I'm need to get a new rig. I'm looking at either a 2012 lux 3lt steel tray with 196,000km on clock or a 2006 cruiser ute 4.2lt steel tray with 162,000km on it. There is about 3k differencein the price.

it will be my daily drive with the odd weekend out bush. I'm leaning to the lux as it's newer but the cruiser engine is bigger. I could save up and chip the lux engine and put a bigger exhaust on it. I think that will give me similar power output.

i have a light van 12,000kg so they will both tow it.

Any suggestion ?

Be careful about chipping the hilux , it can cause problems . if your towing a van id look at getting the cruiser.

Reply

Reply

Hi James, Have You Considered a The V6 Navara more powerful than the Hilux... the Toyota lovers mite scoff but I have had nothing major wrong with mine and when test drove the Navara after test driving a Hilux I bought the Navara avoided the "Toyota tax" it tows like a dream  a little bit of turbo lag on take off did I already say it has more power than the Hilux anyway if your thinking about the hilux I'd suggest test driving a V6 Diesel Navara to compare first   

Reply

Hi James,

If it's your daily driver I would consider safety first and the Lux is probably the safer option. The cruiser is tough as nails and has a legend reputation but is also considered a rough rider for long days in the seat.The lux being IFS is more car like and less bumpy off road but perhaps in some people's opinion less capable, in my option it comes down to how you approach the dirt and how hardcore the tracks are you wanting to tackle.

The other car you could consider unless your set on a ute is a Landcruiser Prado 2011 onwards depends if budget allows.

Reply

Hi James,

I whole heartedly agree with Alec's point about the hilux quite possibly being a better daily driver for the reasons he gave.

I've not owned a hilux but I drove an 80 series landcruiser for 7 years as a daily, in Melbourne traffic and found it perfectly fine - but NOT as good as the lighter (smaller) IFS units that my mates had but once I changed the drivers seat to a recaro this was not a problem at all. 

Your mechanics advice while well meant, was off the mark I recon. The 1HZ will handle turbo'ing with ease ... I put mine on at approx 125,000k's and was sensible with the boost plus changed the engine oil and filter every 5,000k's for the next 200,000k's trouble free I owned it.

Looking at the two vehicles though if the landcruiser is still naturally aspirated the price difference is more than $3k.

What I put on mine and if budget allowes I'd recomend anyone to do the same given the massive difference the combination made was:

• Mitsubishi turbo
• 3" mandrel bent system (most off the shelf units have a 2.5" dump pipe due to space restrictions and I had an engineer mate redo to as 3" from the waste gate whhich required a wedge or shim and additional bending but the increase in torque as noticable ..... you want the most space where the gasses are hottest),
• fuel compensator on the pump - the factory turbos all come with this and after fitting it I could see why (you may well do a pump rebuild so the cost can climb FAST.

I did each of these one stage at a time in the order listed above, each was a ripping improvement on their own however combined they we great ..... and very expensive, at the end of it all I still the same old heavy 80 all be it a better performer that owed me a truckload more than it did at the start.

I think be as frank with yourself as to where most of your diving will be and with regards the offroad times do you need a 'strong' car or will a really capable one do in most circumstances and then spend accordingly.

Sorry about the rant .... I'm getting old.

Regards

Purv

Reply

Diesel or petrol

Reply

Reply

Congrats and enjoy your new car!

Reply