First posted September 2005
The first long distance trip within the first 3 months for the Toyota Prado ownership lasted for about 10000ks. The trip was arcoss Australia and back. (Check out the pictures gallery) The long trip so early in the ownership means I can tell you the following and start of the long term review:
In terms of comfort the LandCruiser is excellent. Surprisingly I did not miss the lack of a lumbar support. It as great car for long distance. It is consistently quiet on every single road surface you can imagine. There is very little (aka none) fatigue inducing steering vibration on the move. The Prado is superior to the SGV in every other way but you’d expect that for the price difference. Combined with space, performance, and reasonable standard stereo system with the ability read MP3 CDs and comfy seats, powerful air-con even for 40C+ degree heat all day and cruise control make the desolate outback seem civilized.
The V6 petrol Prado’s acceleration is good at all speeds even with a lot of luggage on board. The gearbox is really smooth shifting until you start reaching the higher speeds specifically 140kph-ish (2700rpm). At that sort of speed the down changes are quite abrupt. Then again that is expected.
Top speed for the Prado is easily 180kph as claimed and will easily get there. Handling is not exactly predictable at that sort of speed. Over this trip I worked out that the best cruising speed is 140kph. It will sit there all day and slow down quickly if wildlife appeared on the road. Of course you can no longer travel at 140km (2010) since the limit in the NT is a max’ed at 130kph.
Petrol consumption was a big surprise. (Melbourne-Adelaide run) Despite being a new car, fuel consumption on a variety of petrol types 91 – 98 octane it was a mere 11.2 litres per 100kms at an average speed of 90kph. A mix of inner city peak hour commuting. The same leg on the way back was 9.2 litres (with a tail wind). So its not bad for a brick. Mind you a cruise control set at 100 for most of the way helped too. High speed (140kph+) fuel consumption was pretty at about 16 litre per hundred kilometers. This was done in the Northern Territory.
With a fuel capacity of 180 litres you can expect at least 1500km without a fuel stop when driving conservatively. The engine can use 91 octane or more which is perfect for outback driving. Of course over time I expect the figures to increase due to age.
So far there is nothing ‘bad’ to report. Sure it doesn’t handle like a sports car but least it doesn’t have any handling issues like excessive over or under steer and/or unexpected responses in emergency situations. Neutral is a good description just the body roll to sort out.
Next part of the long term review will be the initial impressions.