Landcruiser 200 Series GXL

Hi Red66,

Well, with 4 kids and camping a lot you need a big vehicle and they don't come much bigger than a 200!

The fuel economy of the 200 diesel is good, but it all depends on how you use the right foot. Drive gently and you will get the advertised 10 L/100kms, but when you have 650Nm of torque and a fantastic sounding V8 that will literally push you back into your seat from a takeoff, well the temptation to use it is hard to resist ;) My typical driving is the stop/start clogged freeway cruise to work and I average 12 l/100kms. With the 138L tank, I easily get 1,000kms between refills.

Now, connect up the camper trailer and I average 15 - 16 l/100kms sitting on 100-105 km/hr. You could get better economy by switching off the cruise control on any hill - the vehicle holds the speed too well and uses almost too much throttle to maintain an exact speed up a hill and will also kick down 2 gears down a hill if you get more than ~5 km/hr over your speed. By manually driving up a hill and getting a small runup prior and losing a bit of speed as you crest the hill, you will see a noticeable difference.

I have the scanguageII in my vehicle and see the instantaneous readout. On the flat with a trailer you get ~13 l/100kms but any incline will easily see 20+ l/100kms. Tramp it for overtaking and you can easily reach 150km/hr with a trailer on (OK, not the right thing but hey, it got there that quick I hadn't noticed just how fast I was going) and you will see ~130 l/100kms while the foot is flat down.

I have lifted my vehicle ~2", fitted bigger tyres and added an ARB roo bar. This has resulted in at least an extra 1 l/100kms fuel consumption so be aware that accessories do cost fuel economy.

But overall, it gets the same to marginally worse economy than my old 3.0GU patrol and significantly better than my 80 series 1HZ diesel. For a vehicle with that much power on tap, I reckon the fuel economy is pretty amazing really.

But fuel economy is only one thing, the sheer comfort is streets ahead of anything on the market. I recently had a brand new (400 kms!) VX 4.0L Prado for the day while my cruiser was serviced and I was surprised how comparatively noisy it was inside and the poor ride in comparison to the 200. However, the 4.0L was as quick, if not quicker, than the 200 in general driving - but tramp the foot with a camper trailer on and the 200 is in a class of its own.

Off-road I was expecting the 200 to lose out to my GU Patrol. But I went the KDSS option and was surprised to find the 200 has MORE wheel travel than the GU and that with the standard traction control that it easily exceeded the GU offroad. But its width certainly results in heaps of scratches on the sides on those overgrown tracks :(

I only have 2 kids and we do a lot of camping too. While I could fit into a Prado, there is no way I could with 4 kids and camping gear. 4 kids is enough reason alone to get the 200, never mind all the other advantages. About the only real disadvantage is ~$20K purchase pirce and 1-2 l/100kms fuel economy compared to a D4D Prado (I seriously looked at the Prado).

Good luck with your decision, either way you will not go wrong.

Cheers

Captain

As with all things "landcruiser" sign up to lcool.org's forum and look in there.
I've heard that the diesel 200 series hasn't been achieving the low (10L/100km) official consumption figures it should achieve but the numbers I've seen have been pretty good for such a big, powerful car.
Haven't heard much about the petrol ones - official number is in the 14-15L/100km range but that would be very optimistic I think.

I have done 5600km in my 200 series and have recorded fuel usage from day one.

Overall fuel use has been 11.6 l/100km but this has been amostly around town. Not towing and not on open road.

About to do a fair run down to Batemans Bay so I also will be interested in fuel economy on the open road.

Used to have a non-turbo 80 series and the fuel consumption is far better than it was and I suspect the increase in power will help it tow more economically as well.

80 series used to struggle up Toowoomba range. The 200 series made me closely watch speed limits going up the range.

As the Captain said, the power is awesome no more slowing on slight inclines and the superior ride and comfort means I readily accept the fuel.

Alan

hello red66,
i am on my third Prado and my second Grande and it is a great vehicle, as others have said 200 is a great vehicle but alot more expensive, the people I travel with out of 6 of us 4 have Prado's 1 GXL, 1 VX and 2 Grande's and we take them everywhere and have had no problem. Whatever you do good luck
at least its a Toyota

cheers Pistol.

Thank you all for your replies ......I think its time for a change even though I love my prado, there is something about this 200 Series it has won me over. Now I just have to decide on colour and accessories.....lol (typical woman!)

Hi red66
i own a 07 prado vx D4D. its a great machine, use it off road, but not extreme off road.
could not justy the extra $10k for the grande. but u still get all the electronics.
I find it has heaps of room in the back, if u remove the 3rd row, but we do not have kids.
towing the jayco offroad I get about 10lts/100km on my last trip. sitting on 100km on the black top.

my business partner has a 08 200 D4D v8. great machine, but expensive to buy. tows his dual axle c/van, not sure of the make or model(he's away @ the moment) gets around 18/100km. reckons its the best thing he has brought, better that his v8 100 series.
hope this helps. cheers Tom

I am still dubious about claims of the fuel consumption figures from many 200 series owners. I have a LC200 VX TTD and love it...and a great tow vehicle. I am towing a 24' Jayco Sterling which weighs in at 2700kg loaded (ATM 2750Kg). My best consumption was driving from Sydney to Gold Coast virtually unladed and averaged 10.6l/100km. Around town I average 15l/100km but towing the van....best so far is 19.5l/100km and that is doing 90kmh. It goes up if I do 100/110kmh.

I've got a LC200 TTD VX KDSS and love it.

Was getting 11.5 l/100ks before I put heavier tyres and ARB bar.

Was then getting 13.5l/100ks.

Got masssive amounts of grunt and bucket loads of room.

I had an IFS TD 100 series before this one and the two cannot be compared the 200 is a big improvement.

I don't think there any doubt about it being the best vehicle for your needs - it more about the cost which is significant and in these troubled times may be the deal breaker. Other very capable vehicles out there many G's cheaper.