good for around the ton. The diesel manual has the advantage of damn good engine braking so good for towing. You will find you dont use the brakes very often. I wouldn't swap mine for quids. Cheers, Derb.

[IvanTejada Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close IvanTejada]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

I simply love the 1kzte diesel engine, love its sound, the turbo sound, all the torque i feel on the wheels when i acelerate its amazing. Ive never liked the petrol engine, it sounds so bad and at least on my country the diesel is cheaper than the petrol.

and ive been in some off road adventures along with some petrol prados and there where places where the petrol prados got stuck and i had no issues.

[K & M McF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close K & M McF]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Back in 1999 when we bought our Prado new, they did not have the turbo diesel. If they had, I would have purchased. I have driven both TD and petrol Prados of all models (work and play) and the TD is far superior to the petrol for all uses. If you can get a TD, do it.

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Back in 1999 when we bought our Prado new, they did not have the turbo diesel. If they had, I would have purchased. I have driven both TD and petrol Prados of all models (work and play) and the TD is far superior to the petrol for all uses. If you can get a TD, do it.

Looks like that is what ill do!

Thank you all for the reply's sounds like TD is the go

[pradoman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pradoman]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Hi Mate, I have a 97 Grande auto with no mods other than suspension that i fitted. Just came back from Beachport S.A, where i did some sanddunes and beach driving.
My prado is a petrol , and had no problems with it. I used to have a turbo diesel, and blew the turbo up, which cost a bomb to fix it. Diesel is great, but in my opinion, petrol is just as good.

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

I have a 3.4 V6 and it performs very well. To say the Diesel is far superior to petrol when talking about the 90 series is in my opinion rubbish.

Having done an outback trip, Simpson Desert through to Alice then Finke River, Boggy Hole etc onto Uluru then back, travelling off road where possible.
Plus a Cape York trip, the proper way up the OTL, in the company of diesel 4wd's I can say the petrol Prado does as well as the diesels.

Across the desert the only vehicles to use less fuel was a 4 cyl petrol Hilux (5L less over 620 kms) and a D3 (10L less over the 620 kms), the diesel 90 series and the diesel Jeep both used more fuel.

The benefits of diesel over petrol are normally better fuel consumption and longer engine life. We know the 3.4 V6 has excellent durability so engine life is not that great a factor with a 90 series.
The down side of diesels in the past has been shall we say "average" performance. The newer common rail type engines perform better and that is no longer a downside although these engines are not fitted to the 90 series (well not normally :wink: ) however there is a school of thought that this improved performance is at the cost of engine life (yet to be proven)
So the main issue tends to fuel consumption/range with the 90 series at the expense of performance.
As stated a diesel will cost more to buy initially but you should recoup some of that when or if you sell. Servicing costs are higher on older diesels compared to petrols but again not a major factor I believe.

In summary I believe unless the better range is of major importance you should just get the BEST condition 90 series you can, petrol or diesel will both perform well. A good petrol 90 will be a far better vehicle than a poor diesel and vice versa. And I think you will find many more petrol ones to look at.

Have fun deciding :lol:

Lee

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

This stupid computer Im going to throw one day, I just went on here to add to this and it deleted what I had written grrrrrrrrrrr :x :x :x

[westy90 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close westy90]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

I'm running a 2001 petrol vx that I have put onto lpg. Yes, range is lost but the car is very cheap to run now. uses around 17l per 100kms on lpg. At 65 cents a litre that around $11 to drive 100kms in the city. Highway probably around 14l/100kms.

other advantage is how incredibly clean the oil stays. After 10 000 kms there is only a small discolouration. Hopefully the motor will last long time.

Power? Slightly less than petrol but a bit more right boot and that problem is fixed.

So, yes, you lose some range, but the money you save put towards your wish list..So now you have another option to confuse you more!

Adam

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

Poor buggar wont know which way to go now LOL. I converted mine to lpg 6 months before I sold it, was the main reason as petrol hit $1.70 a litre and had no chance of selling it, wacked it on gas kept it 6 months to get my $$ back then sold it to first buyer. Personally I hated the LPG and had issues with it on hot days, part of the reason I sold it. My mate is going to QLD in march in his 06 VX 120 4L V6 so he is going to keep exact fuel figures for me and let me know how it goes. He got 1300k out of his last 120 04 model but that had the 4 speed auto his 06 has the 5 speed so will be interesting to see any difference. He has 6 on board (4 adults 2 kids) and runs the aircon all the time so it will be loaded and also pulls out one of the rear dickis seats for luggage. There a great vehicle, nice and quit and plenty of grunt, but you lose with steep down hill runs due to petrol then auto on top of that (his VX has down hill assist so not really an issue I suppose ) Regards Steve M

I'm running a 2001 petrol vx that I have put onto lpg. Yes, range is lost but the car is very cheap to run now. uses around 17l per 100kms on lpg. At 65 cents a litre that around $11 to drive 100kms in the city. Highway probably around 14l/100kms.

other advantage is how incredibly clean the oil stays. After 10 000 kms there is only a small discolouration. Hopefully the motor will last long time.

Power? Slightly less than petrol but a bit more right boot and that problem is fixed.

So, yes, you lose some range, but the money you save put towards your wish list..So now you have another option to confuse you more!

Adam

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

Re: Petrol or Turbo Diesel 90???

[quote="Steve M"]Poor buggar wont know which way to go now LOL. I converted mine to lpg 6 months before I sold it, was the main reason as petrol hit $1.70 a litre and had no chance of selling it, wacked it on gas kept it 6 months to get my $$ back then sold it to first buyer. Personally I hated the LPG and had issues with it on hot days, part of the reason I sold it. My mate is going to QLD in march in his 06 VX 120 4L V6 so he is going to keep exact fuel figures for me and let me know how it goes. He got 1300k out of his last 120 04 model but that had the 4 speed auto his 06 has the 5 speed so will be interesting to see any difference. He has 6 on board (4 adults 2 kids) and runs the aircon all the time so it will be loaded and also pulls out one of the rear dickis seats for luggage. There a great vehicle, nice and quit and plenty of grunt, but you lose with steep down hill runs due to petrol then auto on top of that (his VX has down hill assist so not really an issue I suppose ) Regards Steve M

I have got 1300k out of one fill up on my 90 series Petrol Auto Prado. (Brisbane to Sydney and a few days driving around)
If driven correctly they will use very little fuel.
On a side note though, when you go off road with an auto and you get to a steep down hill section, forget about using low range, leave it in high range (locked), and use the ABS to get you down hill safely, as it is still active in high range, it disengages in low range. I have done this many times and it works.