Prado 120's & auto box is there an issue here ?

Thanks Landcrusa, but was really after the diesel; the diesels have a really good resale compared to petrol. Also going for a white vehicle which does not show the scratches and is cooler. if there is a 5 spped box auto coming I'll wait.

Economy on the V6 sounds very good what does that work out to be in L / 100km. Be interested to hear more about this new diesel motor - the 3L goes well now - plenty of torque. 1200 Km on petrol wow - I might have to have a test drive of one - wondering how Km's they are doing on the diesels (about the same ?). I suppose I'm in favour of diesel because of water crossings and the issue of less electrics that can go wrong - wondering if the new diesels will have a service interval of 5 or 10 thousand kms.

Jeff,

Have had the Prado GXL TD for 3 weeks now. Only filled it twice and that includes the initial fill up! I got 1460km on the first full tank and put about 150l into it which worked out at 12.1 litres per 100km. Not bad considering it was still brand new and that much of that was dirt road in the Flinders Ranges. I am very happy with the Diesel's performance. It is not that slow off the mark (but not a rocketship either!) but has heaps of go when the turbo kicks in at about 2,000 rpm.

I am in the process of recalibrating the brain after driving a Honda Civic with a typical high-reving Honda petrol 4 cylinder to driving a 2 ton diesel powered low rev low power hi-torque 4WD. I am now much more comfortable with it and find that it overtakes on the highway easily as long as you use the right gear to keep it in the torque band. I condidered waiting for the new diesel but also balanced that against the virtually faultless reliability of the current 1KZ-TE. If the 5 speed auto box was available I may have gone for that over the manual that I ordered. I am finding it a bit heavy after the Honda's sweet manual shift but I am getting used to it.

No issues so far other than not getting enough time behind the wheel. I had to fly to Sydney and Darwin last week on business and was away from the new baby for a whole week!

Cheers
Steven

Jeff,

With regard to your query about L/100km.

My V6 will do less that 11 cruising at 100 kmh on the highway. Around town its about 14 and my overall average over the last 10,000 km is 13.4.

All the above are with Bull bar and ARB full roof rack permanently fitted. The roof rack increases consumption by about 1 L/100km. I would guess the bullbar adds a bit too.

Rgds

Aussie03 i had a drive of the Pajero and it goes well - I am a little biased towards the Toyota only because the fleet vehicles that I have had the best luck with were the Toyota. Out at Tibooburra we had Cruisers, Patrols and Pajeros and the Toyota product rattled less after a few years with corrugations etc - but mind you that was a number years ago now - the Pajero looks to be a much better product now but I am still a little concerned about ground clearance and the Pajeros tendancy to lift wheels. I think I'll have to test drive both again on the rough - which is difficult as the dealers only really let you on the tar. Might ask for a drive with a few members of the 4WD Assoc. The Pajero - is there room for a long range tank ? Presently my Surf has the same motor as the Prado and it goes well - it is auto also and I think it goes better than the manual - but something my vehicle has that the latest Prado does not is that my vehicle has a overdrive button. I think us Aussies get the short straw when it comes down to options on vehicles - that is why I went the Surf in the first place and also because of the price. I know my wife likes the Pajero. End result I might do up my old XW Fairmont 1969 model to get it out of the garage.

Standard pajeo comes with 225mm ground clearance where as standard toyota GXL prados come with 207mm gound clearance. Ramp over angel is 4 degrees up on pajero, however rear is 3 degrees down.
As for rattles i've been in a mates old 90 series prado which in my oppin ion was a much better vechicle than the new prado, rattled worse than my old NJ pajero clocked over 250 000k's, and his prado has only 60 000k's.
I've done some heavy rock hoping in my stock standard DID, it just walked over anything which stood in her way even with a paw or two in the air, traction control works really well despite what the reviewers think. Anyway enough pajero praise, whatever you decided on enjoy, let us know.