2018 Prado

[bigowenb]

Regarding the nudge bar - from your photos it looks like the only place where it is secured (to the subframe?) is at either side of the bar about mid way down. It looks like there's a clear gap at the top and bottom of the bars, where the steel is very close to the bumper. Is that correct? We're still considering having one fitted.

About the tinted bonnet protector - that's an excellent piece of advice and something I hadn't even thought of. My gut instinct is to be very wary of any modification that decreases the drivability of the vehicle. I'll have to give it some serious thought, luckily I have plenty of time for that. I'm wondering if you are already noticing yourself looking through your bonnet protector much?

It was hard to see the 2 mounting points on each side in those photos so took a couple more.......one bracket is about mid way down and the other is at the bottom and attaches where the bash plate is fixed, both are fixed to the chassis rail. The cut end of the Nudge Bar is at the closest point 12mm from the bumper, its very solid here because of the bottom bracket.

Maybe get the dealer to hold the tinted bonnet protector on the front of yours when it arrives and see what you think.

[hergy]

Had my first play with the Kakadu's Driving Mode Select today. Mindful of only having 300km's on the clock decided to try it out. There are 3 buttons with 5 selections.....Comfort, Eco, Normal, Sport S & Sport S+......didn't bother trying the Comfort(softens suspension) or Eco(maximises low fuel consumption). Pressed the Sport S button(maximises engine and transmission response) and WOW!!! It's like cracking a whip, completely different Prado to drive, it's incredible the extra acceleration response from the engine and transmission! Then pressed the button again and it goes into Sport S+(maximises engine, transmission, steering and suspension response)......BLOODY HELL!! now that's FUN to drive!!! Driving Mode Select + KDSS......makes it worth every cent spent on the Kakadu, only criticism is it defaults back to Normal mode after every re-start.

cant wait till i get mine in February, altough the high Beam issue has me concerned, we do alot of country night driving.

Hergy

[Snouto]

No. Married for 36 years, just sensible...lol...... Black will be ok for the urban jungle, take the car bush and you will see what i mean.....

Hergy

Scratches and dirty, yes?

[hergy]

As any smart husband knows, happy wife=happy life.......me's suspects hergy is single!lol

No. Married for 36 years, just sensible...lol...... Black will be ok for the urban jungle, take the car bush and you will see what i mean.....

Hergy

[bigowenb]

Had my first play with the Kakadu's Driving Mode Select today. Mindful of only having 300km's on the clock decided to try it out. There are 3 buttons with 5 selections.....Comfort, Eco, Normal, Sport S & Sport S+......didn't bother trying the Comfort(softens suspension) or Eco(maximises low fuel consumption). Pressed the Sport S button(maximises engine and transmission response) and WOW!!! It's like cracking a whip, completely different Prado to drive, it's incredible the extra acceleration response from the engine and transmission! Then pressed the button again and it goes into Sport S+(maximises engine, transmission, steering and suspension response)......BLOODY HELL!! now that's FUN to drive!!! Driving Mode Select + KDSS......makes it worth every cent spent on the Kakadu, only criticism is it defaults back to Normal mode after every re-start.

[Snouto]

Oh i'm very happy with the new Prado, the high beam is the biggest disappointment, the nudge bar does look good and is very solid, i'm just not happy with the way it's fitted(not the dealers fault either). As my wife regularly points out(as she rolls her eyes), i'm very anal about that sort of thing. As for bedding the engine in, Toyota does not recommend towing for the first 1000kms other than that I just drive it as normal. As for the bonnet protector, normally i choose the tinted one if it's a dark coloured car, they look good and then you can't see the retaining brackets. Don't like the tinted on light coloured cars because i think it looks like one big 'eyebrow'. The only warning I would give is the bonnet on the new Prado is significantly higher than before, the bottom of the Land Cruiser scoop is about the height of the old bonnet. From the drivers seat the bonnet protector adds about 1cm of height, a tinted one would cut out this much vision plus any vision gained by the scoop.

Regarding the nudge bar - from your photos it looks like the only place where it is secured (to the subframe?) is at either side of the bar about mid way down. It looks like there's a clear gap at the top and bottom of the bars, where the steel is very close to the bumper. Is that correct? We're still considering having one fitted.

About the tinted bonnet protector - that's an excellent piece of advice and something I hadn't even thought of. My gut instinct is to be very wary of any modification that decreases the drivability of the vehicle. I'll have to give it some serious thought, luckily I have plenty of time for that. I'm wondering if you are already noticing yourself looking through your bonnet protector much?

[bigowenb]

You mean LED highbeam is worse than the previous helogen? I saw some lc200 bi-led headlamp, that's very close to an aftermarket spotlight.

Absolutely, 100%!

[bigowenb]

Well that's just plain disappointing to hear and of course it's one of those things nobody will ever be able to check before purchasing the vehicle and driving away. In my case with no nudge bar I'll have nowhere to put after-market driving lights so I'll just have to make do with what I get; hopefully there wont be too many more nasty surprises like this.
Otherwise, how happy are you with your new motor and how does it feel driving it about? What's the advice on bedding in the engine? I imagine it'll be something like keeping the revs under 2000rpm for the first 500kms.
Thanks for the additional photos, the car looks great and the nudge actually fits in really well. I see you added a bonnet protector too like I have. As I'm buying with Peacock Black I'm wondering which version of the guard will be better - the clear one you have or the tinted version. I think it'll come down to the colour of the retaining clasps on the tinted version. If they're black I think the tinted version will work better, because I'm quite sure the steel clips on your guard will show up like a sore thumb on dark paint.

Oh i'm very happy with the new Prado, the high beam is the biggest disappointment, the nudge bar does look good and is very solid, i'm just not happy with the way it's fitted(not the dealers fault either). As my wife regularly points out(as she rolls her eyes), i'm very anal about that sort of thing. As for bedding the engine in, Toyota does not recommend towing for the first 800kms, plus a few other basic things in the first 1000kms like extreme speeds, sudden acceleration, continuously drive in low gears, other than that I just drive it as normal. As for the bonnet protector, normally i choose the tinted one if it's a dark coloured car, they look good and then you can't see the retaining brackets. Don't like the tinted on light coloured cars because i think it looks like one big 'eyebrow'. The only warning I would give is the bonnet on the new Prado is significantly higher than before, the bottom of the Land Cruiser scoop is about the height of the old bonnet. From the drivers seat the bonnet protector adds about 1cm of height, a tinted one would cut out this much vision plus any vision gained by the scoop.

[Snouto]

As any smart husband knows, happy wife=happy life.......me's suspects hergy is single!lol

Heh maybe, but I think he probably has a point. Black car = hot to the touch. Not only that, but we have black interior leather too. We'll be doing well not to scald ourselves within a metre of the vehicle!

[bigowenb]

I suspect you'll be right on that. I was tempted by the Dusty Bronze but the wife insisted on Peacock Black. C'est la vie.

As any smart husband knows, happy wife=happy life.......me's suspects hergy is single!lol

[Snouto]

you will regret the black

hergy

I suspect you'll be right on that. I was tempted by the Dusty Bronze but the wife insisted on Peacock Black. C'est la vie.

[hergy]

Well that's just plain disappointing to hear and of course it's one of those things nobody will ever be able to check before purchasing the vehicle and driving away. In my case with no nudge bar I'll have nowhere to put after-market driving lights so I'll just have to make do with what I get; hopefully there wont be too many more nasty surprises like this.
Otherwise, how happy are you with your new motor and how does it feel driving it about? What's the advice on bedding in the engine? I imagine it'll be something like keeping the revs under 2000rpm for the first 500kms.
Thanks for the additional photos, the car looks great and the nudge actually fits in really well. I see you added a bonnet protector too like I have. As I'm buying with Peacock Black I'm wondering which version of the guard will be better - the clear one you have or the tinted version. I think it'll come down to the colour of the retaining clasps on the tinted version. If they're black I think the tinted version will work better, because I'm quite sure the steel clips on your guard will show up like a sore thumb on dark paint.

you will regret the black

hergy

[[email protected]]

You mean LED highbeam is worse than the previous helogen? I saw some lc200 bi-led headlamp, that's very close to an aftermarket spotlight.

[Snouto]

Drove my new Prado at night last night for the first time......previous model had LED low beam and Halogen high beam which was very good with the only problem being the amber colour difference of the high beam light against the white of the low beam LED which was a little annoying. The new model now has both LED low and high beam. The low beam, like the old model is excellent.....but the high beam, aarrgh!!! Weak, dull, not far reaching.....in a word, disappointing!! Surely the Toyota engineers tested these things at night while evaluating them before they were released? Looks like its a pair of driving lights for Christmas to mount on the Nudge Bar!

Well that's just plain disappointing to hear and of course it's one of those things nobody will ever be able to check before purchasing the vehicle and driving away. In my case with no nudge bar I'll have nowhere to put after-market driving lights so I'll just have to make do with what I get; hopefully there wont be too many more nasty surprises like this.
Otherwise, how happy are you with your new motor and how does it feel driving it about? What's the advice on bedding in the engine? I imagine it'll be something like keeping the revs under 2000rpm for the first 500kms.
Thanks for the additional photos, the car looks great and the nudge actually fits in really well. I see you added a bonnet protector too like I have. As I'm buying with Peacock Black I'm wondering which version of the guard will be better - the clear one you have or the tinted version. I think it'll come down to the colour of the retaining clasps on the tinted version. If they're black I think the tinted version will work better, because I'm quite sure the steel clips on your guard will show up like a sore thumb on dark paint.

[bigowenb]

Drove my new Prado at night last night for the first time......previous model had LED low beam and Halogen high beam which was very good with the only problem being the amber colour difference of the high beam light against the white of the low beam LED which was a little annoying. The new model now has both LED low and high beam. The low beam, like the old model is excellent.....but the high beam, aarrgh!!! Weak, dull, not far reaching.....in a word, disappointing!! Surely the Toyota engineers tested these things at night while evaluating them before they were released? Looks like its a pair of driving lights for Christmas to mount on the Nudge Bar!