Thread: Hilux hybrid.4wd vs dmax ls 4wd

Originally Posted by Savage1

Autos are so much nicer to drive than manuals, I don’t know why anyone even considered manuals these days.

I’ve heard from a Nissan mechanic to stay away from the new Navara.

disagree completely. manual is the way to go especially if towing something that gets a bit wobbly. engine braking is great on manuals
of course theres worse things than slush boxes there is cvt! and even worse ev's

Auto's are easier in stop-start traffic, but for 'work' purposes off road and heavy towing the control factor that a manual transmission offers just can't be overlooked in my opinion. Actually it's not the transmission - it's actually the foot operating control system (the clutch) that is the bit.

As far as the original question, if I was buying a vehicle through a dealer the main question I would be asking is how user-friendly is the dealer. I have been involved with so many issues with new vehicle and second hand vehicle purchases in the last 15 or so years where the dealer has just been useless or worse that I'm more interested in what sort of problems I'm going to have with the dealer and dealer service types than the actual vehicle. Provided that it will do the job of course!

I was very pleased to be driving a manual when the caravan tow hitch broke last week, kept off the brakes and just used the engine to slow us down and then the clutch at the last minute and brakes the very last.

It kept us under control and in my opinion stopped the caravan from rolling.

With my 3.2 auto ranger I just put in into manual or tiptronic mode or whatever you call it when towing heavy stuff down hill.

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I have been driving a new Hilux at work recently and doing a bit of steepish off road stuff. Using the auto transmission "manually" is ok but there is a big lag between changing down gears and it actually happening, and sometimes it seems to have a mind of it's own when it comes to what gear it thinks you should be in???

Originally Posted by Gkp

Have a look at the running gear and engine bays of these new hybrid vehicles and compare them to the simplicity of the order deisel models. You don't need to be a mechanic to see that they are a mind fuck.
The electrical side is a whole another conversation.

Commentary on WRC for 2925

I can't even imagine anyone else coming close to his level of driving, as he feels like the WRC equivalent of Max Verstappen. Hankook will replace Pirelli as the official tire supplier, and the hybrid system will become a thing of the past as increasing repair costs have become a serious concern for the teams.

Originally Posted by Shearer

I have been driving a new Hilux at work recently and doing a bit of steepish off road stuff. Using the auto transmission "manually" is ok but there is a big lag between changing down gears and it actually happening, and sometimes it seems to have a mind of it's own when it comes to what gear it thinks you should be in???

Yeah, I've had that on a fairly steep downhill gravel road into a tight almost 90deg corner and a single lane bridge (where you are the give way driver as the other side has no visibility until you are on the bridge approach). The auto box decided to try to change down as I was braking to roll over the steep stuff - no manual option just the older style D plus numbers type. As it downshifted I rolled over the lump and the road steepened up and left me relying on the truck's brakes and the electric/hydraulic brakes on the trailer while the thing tried to run away and the transmission tried to work out what gear it needed to be in. In the end it was OK as nothing was coming, but I rolled onto the bridge at about 10Km/H and had no chance of stopping at the give way line should I have had to. Manual override of the auto would have been better as I wouldn't have shifted there most likely but it still takes longer to change gear than with a manual type box.

The newer Kia's have a servo operated clutch mated with a manual 8-speed I think, which is a new wrinkle in the transmission type complaints. Be interesting to see if that comes out in the new Kia truck, Iveco have been using them for years.

I got our 22 hilux in auto. I was manual through and through before that. After owning this one for near three years now i’ll never be back to a manual. We are well over halfway through towing our 5.5m boat plus a full ute load of gear the length of the country at the moment for our Christmas holiday - 14 hours on the road towing it today - zero complaints. Bloody happy I wasn’t changing gears all day lol.

Done a few big trips between the Manawatu and the very top of the Coromandel Peninsula towing our 20ft caravan too. Eats it up.

Yeah I'm always owned a manual. I'll take rh auto for a drive. See what the dealers come up with 2mrw.

Interesting side note in the auto v manual debate, mate of mine runs PX3 and a new-gen ranger (biturbo version). In those I'm tending to get about 12L/100Km on average - the new gen empty swings around 8.5-9 but spikes towing.

My PX2 manual all up average on the same work is currently on 7.8L/100Km, which roughly works out to about an extra $14,000 per 100,000Km's running cost by simply having the slightly more modern auto version of the ute or having the next-gen biturbo and towing.

I'm confused so you are saying the px2 manual is cheaper to run? I hope so as it's what I drive

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

I'm confused so you are saying the px2 manual is cheaper to run? I hope so as it's what I drive

Yep, when compared to the manual PX2 at 7.8L/100Km current all up average, the auto PX3 is running 12L/100Km or slightly higher (both vehicles with 3.2L engines). Comparing the rough current cost of fuel burnt only at those consumption figures, the auto is burning around $14,000 or so more diesel every 100,000Km. That is quite significant as far as I'm concerned anyway. Not entirely sure where that extra consumption comes from, as the configuration and loading of the vehicles is similar (mine has a canopy, the PX3 is a wildtrack with the roller lid) and Ford's figures are close for the manual at 7.8L/100Km but way off for the auto PX3 as Ford claims a smidge over 8L all up average...

Interesting mines a 2012 3.2L base model with canopy. Been mostly towing a 1540KG caravan for the last 3 months. I think I was averaging about 10/100 without checking

That would be making sense, caravans are fairly big flat fronted things with a fair amount of drag and the general aerodynamic properties of a parachute. If you are predominately towing one of those that would explain a couple of L more fuel consumption over my use which is either a light trailer, a tandem or just relatively heavily loaded but not towing.