Petrol or Diesel

[Admin]

Hi
I am about to buy my first 4x4. After looking at all the makes and models available in my price range, I decided to go for the Hilux. My only questions now is whether I must go for a petrol or diesel?

Seems like the diesel is much more economical than the petrol?

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

Hello John

Depending on what application you want to use your vehicle for, where you want to use it and how "fast" you want to drive when you are using it, will determine which fuel type to go for.

Also are you refering to a new vehicle or a 2nd hand one and has it got the solid front diff or the independent front suspension.

You must also consider that if you want a type of vehicle that you would like to mofify, would it not be better to buy a 2nd hand one that already had various mods done to it already.

Thus please give us some more info then we will be able to give you more advise.

Welcome to The Hilux Family :)

[pietpetoors]

Everything on a 4x4 depends on what you want to do with it.

Diesel generally have better fuel consumption and low down torque. If you like rock climbing and slow technical drives then the diesel is wonderful. If you go on long off-road trips you do not have to take as much extra fuel as the petrol vehicles because of the economy of the diesel.

If you are a F1 maniac, diesel will not work for you, then you must go for petrol. Driving dunes like at Atlantis is also better with a petrol. Unless you have a new turbo diesel, the dunes will nt be easy with a diesel.

A second hand diesel is risky if you do not know the vehicle. If you drive a diesel like a racing car it will not last long. If you drive it like a gentleman it will last you probably longer than a petrol version.

I love a diesel. I just love the low end torque. If I get stuck I do not want to rev the engine to 3500 revs to get out, with a diesel you can mostly idle out of a situation.

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

I agree fully with what Pieter has said, diesels are slow, but have low down torque. 8)

[Soutman]

Diesels WERE slow!!!

If your understanding of slow is anything that cruises at less than 180 km/h, then YES the D-4D is slow ...

As far as I am concerned, my 18 month old D-4D 3.0 is everything but slow! Yes, the pull away is not in the Ferrari class and it maybe SOUNDS slow due to the restricted rev range, but slow it definitely ain't ...

On long distance trips I travel at 130 km/h (GPS speed) and fully laden (read approx 1 ton due to 150 l diesel and 80 l water + 2 RTT's amongst others) I average about 7,3 km/l. The only thing that prevents me from cruising at higher speeds (besides the wife) are the poor brakes - sudden halting maneuvres are best PLANNED and NOT attempted indiscriminately.

So far I can recommend the D-4D 3.0 with one reservation - if you are going to be travelling a lot in areas where the diesel fuel quality might be suspect - be warned - it could turn out very costly - ask Britz 4x4 rentals ... If I travel those routes I would take either a clear glass bottle with to check the amount of water / dirt in the diesel or invest in a test kit to monitor the amount of paraffin in the fuel.

Other than that I really love the powerplant - huge improvement on previous Toyota engines!

[SYRON CONVERSIONS]

Yes most diesels are slow, but a person cannot compare these new Common Rail direct injection engines to the older 2.4 D 2.8 D and 3L and 5 L diesel engines to the type of modern engine that you have fitted in your vehicle, when the time comes to repair the common rail type engine, it will be more expensive, the injectors on a common rail are electronic and cost a lot of money, some may cost more than the other ones fitted in the same vehicle.

Travelling around at a high speed in a diesel can be done, but not for long, there are other aspects to also consider.

Thankyou for the input, how about some photo's of your engine under the thread of the various engine's, your type of engine would be nice to see and add to this section, some pic's of your vehicle as well. :)

[pietpetoors]

Hi Soutman
I agree with you. These new diesels are marvelous. You have the power of a V8 with the fuel consumption of a 1300. I hear that they even do very well on the dunes.

I guess one problem will remain the clean diesel up north. Apparently the more refined the engine the cleaner the diesel must be. The new Honda CRV diesel can only run on Sasol Diesel at this stage because the others are not clean enough. I guess you will not go anywhere out of South Africa with it?

But, yes, the new diesels are in another league compared to the old diesels

Please post some pics.

[BenHur]

Soutman

No offence but it is because diesels are many a times driven the way you decribe that I will never buy a second hand diesel.

I drove a 99 Isuz that way myself and ended up overhauling the engine the second time at 65 000Kms before selling it.

EGT running too high kills a diesel engine.

My old folks diesel 99 Ford will last for ever since they never go faster than 110km/h

If your D4D reaches 200 000 Kms on without failing, please let me know as I will then swollow my words.