petrol surfs

[animal]

Anyone with a petrol surf (v6) got anything good or bad to say about them and what sort of price are they.
I kinda fancy swapping from 2.4 diesel to petrol but can't afford a lexurf .

[Rustinho]

If I ever get another petrol driven car I'll almost certainly get it converted to run on LPG. A mate of mine has recently qualified to do it and has said that he'd do it on the cheap if I wanted it doing.

[TonyN]

I had a manual V6 4Runner, it was nippy, smooth, sounded great, but frigging expensive as a daily driver.

No more than 14-15mpg around town, better on a long run though, but was hard to drive sensibly as it was so much fun to drive 'uneconomically'

The auto Surfs I've tried don't feel so quick off the mark, but the rest is as good.

[BUSHWHACKER]

If I ever get another petrol driven car I'll almost certainly get it converted to run on LPG. A mate of mine has recently qualified to do it and has said that he'd do it on the cheap if I wanted it doing.

Is it really worth it though?
I suspect the price of LPG will rise the same as SVO did.

[Rustinho]

Is it really worth it though?
I suspect the price of LPG will rise the same as SVO did.

I reckon so too, but it's a possibility when the time comes.

I never actually asked him how much it would cost to do an LPG conversion for me. If it crops up in conversation sometime I'll see what he says he can do it for but it isn't something that's going to happen anytime soon either way.

[Apache]

14 to 15mpg? Ouch!

The only place for a V6 is a Capri!

[BUSHWHACKER]

14 to 15mpg? Ouch!

The only place for a V6 is a Capri!

Or a 6R4.

[Apache]

Hmmm - ok, you got me there!

Especially as a guy 'down the road' races a twin turbo 6R4.

[Shaft120]

14 to 15mpg? Ouch!

The only place for a V6 is a Capri!

I've got a 3rd Gen 3.4lt V6 auto and have owned a 2nd Gen 2.4td as well.

The V6 is the nuts for acceleration off the mark and you get good pull through all the gears up to 80 mph.

Can't say as it would be as good at towing vs the diesel, but for grunt and fun, you can't beat it.

For MPG the petrol is not ideal, but to be honest, it's not much worse than my old 2.4 td, and I got around 22 mpg on a lead footed run from London to Edinburgh.

See this thread on petrol versus the Diesel:

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67956

Not really that much more to be honest, and you know where the extra money went

[MWS]

14 to 15mpg? Ouch!

The only place for a V6 is a Capri!

You forgot about these, Andy.......







Country

USA



Top Speed (mph)

124



0-60 mph

4.6



1/4 mile

13.4



BHP

276 @4400rpm



Torque lbft

360 @3000rpm



BHP per ton

175



Engine capacity CC/CU

3791/231



Engine type

V6 Fuel Injection



Aspiration

Turbocharged



Compression Ratio

8.0:1



Valve Type/No

Overhead 12

[Karma Supra]

Sorry but a 6 cylinder engine should be arranged in a line

A V should start at 8. (or two if it is a bike!)

That said I could buy my truck again, and there were two identical ones, one diesel, one V6 I'd have had the V6 in a flash. there seem to be more crawling out the woodwork now, when I was buying 4 or so years ago I saw none?

[animal]

Cheers people
I really fancy a v6 or 8 now.
Anyone wanna swap lol.

[Sancho]

I wouldn't lust after a 2nd gen V6. As Tony said, they're very thirsty. I used to get about 19mpg if I took it really easy. London to Ripon (north Yorks) took just over a full tank....

As the engine went, it was much more responsive then the diesels and a lot easier to keep up a decent pace. It's pretty smooth and sounds quite nice, but not amazing. The main issue was the gearbox, which had the same kind of slop in it as in the diesels, so you could actually feel how much power was being lost in the transmission. I've driven a manual too, and it was substantially better.

They are also prone to popping headgaskets.

From what I understand, the 3rd gen V6 is much more robust, efficient and powerful.

If you're not planning on doing mega miles, they (certainly the 2nd gen) are so cheap that it might be worth it. There is no manual 3rd gen V6.

And, just to pick up on the point above, V6s are great. I've owned three different cars with a V6 and loved all of them. The Mazda Miller V6 is the best engine I have ever come across. In contrast, I've driven quite a few straight 6s (mostly BMs, but my Merc is a straight too). They are nothing like as smooth or refined. The BM ones sounds like a bag of nails.

[Karma Supra]

Harmonicly a straight 6 is better than a V6 - a line of 6 balanced better than a line of 3, and comparing a 1965 i6 to a modern V6 is hardly a fair test! (although I absolutely love the 220SEb)

The modern BM straight 6s are very course (at least the M cars are), the exhausts are deliberately tuned to the “bag of spanners” rasp, which works on the higher revving sports engines (think anything European, n/a and fast) but in the more hum drum models just sounds abrasive.

Before the BM I had 8 previous straight six cars... and one V6 that was rubbish (mazda engined probe, awful engine). I must admit after 7 Toyota straight 6s the S54 engine in the M3 felt very un refined.. – doesn’t stop it being a cracking engine though!

That’s just given me a thought... a cheap reliable engine for the surf could be a 2JZ-GE. – but for the same effort a 1UZ won’t cost much more so it’s probably not worth it!

[Sancho]

Fair enough. I never knew the BMW straight sixes were supposed to sound like a broken down Nova...

I actually prefer the engine in the 220 to the modern BMW ones and, in fairness, the straight six in an e-type is wonderful (and looks amazing).

I think it's one we just have to put down to taste. I prefer the sound and feel of a V to a straight, and can hardly bear the noise a boxer makes.