New Vehicle Purchase

Morto, go to Perth4x4.com and speak to 'D4D Dave' (or he may be called 'Alchemist') and 'Roly'. Both blokes are full bottles on the new Hiluxes.

I think both lurk around here too from time to time, but you'll get them straight away over there.

This may or may not help, but the hilux has the same front end as the prado, as a member in my 4wd club had the suspension upgraded and lifted, toyota put in prado suspension components, which I am lead to beleive are a little better and more suited for offroading than standard hilux. Worth looking into.

I have the new Hilux 3.0TD and am very very happy with it. I often carry 200 litres worth of fuel and another 150KG worth of boating equipment down to my boat, haven't done any off road stuff yet. I also tow my mates 19 Foot Allison Angler occassionally , fully loaded with fuel etc. The D4D Common Rail Engine is a real beauty, read any of the reviews on it, plenty of low down torque and nice and smooth. In fact I think most people would agree most Hilux's, certainly mine performs better with some weight in the back. (Test's are done with 200KG of sand bags). The Patrol Ute would handle a slightly bigger payload but wouldn't go any faster I would think, but I am happy to vouch for the Lux. I put 17" wheels and Cooper tires on which have improved the handling even further.

Morto, I've got a new Hilux - dual cab diesel. I'm not sure of the weight of my canopy, but it's steel and four blokes grunt quite a bit when trying to carry it (without food, eskies etc). I use an endless chain to get it on and off, then load it.

On a recent trip to the Flinders, it was very happy when loaded to the gills with camping gear + 5 blokes. Although the roads were good dirt, I am quite confident in planning more serious trips.

I actually find the canopy improves the handling (say a few hundred kg) on rough roads.

It's the SR5, so has the 15" wheels. Bit of a bugger, but have yet to notice or suffer from poor clearance.

Averages 8.6km/lt, not much affected by load, more so by terrain & driving.

I spend about half my time bouncing around the a farm. The hilux is a hell of a lot better in ride than my old 2000 model Prado, and certainly makes a cruiser ute feel rough.

I just wish they'd put dual tanks in the Hilux as they do the landcruiser range.

From a personal perspective, unless I was going to be doing a lot of regular load carrying (say 600kg +) and had a seperate (comfortable) car for long trips, I'd stick with the hilux over a patrol or cruiser. Thats me though!

Hi guys

Just thought I'd let you all in on a new hilux site devoted to the new lux, some real good info on there about them... www.newhilux.net