Sunday 26 February 2012

Is the V8 news as good as it seems?


As much as the sound of a V8 Land Cruiser presses the right buttons for Land Cruiser fans, shouldn’t we look at this logically as well?

The brilliant Toyota 1HZ engine, for its reliability and ….? I can’t think of anything else actually. It’s noisy, not particularly economical, emissions output is poor, underpowered for the job it has to do and is probably the only engine that, when it is shut down, shakes so much it registers on the Richter scale.  But it’s an engine perfect for the Third World. And I guess that’s why we love it. It’s very tough indeed, and with no electronics, it can be fixed by anyone, and if well maintained, lasts a very, very long time without major work.

The V8. It is better in every way, I think, but one. It’s electronically controlled which means: it can only be tuned at an approved workshop, it produces far kinder emissions, it is far, far more powerful and useful for the job it has to do. It is going to turn the otherwise underpowered 70-series Land Cruisers from something special to something truly awesome. But…

The D4D V8 hasn’t had a good run so far. Injector problems with all kinds of diesel are well known, and although they have probably sorted it out, this engine is going to be less reliable, considerably more expensive to service and most work will only be able to be done at an approved workshop. It’s not an engine designed for the Third World, in which we live.

So, when it comes to nuts and bolts, we are going to be paying more to swap reliability for performance.  How much more performance? Lots! How much less reliability? This is the driving question.

1 comment:

  1. As someone with little knowledge of what goes on under the hood, but who has started the learning process, I've decided to go with the 1HZ donkey. I recently had some minor trouble with my Land Rover and it was when I was looking into the engine bay at all the plastic covers and meters of wires that I made up my mind. For me, simpler is better.

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