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1HZ or 4.5 V8

xcentric

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Mar 27, 2018
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Looking to get a troop (78 series) with one of the above engines.

Pros of 1HZ - bulletproof, simple to maintain, works across the world on all sorts of diesel qualities
Cons - slow; slow acceleration; top speed limited with roof rack/roof tent; lack of refinement on road
Pros of V8 - more power making on-road driving simpler and easier, better acceleration for overtaking (another on-road feature)
Cons - probably lower mpg in off road conditions
Biggest issue though is that with the DPF it responds poorly to high sulphur content fuel and it is not officially allowed for SA or Oz cars at >50ppm sulphur- which is exceeded 100x in dome parts of the world. Now, for occasionally tanks of fuel I get it's not a big issue - replace engine oil, add another filter inline, and you're good to go- but for more extended times in low quality fuel areas, how do they stand up to the abuse? Is it a case go having to remove the DPF after a while and remap, or will it munch its injectors, or what? Note that as a personal import it'll not have a Totyota warranty anyway, but I'm buying it for it's ability to run many, many years.

Usage - off road and on road touring acround initially Europe, then Asia, North Africa then South Africa then Southern Africa, plus a trip Canada to Mexico, and possible South America, and Australia. So basically, everywhere - but with most likely a lot of on road between interesting off road places, esp in the more modern countries.

Experiences, anecdotes, and technical information welcomed.

thanks!
 
Spares availability, product knowledge and lack of range all negative themes for the v8 in my opinion for remote areas. Also complicated electronics.
If touring you may only average 25 miles per hour on gravel so speed is unimportant
 
1HZ was aimed at the mining companies so the harshest climates , altitudes and fuel quality should never raise an issue , we all know computers are stupid .
 
Going on what I've read, having no first hand knowledge of either engine, I'd go with the 1HZ for your intended use. The on road performance between the two is vast but as Ben Stratford has pointed out you can't use all the speed and power advantage of the V8 on poor roads and dirt tracks. The reliability/fixability issue holds way more importance. There's no reason to doubt the ability of the V8 to handle such a journey of course but a breakdown miles from anywhere in a vehicle few locals will be familiar with and the nearest spares a thousand miles away would be a nightmare worse case scenario. I guess a 1HD-T/FT would be the perfect solution but failing that the 1HZ has it.
 
thanks for replies so far. V8 the only engine available in Australia and some on 500k miles out there, so reliability in general not an issues (also still used by the mining companies). BUT they have exclusively low sulphur content fuel.

Fuel quality never an issue for the 1HZ - and if I was permanently in Africa or poor fuel places it would ne an easy choice, but will also be using it around Alps, Morocco, Pyrenees, and so inevitably there's a lot of on-road work too. If I went for the V8 I'd add another fuel filter and water separator. Am looking at DPF delete as a possible option as it's the sooting of that which causes the problems, but info is sketchy.

Drove the 1HZ all round Australia, and it was epic. But in cities or around other traffic, it was quite a pain being so slow and ponderous. hence the questions in my mind. Agreed the 1HDT might be ideal but they're nit made any more. Less convinced of aftermarket turbos on the iHZ as it seems a good way to destroy them, but it can't be too hard to put a low boost version of one in - might investigate that.....
 
Import an 80 series from Japan , it will do both and it will be recognized by bush mechanics anywhere on the planet .
 
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If fuel quality and emissions equipment (DPF) are the only potential issues with the V8 and they can be mitigated then that is worth investigating.
 
80 is too small for our needs really. Have send off lots of emails to people about it - looking here for anyone with experiences of this though.....
 
Didn't earlier models of the 1VD 78 Series come without DPF?
 
I drive the 1hz around and inside London, to be honest inner city driving is slow ponderous meandering the 1hz is ok for. Just at the round about need to give yourself that second more time, and do a lot of take-offs in 2nd gear.

Highways it will stick to 70mph all day long. It can be a bit thirsty, but we are driving around large bricks. 22mpg feels not terrible.

It's fine all over Europe too. Driven it to Ukraine and back some years ago, no worries.

I guess my point is that you buy the 1hz, you can then put it at the back of your mind, it's ok, it's not a thing you need to think about anymore. You can get on with the journey.
 
Give Gr8Yota a message as she has imported her truck and is building it up for living and breathing and there are specialist import companies who can get the right truck for you and specialist companies that cant
 
Need to be careful deleting the DPF too - I thought this was an automatic MOT failure?
 
V8 adds a lot of weight to the vehicle.
My troopy with the 1hz was way too lame for my liking. And I'm not a racer. I added a turbo with only 0.5 bar boost and from then it was a complete different truck.
Since fitting the turbo, the truck went all around europe, to the tunisian sand dunes and to mongolia and back with no issue whatsoever.
But even with the turbo, it doesn't drive as nice as my 1hd/ft 80.
It's like comparing a small truck to a big car.
 
the 1HDT may not be made anymore but pretty much every part that you need to keep it running is still available.
 
Hello.

Are you intending on importing new or used? Where do you intend registering the vehicle? The 1VD is very very fussy about it’s fuel quality. Even friends of mine in the Middle East won’t touch it. If you intend to register in the UK then I don’t think you will get a 1HZ though IVA so you will need to import one that is over 10years old so this won’t be required. Yes the early 1VD did not have DPF.

I looked for a long time for a decent 1HZ 76 or 78 in South Africa. The problem is buying a vehicle 10yrs or more old ‘remotely’ means you have an very unknown can of worms. If you go down this route then I suggest you contact Paul Marsh and ask him to source you a car. 78’s in South Africa are rare but they are about.

Australia does have the 1HZ but only in old vehicles which seem typically to have 3-500,000km on them, are full of rust and still command very high prices.

There are lots of 1HZ motors with low boost turbos without issue, I found lots for sale in RSA but if you’re buying one ready done it will be hard to confirm the install.


With these considerations in mind and the failure to find a decent 1HZ (and never wanting the 1VD) I purchased the 1GR. An engine I know well, is well proven and bulletproof. It’s economy is pretty much identical to the 1VD. It is a global engine, going in a variety of models and the GCC cars get the SVVT version which is the stronger one.

I purchased from the FTZ in Dubai. If do you look there beware of any used vehicles for sale. They are nearly all repaired wrecks or stolen or possibly both. I found a very nice looking car, the VIN checked out to have a rap sheet of major structural damage stretching to several pages when I cross checked it in Australia where it originated and had clearly been rolled heavily. Others had similar stories.

Note that in Europe all the companies doing conversions are only selling the 1GR now (Toms, Extrem, Nestle etc).

Have you checked out mobile.de There are always plenty of older 1HZ 78s on there.
 
I've got a 1hz in my 105. Its true that's its bloody slow, but its simplicity is a big win if you are going to be driving in remote places. It all depends what you are going to be doing with it.

If you can get one with the altitude compensator then that would be good, although they are hard to find.

Personally, I would definitely get a 1hz over anything else, and accept the con's.
 
I have a 1HZ too. Deffo slow but what’s the rush? Huge space in the 78 and the 1HZ will certainly get you where you are going
 
i had a (08)78 series 4.5 tdv8 for nearly 10 years and sold it at 300k with no real issues apart from the inj starting to become noisy and a ball joint issue (my bad not maintaining doing many water ways where i live) ..having said that... ive now got a 105 series 1hz std and love its solid axle 4wd capabilities over the v8.. im currently travelling through outback Oz and the only issue i have is the lack of 'staying power' on highways ...
 
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