Terracan Deisel

KW's are only one small part. Torque is as much a factor.

Having said that though , a Diesel Trashcan sounds interesting.

You see quite a few Petrol ones running around , and some pretty good reports.

Wonder where the Diesel come from (the Petrol is a bishi motor).

As far as i know it has 350 nm of torque . I can't find the engine make yet .

What do you want to do with it?

Patrol will go further than a garbage can, accessories everywhere for them off the shelf, thousands of bits available second hand as well, plenty of people know about the patrols and how to work on them, nissan will replace the motor when it blows up...

IMHO wouldnt touch a garbage can.

Sounds cool, I've never heard a bad word about the Terracan. I too would be interested to find out the origion of the new motor and some more technical specs on it, weather it's a eruo style diesel or common rail etc etc.

Well My terracan has done just on 15000kms and most of that has been hard kms at that which includes over 3000kms on dirt roads from sale to Katherine in the NT via the boar track birdsville big red. So far cannot fault it. Have joined the local 4x4 club copped a lot of bagging up here over the fact is a jerrycan but they have soon shut up after a couple of trips with them when the jerrycan went everywhere the land cruisers and patrols went and did it with ease. Now the fun starts as the wet season sets in and everything turns to mud. Tows my 2 ton boat with ease pulls it out of the water no problems at all wear my patrol (GQ) struggled

Have briefly checked it out at dealer here in ACT, I liked the look of the white HIghlander diesel because of the bonnet scoops but the black petrol looked ok as well.
We have had a Highlander petrol auto since May 04(same as Jimbo's) and to date we have done 20,000k touring and towing 1200+kg van to NSW far north coast and 3 weeks in Tassie. Been on beach at Redhead Newcastle a couple of times and left impressed with its ability, mud and dirt dont appear to cause any problems either but have not tackled any real serious 4wd areas.
Have removed rear jump seats, fitted cargo barrier, homemade Capral aluminium and marine ply drawers/shelves, an ECB 63mm nudge bar(same as some Pajeros) and TJM XGS shocks and springs(pajero springs again) with a torsion bar lift of about 25mm and a rear lift of 40-45mm. Front shocks have improved ride greatly(wife even noticed) and rear changes enable towing 1200kg+ van with minimal sag, although I would like rear springs to be a tad softer.
Fuel usage varies from about 13L/100k to 15-17 towing van and up to 20L/100k when towing in hilly areas, but I get impatient with slow travelling so use heavier foot. It could probably use a 5 speed auto and needs a bigger fuel tank and I would like a trip computer to provide distance to empty reading like our Commodore. A bumper replacement bullbar would be nice as well. Leather seats, climate control, ABS with EBD(works well with van braking), MP3/cd 6 speaker audio also appreciated, wife likes driving and riding in it due to comfort of seats. We/I chose the Highlander because of the automatic torque transfer in 8 stages up to 50/50, the other bits just come with it. The auto gearbox also has a form of HDC whereby the output shaft is braked and yes I know that 8k is not all that slow, but its better than FJ55, Range Rover and Bravo ute in my past.
No hassles or problems and its been serviced twice at quite reasonable costs compared to some brands but that is also reflected in its purchase price structure, maybe a diesel one next time-info about diesel is on Hyundai o/s web site.
Enjoy your test drive they are a greatly underated/overlooked vehicle and boy is that price right in comparison with others.
regards

I have had bad news from the finance minister(wife) the new deisel is "out" i am still gunna have a drive though.
Also i did a few sums on the cost to run as opposed to a petrol with the deisel at a low fuel consumption and the petrol at a high. we would end up svaing about 900 over the year , we don't do a lot of kms these days ,add to that the extra service shedules to keep the warranty going it ends up about a 500 saving .
Looks like the highlander is the one now ,even though the runnout cars have the tow bar and nudge its easier to whack them on later than miss out on the leather and stuff . Just waiting for thebank to get their act together now ,it's been two weeks .

Thanks for all the advice .

Peter

We have had our Terracan since June 2003, it's done about 20,000 kms. Been relatively fault free.

For the our purposes, it's great, we do 3 - 4 offroad trips a year. Last trip we kept up with the Patrols, Pajero and Jeeps.

The choice was between a 3 - 4 year old Pajero / Prado with 100,000+ kms or a new Terracan with 5 year warranty.

Certainly agree about suspension, but I'll upgrade it soon.

People should try driving one before being so critical.

That's my 20cents.

Chris

I have had an exhaustive look at pretty much every 4x4 on the market over the last 6 months. With 3 kids (twin 6yr olds and a 19mth boy) and another on the way, my wife and I both had VX Commodores (hers is the S and mine was a 5.7ltr V8 exec with 6spd man), the Commodores would no longer be capable of taking the family due to lack of seats. We recently moved from Syd up to the Central Coast and the V8 was costing way too much to run - so it has been replaced and I now run to work in a Corolla Wagon (for the price/space and fuel economy).

Sooo..the new car is mostly going to be a taxi for the kids, but we hope to get away for a holiday 3-4 times a year. My brother lives in Darwin so we hope to get up there in April this year. The wife wants a Landcruiser Sahara (or will settle for the Kakadu) and I have stipulated Turbo Diesel - for economy/distance per tank/towing etc. I cant justify (or afford) $60K for a 4x4 let along $80K+ for a new Sahara! We took a step down from the wifes dream bus and looked into the Prado, Pajero, Patrol. I have driven each of these vehicles, read so much info on them from all the 4x4 mags, websites, etc. I really wanted a Common Rail Diesel after driving a BMW X5 3.0d 150Kw/480Nm and fell in love with it, but will only seat 5 and way too much moolah! (could sell one of the kids, hee hee!!). Then I heard about the Terracan CRD last September and was eager to see as I was not impressed by anything but the Prado (albeit a bit sluggish). I can say that having driven the Terracan CRD, it leaves even the 118Kw Patrol for dead off the mark and breaking. It is in the smaller class category from the Patrol & Landcruiser, which is one of the things I dont like about Terracan/Prado/Pajero, but it will do for at least 3 years with the current family situation. Now for the best part, the wife likes it (if we get the Highlander 'cause of the leather) but the Highlander also gets the "auto" 4wd transfer between front and rear wheels where the GL doesnt. The Highlander also gets climate control a/c with woodgrain dash. For the best bang for your buck, the Terracan is it for me. On road, fully optioned with Bullbar, towbar, driving lights, mats, rubber mat for rear, tint, front bonnet chip protector, it comes in at $45K for the Highlander auto. For that price I can get the bottom of the range Prado GX with same options.

There are a couple of Diesel Terracans in stores at the moment. I have seen one at Ryde (Terracan GL) and two at Booths in Gosford (1 Highlander auto and a GL auto). They are also throwing in a camping pack with a decent tent and some cooking gear etc if you buy one. You will have to wait until late January for the first shipment of '05 plated and compliance models which will also see the arrival of the Manual Highlander (which is what the wife wants).

With 5 year/130,000km warranty, and because of the new technology CRD turbo Diesel engine, service intervals are at 15,000km instead of the crap 5,000km on the Toy-mota.

I can also tell you that the Prado has a new CRD Turbo Diesel coming in March. It is already out in Kraut-land (Germany) and has the same spec as the Terracan at 120Kw power and around 346Nm torque. This is the same time the new Discovery 3 will hit the stores - I would love the new disco 2.7lt V6 CRD but starts at about $67K for the 7 seater. My dilemma is..do I wait until March (which is when the new baby arrives) and see what Toyota and Land Rover have to offer (and I get to drive these 2 new models), or do I jump in now and get the new Terracan in late Jan and the boat i've wanted since moving to the Central Coast....

Best Regards,
Terry