Driving

[river]

Hi guys, Just getting some opinion of using my new Fortuner for long distance driving. Well I havent been using it much and mileage is only less than 1000kms. I have it checked already and no faults were seen but just getting some hints as I will go distance driving next week from Brissy to Sydney then to Canberra. Thanks guys!

[gbrought]

Hi river, I only took delivery of mine on 23 Dec and on the 27th drove Sydney to Melbourne. Not ideal to run in a new diesel but I've been careful to keep the revs below 3000 and vary revs from time to time as much as humanly possible on a run like that. Also left it idling for a good 2-3 minutes minimum at stops before switching off, cheers Geoff

[gbrought]

Also been advised to use Caltex Vortex as first choice, then either Shell or BP. And to stay away from everything else for a Euro 6 diesel engine.

[river]

Hi Geoff, Thanks for the advice. I am so hesitant to use it for long distance driving as yet but I will take your words for it...

[gbrought]

I'm no diesel mechanic. But I have owned diesel 4WDs for 25 years and my old man was a truckie. The main issue is to not over work a new engine until everything *beds down* properly. 2 decades ago this involved intricate patterns of driving in certain rev ranges for short periods. I'm not sure how many actually bother with this today. My approach to not over working the engine was to keep revs under 3000 and make sure it was not switched off hot. I've also deliberately kept it in Eco mode ... But I'm not sure what difference this makes in the GX manual. Enjoy your trip. Its the quietest 4WD I've ever owned, rivalling a friend's Lexus-inspired Prado. The mid range torque is great. And in 6th gear on he highway with the cruise control set at 113-114 km/h it pulls at about 1600rpm!!!

[river]

Geoff,
cheers for that, I will just have to do it carefully as per advice. Cheers man. Ill be posting photos here of my car and the places I stopped to.

[river]

Hi Geoff,
Just in response to your advice in regards to eco mode. Do u have to use this at the beginning of your driving or whilst on a highway or on a continues driving mode already. I am confused coz when I turned eco mode, the power is quite low, well mine is an auto and at times I have to turn the power mode on to get a real power specially on hilly parts. Let me know how you use it.
Cheers
Manny

[gbrought]

Hi Manny, as I understand it (and this feature is new to me) the Eco mode dampens the throttle response. The practical motoring review (linked elsewhere) talks about the Eco mode and thinks it's a useless feature for the reasons you mention. I was simply using it as a precautionary measure because setting off on a long drive with less than 100kms on the odo was never ideal. But you are right: once on the highway at cruising speed Eco mode would make little-to-no difference at all. I've now switched t off and am enjoying the difference

[river]

Geoff, I will definitely test these features more on my long road trips and will give your more feedbacks on my experience.
Manny