prado towing

Smaller tyres?? I'm serious :-))

I have a 3.4L manual and I have the same concerns. I am going to buy a camper trailer that will weigh in at about 1.6tonnes fully laden and I am worried about the lack of low down torque. The 3.4L manual has difficulty pulling up long hills without a gear change without anything on the back. I know a diesel would be better, but I don't have one. Good luck with it.

Sounds like you can do with Unichip
UNICHIP

I also have a Prado 3400 and yes it would be nice to have to new 4litre petrol or a 3lt diesel for towing. The smaller wheels is a definite option to lower the ratio. I do not agree that the unichip is the answer. I have had a look at the graph on the compared performance and you only get more power when the revs reach about 5ooo, which is in a area I never go. Perhaps those chips are good for racing cars, but not the average tow vehicle where the powere is best now down in the revs like the diesel.

My only other suggestion and I will do it myself one day is to fit a set of extractors and better flow through exhaust. I did it to a previous VN Commodore and it made it perform heaps better. I have looked at the Prado exhaust pattern and it does look restrictive, perhaps to keep the noise down in the vehicle.

Brian Dj

Not sure how sensible this option would be, but you can get supercharger kits for the 3.4L V6 here

I'd imagine they would be bloody expensive and I would be a bit wary of what problems they could cause with the drivetrain and engine life etc etc

Still 34% more HP and 43% more torque would sort out the towing issues :)

I was pretty surprised at how crap the 3.4L V6's actually are for towing after recently doing a long trip with a camper trailer, especially considering how well they perform when you aren't towing.