Prado Petrol Vs Diesel

Bruce & Janice

Our van is 23' from tow coupling to rear bumper and weights 1940kg dry.

We tow with a 2004 3L Turbo Diesel manual and generally sit on 90 - 100K/hr and get an average of about 16l/100K when towing. (Keep in mind that ours is not the new D4 engine)

Hope this helps.

Cruiser

Either model will work well however the Diesel will deliver better fuel economy across the board especially when not towing. You will have no problems cruising at a safe speed, ensure your weight is balanced. The diesel will also deliver a better range so it would be my choice.

Hi. I own the petrol 5 speed auto which I find fantastic for towing 2tonne. Have got up to using 20lt/100k in a head wind though. Normally around 18.I have been looking at the diesel but find them much noisier than the petrol. There will be a new model Prado by the end of the year. There has been no info on engines yet but should make for some good buys on the current model as people upgrade. Regards,Bob.

G'day Bruce, Janice,

We have similar plans and had to make the same decision. We recently bought a 4.0L petrol Prado.

Things we considered :
- Purchase price : Petrol is cheaper
- Re-sale : Diesel is better
- Servicing : Petrol is cheaper (refer www.carservice.com.au)
- Range : Diesel is better
- Towing : Diesel is better
- Longevity : Diesel is better
- Fuel Availability : Diesel is better
- Economy : This is where it gets interesting
- Diesel vs petrol, diesel is cheaper
- Diesel vs LPG, gas is much, much cheaper

We went petrol because it was significantly cheaper for us. We will hang on to the car so re-sale was not an issue. We are not planning on going into the middle of no-where so range & availability weren't issues.

We had ours converted by LPGas1 in Melbourne straight after we bought it. They are one of the best and we can not recommend them highly enough. You will loose the secondary tank to fit the 68l useable gas tank. We get about 400kms out of the gas tank but it is only a few weeks old so will need to be fine tuned. No difference in performance.

Toyota do not recommend LPG conversions however many more experienced people than us have converted with no issues. Be sure you go with the latest sequential gas injection system with the added insurance of a flash lube kit.

If diesel is for you I would seriously recommend the D4D engine.

Check out pradopoint for more info from the experts.

Whatever engine, we believe the Prado is a fantastic car and we are very satisfied with our choice.

Take care,

Chris and Jezz.

Yes, the petrol car is always cheaper. There is a reason for that.

Yes, ULP is cheaper than diesel, but only by a smal margin nowadays.

But what most supporters of the petrol tow vehicles is the price of the fuel is out weighed by the fact you use more to cover the same distance as a diesel.

My old 2002 1KZTE 3.0 TD gets around 15 - 18 L/100 km towing a 1800 kg van. While most 4.0 Prado average much more than that. I've read figures between 18 - 22 L/100 km.

Yes, they cost a bit more in servicing (only because of the intermediate oil change), but my old girl with over 170,000 km, with cracked head towed the van from the Gold Coast to Adelaide up the Birdsville track (including doing Big Red) and back to the Gold Coast, while still cruising at 100 kph in 5th gear with the same economy as normal.

I replaced 2 Aussie petrol 6 cylinder tow cars with the diesel and would never go back

Bruce
I am just travelled throughout the Cebtral Highlands of Qld and have spoken to many Prado owners after I had a conversation with a diesel owner and quizzed him on consumption when towing his 20ft Galaxy van. He said he was averaging 18/19lt per 100km. And 9lt around town when not towing. After that I started quizzing more and his figures seem to fairly consistent. I have not spoken to any petrol owners yet. Most petrols I have seen are in Emerald (the place is lousy with them) but we were only there 1 night so I did not get to talk to anyone.
I asked the question because I am running a V8 petrol cruiser towing a 2.5 tonne van and she is sucking up the juice I can tell you. I am getting an average of 25lt per 100km towing plus a roof rack with 2 kayaks on top.
Rob

Thanks everyone, getting some good info although I keep swaying back & forth as I read more. Toyota advised the new model Prado comes out 16th November but couldn't supply info on specs.
One further query is on how the auto compares to manual when towing, I've previously only towed with a manual but a friend towed his van over from WA in a landcruiser and swears by it although a lot more power is available.