4x4 choice, Landcruiser on gas?

[spearking]

HI all,
Still agonizing over which truck to choose from and at this stage have narrowed it down to a choice of 3, all will be around 03 - 04 models due to budget:

Landcruiser wagon - would love one of these but am worried about fuel consumption ... can anyone comment on running the v8 on gas

Prado - like this model but am worried about space and true 4x4 capability when heading to Fraser with a family of 5. Also can anyone comment on the fuel consumption of the v6

Patrol wagon - I like the idea of a large wagon with a 4cyl diesel but am worried will it be underpowered. and were the patrol's of that era 'old hat' when compared to the Toyota's ?

Any comments would be great
Cheers

[Pretzil]

Considered the landcruiser wagon on diesel? You get further on diesel and its actually been cheaper than petrol for a while.

[chisel]

The TD cruiser would be the way to go - if you want to cough up another $15-20k over the V8 (I did)
Check lcool maybe for V8 on gas info. I think they see 20-25L/100k. I personally wouldn't bother with gas - even with all the govt rebates it would take a while to recover your investment - especially if you have to get a rear wheel carrier and rear suspension upgrade to house the gas system (not sure you do).
Cruiser is definitely bigger than a Prado and has considerably more roof space/load limit for a good roof rack.
I wouldn't go near the Patrol 3.0 of that era ... just do a search on "Patrol ZD30 grenade". The 4.2 might be ok but slow, and only manual.

[PADDLES]

lpg is good if you do enough km spearking. expect it to be doing 5 to 5.5km per litre which is less than 10c /km ............. pretty cheap motoring. a conversion can cost a bit so try and buy one that's already on gas if you can, you'll still get a good bit back from the government if you have to get a kit fitted. the big difference between diesel and lpg/petrol is range between fills, my old nissan 4.2 petrol would get 550 or so k's out of the lpg and then a further 300 or so out of the auxiliary petrol tank, my current 4.2 diesel cruiser will get 1200km between fills, if you plan on travelling to remote areas this could be an issue. economy on diesel is about 9.5km per litre which is about 12c or so per km. lpg in a big petrol 6 will give you a much more powerful motor than the same size n/a diesel 6. good luck with your decision mate.

[Pretzil]

"Lpg gives you a much more powerfull motor than the same size" .... OHHHH, n/a is naturally aspirated, as in, not turbo... yeah of course, n/a diesel dont really accelerate, they just... move. Thats why landcruisers (and most diesel) are turbo.

Was going to point out that there is a drop in power when coverting to lpg.

[Aunty Jack]

im a big fan of LPG ive been using it since 1993 ,lve found gas is better around town.lf l was to fit it to a nother 4x4 ld like to cut the top or bottom of the fuel tank and have it fitted there and have a bullet peterol tank fitted.that way the gas is as far away from the road/rocks as posible.
when l go of road NO ONE LIKES TO BE NEAR THE LPG CARS.thats why id cut the fuel tank for safty reasons.

[GBC]

A member here with a petrol patrol did the conversion and lost his main fuel tank. He now has 40 odd litres of petrol plus the gas and not enough range to go for a holiday to fraser any more. Cheap around town but.

[PADDLES]

you're right gbc, fraser would be about the limit. i mean you can run it out of lpg and then keep using petrol, but if you're doing a lot of driving on the island then it'll work out a bit expensive. the fuel savings for the rest of your year around town will make up for it though. we did beach runs up to double island, moreton island and bribie island no worries with lpg. at the end of the day though, wifey made the call to switch to a diesel for travel/range reasons so that's what we got.

g'day pretzil, you're right too, there's a small drop in power from petrol to lpg but that's why you don't bother converting small motors and buy a forby with the biggest motor you can get. i was converted to lpg when i saw that my mate could run his 351 cleveland motor (with sh!tloads of grunt) for cheaper than i could run my 2.4 petrol hilux motor (with very little grunt) all based on dollars per km of course.

[Noelm]

not too sure what model Cruiser/Patrol/Prado from that era would have a V8, (but you never know, I could be wrong with the year models) the Prado petrol will eat fuel when pushed (sand) the Cruiser petrols will be about the same, the standard diesel will last forever and be good on fuel (regardless of the pump price) but will certainly not whip you back in the seat with power, the turbo (4.2 litre) will go OK, be good on fuel, but you will pay a premium price at purchase

[PADDLES]

g'day noel, i think the 100 series cruiser was available with the v8 as an option around that time and then toyota phased out the petrol 6 in favour of the 8. out of interest, is the tojo v8 a good motor? what sort of economy is anyone getting? do they break easy? i'd imagine that a 100 series petrol v8 on lpg would make a damn fine tow car and beach buggy.

[chisel]

The numbers I see for V8's on petrol (check lcool) range from a low of about 15L/100kph on road unloaded to a normal round-town figure of 20-22L/100k and the sky is the limit for heavy towing or heavy sand work ... easy 35L/100k. I'm sure they'd use a bit more on gas.

Plenty of power though and nice smooth, quiet engine. Not sure about longevity but you don't hear of too many breaking.

[Noelm]

Don't think the V8 Petrol was a "new" engine as such, just came from someone/somewhere else, so I guess longevity will not be an issue, and you certainly could be right about the year models that the V8 became available, not too sure how many wuld be around though, kind of reckon I would tend to go to the 6, cheap to buy, thousands around on gas, so it is a "known quantity", but a Turbo Diesel would be better I reckon, in either Patrol or Cruiser, with my preference towards the Landcruiser. (but you will pay)

[Noelm]

just a thought, wonder what the price difference is in a standard diesel, then turbo fitted after market? or a genuine "off the floor"?

[GBC]

Not quite that simple - the TD 100 is not just a turbo'd 1hz - she's a completely different donk. Generally about $8K for a turbo/intercooler install from a reputable supplier.

[PADDLES]

gbc's right noel, the turbo motor from toyota is a completely different motor. even the gearbox is different/stronger.