My experience with th 2005 Prado 4WD

**nicolodeon** · December 2nd, 2005 02:53 PM

Dateline - Bali

Winding, narrow mountain roads, great vistas, wow...Timor Leste has it. The place has good country side for off-road driving and a number of good roads for cruising, and cruise we did, last Monday and Tuesday, in a 2005 Toyota Landcruiser Prado (3.0L Intercooler Turbo).

Driving the Prado was almost like *** on wheels: smooth, stable, with lotsa omphs and ahhs. Zigging up and down the narrow winding roads of Timor Leste, the Prado had no problem at all. The suspension was not stiff but was not soft. Good traction in the narrow winding roads up and down the mountain - where the roads are real narrow that two Prados going side by side would mean about a foot distance beetween the Prados, and about a half-meter or so between the rocky sides of the mountain and the edge of a cliff. The handling was also quite good that I almost thought I was inside a car, and not an brutish 4WD.

With it's 5-speed stick shift, the Prado performed the steep, anguluar and winding climbs with aplomb. It's handling and suspension were great - we hardly noticed the medium sized road ruts and potholes. The Prado traversed uneven groud fairly well. The vehicle has excellent tourqe, great gearing and, as I said, good suspension that clearing dirt-mounds or creek/river mounds is an easy thing to do.

The Prado performed well in on and off-roads sections during the trip. Fuel consumption was acceptable: half the tank for an estimate 104kms (est. 52kms one way), while generally cruising at 110-120kph on flatland, while doing anything from 40-80kph on the climbs. However, th acceleration of the Prado is nominal at best.

The Prado has good cornering skills. There roll and pitch I felt were acceptably safe when we hit winding corners at 45-50kphs at times (I was driving like a nut since we had go get to our destination before 9AM and get back to our apartment before 5PM). Good thing the Prado has good road handling capabilities and has excellent braking power, else I'd be shark feed right now.

The styling of the Prado is elegant (at least for my tastes) - smooth lines, nice looking sweptback headlights. It's styling would turn heads. The way that new Prado is shaped would surely increase fuel efficiency and would have low-drag coefficient due to its more aerodynamic design compared to the previous Prado. The seats are quite comfortable that you're butt won't really mind sitting all the way for the thre-hour trip to where we went. The cabin ergonomics and styling gives one feel for...luxury. The Prado has good leg room. The guys at Toyota also did a good job of minimizing the road noise even more, although they did only a so-so job at the rear pillars - I had some difficulty backing up because the pillars were thick that it created sort of "blind" spots for me. Well, maybe it's just because I'm short. Taller people might have a different experience.

Even if the Prado is really built for off-road stuff, it's refined and comfortable enough to use as an everyday car. If I had the dough and would like a 4WD as a weekend toy, I'd give this baby a real serious thought.