Jap Pick up trucks

[Minotaur]

Just wondering what the opinions are out there, with regards alround performance/on road/off-road/fuel economy etc from the Jap pick ups. Pref from those that have tried/driven/owned more than one

 

Ford Ranger/Mazda

Mitsubishi L200

Toyota Hilux current shape MK6/7

Nissan NP300 - old shape

Others???

[NI Tree]

toyota landcruiser 79 and you wont go wrong the best one i know bay far and worth the extra money

[alex_m]

my gf's dad has a hilux 250ex single cab with bf goodrich all terrains. great for towing, off road, on road. not as fast as the newer hair dresser pickups, but it's a work truck.

[niftysteve]

3.0 isuzu rodeo auto , i was a bit unsure of having auto and towing but it tows great better on fuel than my 51 plate navara , drives well on the road ok ish off road but as soon as the road biased tyres are worn out there will be a set of AT or MT fitted,I had Yokohama MT s fitted on the navara it dragged my trailer almost anywhere

[scottythepinetree]

Can tell you for sure the Ranger is complete rubbish at towing. At least the 05 one is anyway. Have heard of a few L200's giving trouble from the diffs seizing (but no experience of it myself), one of our neighbours has one though, and never given them any trouble. They don't actually use it as a jeep though.

 

We have 3 different Hiluxes in work and all 3 are great towing, and more than acceptable off road. Pretty thirsty though, but what jeep isn't?

[Daniel Jiggins]

I Like my L200, Pants at towing anything over a Tonne, thirsty but does all i ask of it. I use a transit for carrying weight, Pickup is just for off road sites, snowy roads etc, I know alot of people that dont like them....

[felixthelogchopper]

Happy with my Mazda B2500

[Billy]

I've just tested the new shape hi lux (HL2), L200, and Ranger courtesy of a woman smashing up my Dodge.

 

I'll start with the worst, the ranger big and heavy seemed fairly powerful but stifled by being bulkier than the other two, it was too big and wide and pretty juicy too. I wasn't a fan.

 

The hilux was alright the 2.5tdi engine it towed ok, good on fuel average low thirties, high 30s on the motorway. Felt slightly under powered when towing and or loaded, and the rear sagged very noticeably when loaded. It was ok off road did everything I asked of it work wise and a few green lanes. Rear dif lock is a handy standard feature

 

The l200 4 work ( new shape) which is now my own truck was better than both in my opinion faster than both of the above and torquier. Also better on fuel getting solid 40 mpg on the motorway and 35 elsewhere. Mpg sits in the mid to high twenties when towing depending on speed, I've been towing my 935i behind it which isn't an inconsiderable weight.

Off road it has been a dependable sure footed machine, even when towing. Electronically activated dif lock for the rear is a big bonus when off road too.it's handled all the snow beautifully, even recovering a broken lwb frontera up a steep snowy byway on Saturday morning from a hill start on road tires, I was a little shocked myself to be honest but impressed all the same. The club cab leaves enough bed space for £100 worth of logs or lots of tools and the odd ton bag of stuff that won't fit on the tipper at the end of a job. Back seats aren't great but are fine for the kids.

 

Out of these 3 I would and did choose the l200 m.it suits my needs as a daily driver/ tow vehicle/ firewood delivery truck perfectly, I was especially impressed by the fuel consumption.

 

 

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.374155,0.481465

[scraggs]

As already said the rangers of a certain year (appears to be tdci up to the newer shape) are terrible for towing, way to high ratios in the box, although apart from that they ain't a bad truck, that said my 02 plate ranger was a much nicer truck to work with especially when towing.

I wouldn't buy another one of them, they are cheaper for a reason imo.

[rovers90]

I'm very happy with my Ford Ranger Super Cab - very quiet on the road (much quieter than my friends dads Ranger Rover Vogue!), very easy to drive and comfortable; super cab is very versatile - gives plenty of space to stow items you want to keep clean, and still a good size load bed for delivering firewood. MPG averages low thirties.

 

Downsides - you can tell its two wheel drive on the road, especially in the wet / ice; and as others have said, dont think it would be up to fulfilling its three ton towing capacity. Funnily enough, I was just having this conversation with a mate today who was trying to decide if he should change his four year old Discovery Commercial. "Remember what you did a few months back" I said, "You wouldn't do that with any other pick up!" He came in the yard towing his plant trailer and an item of machinery and we put it on the weigh bridge - all up it was just under 8 tons - 2.7 for the Discovery and just over five for the trailer and load. "Couldn't tell it was there" he said!!