Allright please share your thoughts:

I'm currently looking at purchasing a 2 or 3 year old prado diesel. Keep in mind that the car will be used for city driving 90%-95% of the time in fine soccer mum / dad style.On ocasions however I'd like to take it for some 4wd and hence my questions:

- firstly the car is a constant 4wd with LSD, would i need to lock front/rear diffs at all? if so how much $ will it cost me for the kit? any other cars that come with diff locks as standard?

- good thing about this car as a 4wd is the 180l tank standard, the diesel seems to have enough grunt and city wise it does seem easy enough to park/drive which is perfect for my wife when she goes shopping and doing other women stuff.

- bad things it terms of 4wd is does have a lot of plastic/luxury stuff which might brake easily if i take 4wd too seriously.

Has anyone here owned the above? if not a prado, can anyone suggest something similar?

btw i know wrxs are 4wd..... :/

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Member of the 18-35 club and proud of it! (For another 5 years...getting old)

New toy has arrived, 1/4 mile in 11.2 sec and only 114hp!

The Prado is a good 4wd to have in the city. It's a very luxurious example, and your right, if you plan on doing any serious off roading, this may be a problem later. In saying that, most of the cars in this same bracket suffer the same fate. Take your 100 series cruisers, or even ur GQ patrols, and then Pajero's etc.. They all are luxurious or have luxurious models available, that you probable wouldn't want to take off road.

This is why I made the choice to get a hilux. It has no luxuries really, electric windows, power mirrors and auto locking hubs and thats about it, but when it comes to off road, it would be hard to beat.

GQ patrol's come with a fully locked rear diff, in some models. Toyota's mostly come with LSD's in the rear, the hilux rear diff is apparently rather tight, and almost works as a locker. It is recommended to get a front locker, but I would only suggest that if you are doing big rocky tracks and stuff, the stuff you probably will never do.

If you want to hit the sand a bit, or go on some tame rocky tracks, getting a locker in the front is probably overkill. Tyre choice, clearance and other mods will be a greater advantage i feel.

There are some pretty good mag's u can buy about buying second hand 4wd's and buying one that suits your needs. Just go have a look at ur local newsagent and see if u can find them, or ur welcome to borrow the one I have.

If I were you, I would go for a 100 series GXL cruiser, with the split fold rear tailgate. They are pretty nice to drive day to day, but also will perform up there with the best off the road, plus mods are plentiful. But either way, keep it toyota, keep it turbo diesel, and you should have a ball.

buy an XT forester, put a lift kit on it, done

will save you heaps in fuel, tyres, servicing etc etc

you'd be surprised how far they can go off road, phil (lefty/gorotsuki69) is testament of this, often taking it quite off road up at lanno and fishing downsouth, feel free to chime in now phil

hey Kym the hilux does come with the same d4d engine doesn't it? are you happy with it? enough or would u want more grunt?

also some prados come with this adjustable suspension mode...dont know wtf it is and if it's worth spending the extra $ on

yea the 100 series look good, bit bigger than the prado and i get the feeling my wife would smash car a day whilst trying to park it at a local shopping centre..

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Member of the 18-35 club and proud of it! (For another 5 years...getting old)

New toy has arrived, 1/4 mile in 11.2 sec and only 114hp!

My turbo diesel is the older 3.0L diesel. Not the new generation common rail 'D4D' that is in the newer model hilux and the prado etc. But yeah, same motor. As for mine in comparison, it is pretty good on fuel. I drive 30+ kms each way to work every day, in peak traffic, 5 days a week, and im not emptying the tank, so around town, its not too bad, but I only have the small tank in mine. So i think its around 11-12km per 100.

As for power, its lacking, but I knew that when I bought it. It is no way designed to be a performance car (on the road at least anyway) The petrol boasts a bigger figure in the KW department, but the diesel dominates it in torques and it gets it very early in the rev range, so for towing, 4wding etc, its going to be the better option. Also, engine longevity. I know this motor will do 350k + as long as i maintain the service interval's and keep the oil changes regular. You will struggle to get that out of a petrol, as you know.

As for 'if i'm happy' I would say... I didn't expect much, so therefore I wasn't disappointed. Its a slug, but its more powerful than the NA equivelant I drive for work, and hasn't let me down off road yet (in the limited oppertunities I have had)

I do however also have the new D4D motor'd hilux at work, and its very much like driving an ordinary family car. The power is smooth and there somewhat, but I wouldn't go boasting about how 'awesome it performs'

100 Series are the same chasis as the Prado as far as i'm aware, just taller body, as opposed to the cruiser's wider shell. Get her a bull bar, so if she does ding something, it will be their car, not urs

Best thing about a lifted lux with sidesteps, no more shopping centre dings from opening car doors into mine... physically impossible!

hmm quite interesting what u said about common rail d4d, wonder which prados should i be looking at to get that one? anyways to easily spot the difference between them?

tell me about shopping centre dings...she parks in the 'parents with prams' section and it's by far the worst. Bloody mums dont care about other ppls cars when they open their doors lol revange time!!

edit: found it, 2007+ will have the D4D

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Member of the 18-35 club and proud of it! (For another 5 years...getting old)

New toy has arrived, 1/4 mile in 11.2 sec and only 114hp!

yeah, anything post 05 i think got the D4D motor. My lux is 2002

On serious note though the Parados are nice. least they are a more comfortable 4x4, than nissan

or ford explorer

Definatly a fan of toyota build quality. I have a 2006 Hilux dual cab SR5 with the 4.0 V6 petrol (auto). Mine is a daily work car and weekend toy. Did the math and the LPG option works out far cheaper as far as fuel running costs. Got the conversion done while the rebate was 3k so was quite cheap to do. You also pick up the extra range of dual fuel. Has more power and similar torque to a diesel, just different delivery.

For improved off road performance a 2" spring lift, some bilstein shocks and some bigger rubber 275/70/17 (almost a 33" tyre) makes it work really well off road. The rear diff is an LSD. No need for lockers for basic 4wding but they can often make any obstacle easier so are nice to have. (previourly had a 4runner with double air lockers and a 5 litre v8 ) Have had the new hilux up at lancelin and up in the hills and it does the business nicely. Auto gearbox, good sized tyres and power, you can go wrong in the sand.

As always its a case of what you want to do with it. Would have thought the Prado would be well suited to family daily duties and do most reasonable 4wding very competently. The reality is most 4wds spend the vast majority of their time on the road so they may as well do that well. And if driven well, most modern 4wd's will get you most places you want to go off road...maybe just varying levels of ease.

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Rotor of Fail
Ducati 998s
Ducati Streetfighter S
496 CI Injected Big Block. Carbon positive???

I have a Prado Diesel for work - haven't managed to break anything or bog it yet - definately go with the diesel over petrol. Rear visibility is shit, so consider buying a reversing camera for the wife (the rear spare wheel & rear seats block 90% of the view). There is no need to lock diffs, etc - constant 4WD. Interior space is good all round. My brother has a Pajero and it feels cramped inside.

I'd get another one without hesitation - or it's big brother.

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MY09 Evo X - 1.6bar@3500rpm - got lag?
Barbagallo - 56.03 (S); 1:08.09 (L)
Collie - 50.77
Possibly the most under-driven Evo X in the world??