Prado

G'day mate,

a great vehicle, on and off road. don't forget to the 90 series Prado group at lcool.org. congratulations, you've been looking for a while eh?

G'day Stephen, you looked for long enough, and I'm sure will have done well.
Good on you, (and God Speed with your 'mods' programme).

We probably have the same model, 2000 Prado Grande 3.4l petrol, 95000km, great vehicle. Sparky

Is it true that you cant fit a cargo barrier into a Grande or VX because of the ducted air conditioning?
Or is it crap like most things people say

Congrats please let us know what real world economy you get from it

good one........did you get it local? (penrith)

Cheers Stefan

Hi Steve,
The 90 series are infinately better off road than the 120 series even in standard trim (discounting the electronic traction aids) don't know why. relies have both types and the 90 always comes up best. But the 120 V6 has oodles of grunt (4litre).
You should get 12-13l/ 100km once you are used to driving it.
I sent you a member msg the other day too.
Regards
TB

Steve,
Regarding fuel economy we average about 14L/100km overall, but that is with very little city use. Ordinary city driving is 15-16, highway 11-14 (depending on loads, speed, headwinds, etc), windy back roads 13-15. The real killers are heavy off-road work (averaged 23 doing Cobberas Trail) and bumper to bumper in city (18-19).

I have run it on 98RON for 18 months, which is good for economy and performance: see article at lcool about this.

We also kept the weight down by putting on alloy nudge bar, and deciding against electric winch and dual battery. We have also lightened the load (and increased space) by taking out second and third row seats. If you are going to load up the weight you will pay for it in fuel consumption.

I find tyre pressures make a big difference. I generally run on 36 psi on bitumen; if I drop to 32 or less, fuel consumption goes up by about 1-2L/100km. If you run aggressive tyres, that will make a difference too.

The Prado is very capable off-road. Despite IFS, wheel travel is excellent. If you upgrade suspension, would be even better - ours tends to scrape the tow bar a bit on departures. If I were you I would consider rear diff lock - would be a HUGE improvement. LSD is all but useless, and if yours is pre-1999 upgrade won't have traction control.

Enjoy the car.
Des

Hi Steve,
I have been aw2ay for a week so i am just catching up.
Congratulations on the new vehicle, I am in the same position and a Prado is my first choice, but will look at Jacks or pajero. Have not heard a bad word about them.
Biggest problem is finding a low milage one as they seem do do more ks than pajeros or jacks on average
Goodluck Pete