I'd agree, my daily driver being a diesel eurobox , its great on fuel usage and long lived engines

Diesel on my Iveco is on 250K klicks , Luke the prev owner had it rebuilt at 200k klicks and was told by mechanic that it really didn't need it, see Toyotas for very high mileages on engines

Petrol vs. diesel? Nice thread, it reminds me the evergreen argument Toyota+expensive spares vs. LR+inexpensive spares. Only parameters worth of considering imho are availability of fuel and degree to which car will be exposed to water . I have both diesel and petrol and both are quite reliable. I disagree that petrol engine is less reliable due to its complexity, diesel runs at much higher pressure that has its consequences i.e. wear& tear of self-lubricated injection pump. I personally ran down the pump with bad fuel and friend of mine did the same in Africa on its LC100. Personally never met anyone who terminally damaged injection on its overland petrol car during my trips. Replacement rather simple on petrol car provided one has spare parts.
As to the fuel consumption, true, there is difference but speaking about LC this difference tends to decrease while in hard terrain. LC 80 4.2 tdi will burn ca.18-20ltrs/100 km in hard terrain vs. 25 ltrs in case of my 4.5 petrol (difflocked +overdrive). Volume-wise it is a difference but if you consider density (weight) it is not so much as the gasoline is lighter fuel. My FZJ80 has 270 ltrs fuel tanks’ capacity and it is pretty much enough for any circumstances + jerry cans. Deep water crossing/wading is only uncomfortable option for me to imagine for the petrol car.

cheers

I've got to disagree with most of this.

Yes, diesel cost more to buy.

Diesel, especially the older mechanical injection models are not complicated at all, NO timing, NO fuel mixture none of the hassles involved in petrol engine tune ups. Newer electronically controlled diesels can be an issue for expedition use if there is ever a computer or electronic issue, either due to malfunction or mechanic ineptitude.

Diesel is usually considerably more economical than petrol.

On maintenance the only area that might be more expensive is an oil change. You NEVER need spark plugs, tune ups or all the other stuff needed with a petrol engine.

As for life span, other than the cheapo GM 350 "wannna-be" diesel of the 1970's and early '80's, a diesel should outlast a petrol engine everytime.

Overland diesel is likely easier to find than petrol. All trucks run diesel, no diesel = no commerce. In my travels there have been several times when petrol has been in short supply but diesel has been available.

diesel v petrol
 

When you drive in Asia, stans,with diesel at 14pence-37pence per litre, one tank is fine, as we obtained diesel easily, but going to the Gilf Kabir ,Egypt, and Sudan worth using 2 tanks, plus jerrys.Diesel quite easy to buy but cueing with the locals when filling 10 plastic container,plus 8 jerry cans on the fore court , took hours.the locals were not amused.
Filled a few containers with diesel ,to bring back home, but forgot this was from a hot country,when home poured diesel in to the LC and it came our as glue,.so had to wait untill spring for it to thin. Oh yes and we also carried 300 litres of water.What a vehicle, no problems.LC 80,1996.

LPG systems any good?
 

There are a few LC 80s that come up for sale regularly here in the UK that are fuelled with petrol and fitted with a LPG conversion. Often the LPG system has been fitted later in the life of the car; i.e. it is not a factory fitted LPG system.

What are the pros and cons of these vehicles compared with the other 80s?
(I recognise in this thread that most people prefer diesel, but LPG doesn't get mentioned again, after the quote herein).

Cons against LPG that I come up with are the need for a second tank, the additional stuff in the motor compartment and the weight that comes with all this. Plus: more parts in the car equals bigger chance for failiure. And then there's probably the smaller chance to find a filling station that offers the right kind of LPG through the right nozzle (are they the same everywhere?). Diesel and petrol can be handeled in jerrycans and so you can buy from lorry drivers or locals. I've never seen this done with LPG.
At the moment I can't come up with pros.

And then there are countries like Lebanon. They do not allow private cars with Diesel engines and even the entry of tourists with them because they want to reserve all the Diesel they can get for trucks.

Hans

Thanks Hans.
I had random similar thoughts (but with no experience of using LPG fuel) and you have summarised them nicely.
The channel tunnel company (sous la manche) bans vehicles that have LPG fitted which points toward the issue of leakage and the risk of explosion, especially the risk in confined spaces I surmise.

So do most multi-storey car parks. The practice to exclude LPG cars from enclosed areas is not uncommon.

Hans

Definitively an Diesel!

And when you can, take the Land Cruiser 200 (europe spec). You will love the comfort :cool4:

Surfy

I've never heard of that before.

Well it's on the internet so it must be true!

But seriously - we drove a diesel LC80 through Syria in 07 and had to pay 100 USD a week diesel car tax. We didn't try entering Lebanon but got told we couldn't have got the LC in if we did. Apparently there used to be diesel cars in Syria (and Lebanon?) but a few years before the government had done a scrappage scheme to make them extinct, to prevent pollution.

Also, in 2009 this person did a similar trip and hit the same obstacle when trying to enter Lebanon - Jordan, Syria and Lebanon

How long is a piece of string ?

You dont say what your intended usage !

with regard to L/C from my experience found that the petrol burns about 55% more than the diesel , unless you are really thrashing them and then the gap is a lot less, but for overland cruising then as majority say it has to be diesel .
reliability used to be diesel but due to all the electrickery in a modern diesel much of a muchness
also due same reason diesel has lost some of its fording superiority