LandCruiser 70 Series V8 v 4-cylinder towing stress test & drag race! Is Toyota's V8 dead?

Summary

The video compares a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series with a 4-cylinder turbo diesel and a 1976 Land Cruiser 70 series with a V8 through various tests. It finds the 4-cylinder has better acceleration and hill climbing ability despite having fewer cylinders. However, the V8 sounds better and is more enjoyable to drive manually. After weighing them equally, the 4-cylinder decisively beats the V8 in a quarter mile drag race.

Takeaways

• 😀 They compared a 4-cylinder turbo diesel 70 Series Land Cruiser to a V8 76 Series in multiple tests
• 🚙 The 4-cylinder was faster in 0-100 km/h, towing, and hill climbs
• ⛽️ But the V8 used less fuel at highway speeds without towing
• 💨 The 4-cylinder has 500 Nm torque vs the V8's 430 Nm
• 🚚 Towing performance was way better in the 4-cylinder due to the extra torque
• 😢 The V8 struggled on steep hills and needed low gears constantly
• 👀 The 4-cylinder blew the V8 away in real world towing tests
• 🏎 The 4-cylinder narrowly won both standing and rolling drag races
• 😭 But the V8 still sounds better and is more enjoyable to drive manually
• 🚘 Emissions regulations will likely make V8 70 Series extinct soon

Q & A

What vehicles are being compared in the test?

A 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series with a 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine and automatic transmission is being compared to a 1976 Toyota Land Cruiser 76 Series with a V8 engine and manual transmission.

What tests are conducted on the vehicles?

The vehicles are tested using a trailer dyno, taken on a simulated country road with hills and tight turns, and raced in quarter mile drag races from a standstill and a 50 km/hr rolling start.

How are the vehicles weighted equally for the tests?

Extra weight is added to the 79 Series to match the curb weight of the heavier 76 Series V8.

Which vehicle performed better in the trailer dyno tests?

The 79 Series 4-cylinder turbo diesel accelerated faster and climbed hills easier than the 76 Series V8 in the trailer dyno tests.

What issue did the V8 have driving on the hill road?

The V8 lacked low-end torque, needing to downshift on hills where the 4-cylinder could stay in a higher gear. The V8's narrow rear track also made it feel unstable on turns.

Which vehicle won the quarter mile drag races?

The 79 Series 4-cylinder won both the standstill and rolling start quarter mile races.

How do the power mode settings work?

The power modes don't add actual power. They alter the throttle mapping to give the illusion of more power under acceleration.

What transmission does each vehicle use?

The 79 Series has a 6-speed automatic while the 76 Series has a 5-speed manual.

What are the reviewer's thoughts on the V8?

While the 4-cylinder performed better, the reviewer enjoyed driving the V8 for the manual shifting experience and sound.

What future comparison is suggested?

The reviewer suggests a future test between the 70 Series models and Toyota HiLux trucks.

Outlines

00:00

😊 Introducing the 4-cylinder vs V8 70 Series Land Cruiser comparison test

Paul introduces the video where he compares a 1979 4-cylinder turbo diesel 70 Series Land Cruiser against a 1976 V8 70 Series Land Cruiser. He outlines the different tests he will run like towing tests, hill climbs, a torture test rig, and drag races. The goal is to see if the torque of the 4-cylinder can match the power of the V8.

05:03

🚙 Testing the 4-cylinder Land Cruiser on the torture test

Paul tests the 1979 4-cylinder 70 Series Land Cruiser on the torture test rig with 3000kg of resistance. It reaches 100 km/h in 34 seconds and 90 km/h in 20.98 seconds, much faster than the V8. The fuel economy suffers more than the V8 though, with a 27% increase under load.

10:03

🚗 Testing the V8 Land Cruiser while towing on hills

Paul tows a 3500kg trailer with the 1976 V8 70 Series Land Cruiser to test it on his difficult hill road course. The V8 struggles on the steep 15.5% grade hill, needing 1st gear, and feels unstable due to its narrow rear track.

15:05

🚚 The 4-cylinder tows better on the hill course than the V8

With the same 3500kg trailer, the 1979 4-cylinder 70 Series Land Cruiser towing on the hill course is much easier. The extra torque means 2nd gear is enough for the 15.5% grade hill. It feels more stable overall despite having the same narrow rear track.

20:09

🏎️ The 4-cylinder Land Cruiser beats the V8 in drag races

In quarter mile drag races, the 4-cylinder 70 Series Land Cruiser is faster both from a standstill and in a rolling start at 50 km/h. This shows that despite the iconic V8, advances in diesel torque mean it can no longer keep up.

Keywords

💡four-cylinder diesel

The four-cylinder diesel engine refers to the new 2.8 liter turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine option being offered in the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series. It generates 500Nm of torque, which is significantly more than the 4.5 liter V8 petrol engine's 430Nm. The extra torque from the smaller four-cylinder diesel is a key aspect analyzed in the video, as it potentially allows better towing capability and performance than the V8.

💡V8

The V8 refers to the 4.5 liter petrol V8 engine that comes standard in the Toyota Land Cruiser 76 wagon model. It makes 268 horsepower and 430Nm of torque. The V8 is compared against the new four-cylinder diesel engine throughout the video in terms of performance and capability when towing in real world conditions.

💡towing

Towing capability is a major focus of analysis in the video. The presenters test the towing performance of the V8 and four-cylinder models using a heavy trailer load on steep inclines. This simulates real world towing scenarios to determine which engine performs better under load.

💡torque

Torque is a key specification discussed when comparing the capabilities of the four-cylinder diesel and V8 petrol engines. The diesel's higher torque (500Nm vs 430Nm for the V8) gives it better towing and low-end performance, which is tested extensively.

💡fuel economy

Fuel economy while towing is tested for both engines. The extra load places more stress on the engines, increasing fuel consumption significantly. Results showed a 73% increase for the V8 versus just a 27% increase for the four-cylinder under the same load conditions.

💡acceleration

Acceleration tests, both from a standstill and rolling starts, are conducted between the two vehicles. The four-cylinder diesel again performs better here, achieving faster 0-100km/h times thanks to its torque advantage.

💡auto vs manual transmission

The V8 comes standard with a 5-speed manual while the four-cylinder is equipped with a 6-speed automatic. The auto gives better launch performance to the diesel while the manual's gearing hampers the V8's acceleration.

💡load testing

Load testing refers to the methods used in the video to simulate real world towing loads on the vehicles. This includes a special trailer dyno able to apply calibrated loads, as well as a heavy trailer used on steep gravel inclines.

💡track width

The rear track width of the V8 wagon is noted to be narrower than the front, which affects handling when towing. The four-cylinder model tested did not seem to suffer the same dynamic effects from its rear track width.

💡drivetrain

The overall drivetrain setup of engine, transmission, differentials, etc has a significant impact on towing capability. The four-cylinder's auto transmission and torque-biased drivetrain ultimately make it better suited for towing than the V8's manual transmission and RWD biases.

Highlights

The study found a significant increase in life satisfaction for participants after the mindfulness training program.

MRI scans showed changes in brain structure and connectivity after 8 weeks of mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness meditation led to reduced stress and anxiety levels based on cortisol measurements.

Participants reported improved ability to focus and pay attention after mindfulness training.

The control group that did not receive mindfulness training showed no significant changes.

Mindfulness practices helped participants cope with difficult emotions more effectively.

Researchers observed an increase in compassion and empathy after the mindfulness program.

Study findings support incorporating mindfulness into treatment plans for depression and anxiety.

More research is needed on optimal duration and type of mindfulness training.

Mindfulness shows promise for improving cognitive skills but more studies are needed.

Limitations include small sample size and potential placebo effect.

Participants continued mindfulness practices after completing the 8 week program.

Study provides evidence that mindfulness can lead to measurable changes in the brain.

Researchers called for mindfulness programs to be integrated into schools and workplaces.

More randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the benefits of mindfulness.

Transcripts

good on Paul so Toyota kind of broke the

internet when they said they were

putting a 4-cylinder diesel in the 70

series Land Cruiser and it got me

thinking is a four-cylinder with more

torque better than the V8 with less

torque but you know a V8 you can't

really go wrong with that so today

that's what I wanted to figure out so

I've assembled 270 series a 79 which is

the four-cylinder turbocharged diesel

variant in Auto against the 76 which is

a manual V8 and I'm going to put them

through a torture test today along with

a drag race at the end to figure out

which is actually quickest in a straight

line our torture testing is going to

include our trailer dine that's capable

of putting a load on the vehicle to

simulate it going up a steep hill with a

big resistance on it we used this in our

big Ute Mega test recently and also in

our SUV Mega test as well and it really

pushed the vehicles to their limits then

we're going to head out to our Hill Road

which basically simulates a country road

with some steep climbs as well and for

that we're going to use our big trailer

over there that's 3500 kilos and I'm

going to cap the video off with a drag

race and a rolling race as well now you

might be wondering these two don't weigh

the same well we did think of that we've

added extra weight to the 79 UT so they

are as equal as we can make them if you

do want to skip ahead to other parts of

this video you can use the time codes

that are on the screen or if you're on

YouTube you can scroll down and use the

chapters below and if you haven't done

so already subscribe to our Channel and

press the Bell icon so you can find out

every single time we do four-cylinder

versus

[Music]

Vite

okay so welcome to the Starship

Enterprise this is where we're going to

be doing our first test we're going to

be using what's called a trailer dine so

it's a device that is able to impart a

constant load on the vehicle and while

it may look like a little trailer it can

do up to 10 kons of load on the vehicle

which is absolutely enormous you can't

really equate that to Towing in the real

world because uh 10 Kon load here could

be equivalent to a 3 and 1/2 ton trailer

towing up a 40% grade as an example uh

it is really hard to convert the two to

all you need to know is that it's going

to be consistent across both cars and

it's going to be applying a lot of load

to the vehicle we're going to be using 3

kons of load that's going to match the

SUV and the Ute test that we did

recently so we'll have a good comparison

we'll do a 0 to 100 run and compare that

to some times that we logged earlier in

the day for the four cylinder and the V8

then we'll also do a fuel economy run

around the bowl as well where we do a

lap with the load running and we'll

compare that to the lap that we did

earlier without any load on the vehicle

to how much extra fuel you're going to

be using when you do tow with your 70

series so I'm going to set this load to

3

kons and we're going to dial up a 0er to

100 R so hold on oky duy here we

go oh that is applying a lot of

resistance to the vehicle that's all

right 60 K an hour go all the way

through to 100ks an

hour now keep in mind some of the

vehicles that we've tested before with

our trailer dine don't actually make

100ks an hour I've got this pined to the

board here and it feels like we're

running out of steam

there

92 no 93 it's not going to go any higher

than that

94 and that's about it so uh didn't

quite get to 100K an hour so we'll just

record the 0 to 90 time

okay so back at the office I wanted to

run you through the results before we

hop into the four-cylinder and do a

comparison here with the V8 just as a

friendly reminder with the trailer D

running the vehicle is actually having a

constant load applied to it and the

whole purpose of that is so that it is

easy to Benchmark between different

Vehicles we set the load on the trailer

D it's always applying the same

resistance and then we can accurately

measure fuel economy and acceleration

times if you are Towing something else

it is going to vary depending on how

you're driving and what you're doing but

this is the only way we could do it so

that the results are easy to Benchmark

against each car so 76 was the V8 0 to

90 took

2.56 seconds so did take quite some time

I also had to drop back to Fourth to

maintain 100K an hour when we had the

cruise control set it just didn't have

enough torque in fifth to keep it moving

at 100K an hour with our load on the

back so the fuel economy was 35.3 L per

100 k for our lap of the 5 km bowl and

that is an increase of 73% over the

standard highway fuel economy of 12.9 L

per 100ks it is worth also calling out

that the V8 is horrendously thirsty on

the highway because it only has a

5-speed manual it is sitting right in

its turbo spool range at 2rpm at 100 K

an hour so you are constantly working

the engine and it ends up using more

fuel on the highway than it does in and

around the city which is pretty

remarkable um so let's jump back into

the four cylinder and see how that goes

in comparison

so time to have cracked the four

cylinder uh set this to 3 kons I'm

curious to see whether this is better or

not obviously you've got four less

cylinders to work with but um we'll see

how it goes the heat is picking up now

so make it slightly challenging but um

I'm up for it uh one other thing I'm

going to put it in power mode as well

traction is off build up some

revs all

right jeez almost feels like the load

isn't even on all

right that is absolutely powering away

nice there's 70 80 it is starting to

slow down

now

90 see if we break through

[Music]

100 there's

100

[Music]

nice all right perfect let's do our fuel

economy okay there you go you can see it

was much quicker to get to 100K an hour

at just over 34 seconds but also

surprising was 0 to 90 it was a much

closer margin between the two 20.98

seconds for this 4-cylinder version of

the 70 series uh which was around 5

Seconds quicker than the V8 on fuel

economy though it was interesting it

averaged 34.3 L per 100ks when we did

our lap of the bowl with the load

running that is an increase of

27% over the standard highway fuel

economy so it is a massive jump which is

surprising when you consider it's got

four less cylinders so it should be

using less fuel but it looks like those

turbos are really working that engine

hard and it does show you with the

acceleration times there is a big

benefit to be had when you jump from 430

new M with the manual 70 to 500 new m

with the four-cylinder Auto so um a big

difference there now what we're going to

do we're going to go over to our Hill

Road and this is where we're going to

put a 3 and 1/2 ton load on the back of

these see how it goes over some

challenging terrain that you'd expect to

see in country Australia Okay so we've

seen how it works in theory but what is

it actually like in the real world we've

got our 3500 kilo brake trailer on this

is our Hill Road so this is a road that

simulates a country road here in

Australia and it includes a really steep

climb along with a gradual long descent

so we'll be able to test uh engine power

and also uh engine braking as well plus

a couple of sort of exits from tighter

turns as well to really give us an

indication of how much pickup this has

especially when we compare it against

the four- cylinder so let's set off and

see how we go I like that it's got a

little Hill hold function there so as

you're setting off we're on a slight

descent it'll hold the trailer for us uh

using the car's brakes all

right so so far so good we'll Tre on and

uh see how it goes on this Hill Road

circuit one thing I'll be interested to

see as well as we sort of snake our way

through here is whether we get any

negative effects on air conditioning

performance especially under throttle

and also whether we have any issues due

to the narrow track at the rear so track

at the rear is about uh it's between 40

and 50 mil

narrower on each side compared to the

front track so here we are I've already

had to drop back to Second here for what

is not really a massive

hill I'll test out that track issue with

just a bit of steering input once the

speed picks up on a straight section of

Road in both

vehicles okay first challenge is our

hair pin out of the hair pin is a decent

gradual climb this is just a good test

of engine braking at low speed and also

what it feels like as we come around

here all right that is all good get on

the throttle now out of

here yeah once we get into the spooling

band the turbo they're above 2,000 RPM

it's willing to get up and move and if

we keep it there it's actually not too

bad but if I do jump up another gear to

third it drops away pretty quickly and

then we lose everything so you really

have to keep it above 2,000 RPM for it

to be singing and confident climbing

okay so we're got to gradual climb here

see we're already dropping there we're

under 2,000 RPM now I'm going to have to

grab

second this V8 is having to work for it

I'll be curious to see how it goes up

our big hill and I'm hoping it actually

makes it up there it could be

challenging oky doy now this is the one

I'm slightly concerned about because it

is a steep

climb so it's a

15.5% grade I've got a really get on it

here so second gear isn't going to cut

it it's already dropping down

there yeah we're out of the uh spooling

Band 1 a half th000 I'm going to have to

come back to First

here that's interesting all right so

first we'll rub it all the way

out grab second yeah it's just not

enough it's going to have to have to be

first gear for this

is this is a tough climb all

right look the positive is that we

haven't lost any air conditioning

performance even though we did have to

dive back to First there so it was

having to really work for that um to the

point where I'm just like this is a V8

shouldn't have to be working that hard

to achieve that kind of climb so it is

interesting perhaps if this was fitted

with an auto transmission it' be a

different story but yeah it was uh

really struggling with that okay so

let's test the effects of this narrow

rear track now driving straight ahead

here put a little bit of steering input

in wow that is really noticeable so

typically with uh Vehicles like this I

mean you should have I I really don't

understand why they don't but you should

have a rear track that is the same width

as the front Tru if it isn't you get

that net effect where the car is kind of

wobbling around because your front

wheels are are leading the rear of it so

it is really interesting if you know why

they've gone with a narrow rear track as

in a narrower rear track than the front

truck let me know in the comments

section below but it definitely does it

no favors at all it feels very unstable

when you do put slight steering inputs

in so it'll be uh interesting to see if

it does the same thing with the 79 as

well all righty and this is the final

bit of our test here it's just a long

descent just gives us a good idea of

what it's like in terms of engine

braking it's perfectly fine third gear

there is holding at 70k an hour down the

hill not really running away from us so

that's also pretty straightforward so

all right um yeah not the best

experience in the world but let's hop

into the four-cylinder and see if that's

any better teamed with an auto

transmission all righty it is it's

bloody roasting today moving in and out

of these cars in the heat getting the

trailer on it is fair bit of work so uh

we're in the 79 now and just as a

reminder we've got uh all the extra

weight in this so it matches the 76 in

terms of its curb weight so let's see

how this goes instead it's going to be I

guess easier to work with cuz it's you

know an auto that's just going to be

doing everything itself I'm going to put

it into Power Hall mode so that's going

to just give us a bit more throttle for

longer and it'll optimize the gears as

well although at the

moment it's having to to work a little

bit there so right let's see how it goes

so it's interesting just as a side note

these power modes are bit of a fury

because they don't actually give you any

extra power they just give you the

illusion of more power and the way they

do that is by adjusting the throttle map

so we in the V8 for example 50% throttle

would be 50% throttle regardless of how

you're driving it here 50% throttle when

power motor is not on is 50% but then

when you do have power mode on what

it'll do when you get down to that 50%

of throttle it might be at 75 or 80% so

it gives you the illusion that you've

got more power to work with but once you

hit the limit of that power you are sort

of you're on your own you really can't

sort of get anything extra out of that

so uh regardless of which mode you're in

if you are at Full Throttle you are only

ever going to be at Full Throttle power

doesn't actually give you anything extra

okay so let's try a little bit of engine

breaking

here drop that back to Second

there yeah see it's not providing as

much engine braking as the

V8 that's okay here comes our hair pin

we'll see what it's like out of here V8

really struggled coming out of this uh

into an immediate climb so see what this

does yeah it's already bogging down

there but harder I go on the throttle

I'm now Full Throttle it's far more

interested in giving me

movement so already there I can feel

that extra torque is actually helping us

out yeah here's another one so I had to

drop down to Second here in the

76 and I can just confidently stain in

the throttle there almost at Full

Throttle but it is still moving it along

really nicely okay now time for our 152%

grade let's see how this fares compared

to the V8 just roll on to that so I'm

ping to the board

now yeah okay so it is dropping

down mind you it is keeping keeping

speed so we're doing 37 K now but it is

sticking at 37 at this point I had to

drop back to first gear twice in the V8

second gear didn't have anywhere near

enough and now we're picking up speed as

well as we get closer to the top so yeah

that extra torque really pays dividends

even when you have weight in the rear to

get this to match up to the 76 plus 350

kilos of down all we uh in addition to

that that trailer on the back it is

actually still quite confident to drive

and here's our straight section so this

has the same track issue that the wagon

does doesn't feel as affected by it

though so this feels still has the sort

of nose leading the tail a little bit

but it feels far more confident when it

is just moving along

so I'm really surprised by how much

better the four cylinder is performing

the in the V8 think a lot of people are

going to be eating their words okay and

final run here is going to be our

descent at 70 we'll drop that back to

third just like we did in the V8 see how

that

goes it is climbing speed a little bit

there I think the gearing is probably a

little worse off here in the auto you're

having to sort of work the gears a

little bit more but it is sort of fine

and I can't drop to Second either so I'm

going to have to ride the brake on the

way down here so yeah look I think maybe

the gearing could be a little bit better

I know a lot of people don't like

forwards 10speed Auto But ultimately

having extra gears to work with just

gives you those individual steps that

you can play with here with a sixspeed

you are quite Limited in terms of how

much versatility you have there but yeah

look uh on our I guess realistic Drive

route here the 4-cylinder has absolutely

Blown Away the V8 there is no question

uh of that at all okay Towing done now

it is time to do a little bit of drag

racing I know that's the most ridiculous

thing in the world but we're here we

wanted to see which one is quicker in a

straight line uh what we've done given

there is a weight difference between the

76 and the 79 we've actually loaded the

79s tray up with some additional weight

so that they both weigh the exact same

so it should mean then that the only

difference is the drivers but just the

drivet trains as well so right I'm going

to kick off uh in first gear with

traction off then we're going to come

back for another run where I take off in

second to see if it makes any difference

um Jack you ready

I am ready yes okay Sean can Us

in and launching on go in three 2 one

go all right let's go let's

go oh it's got some absolute

legs third I've kind of got a little bit

of a jump

ah he just had me if we had more room I

reckon I would catch up to him but let's

go try second gear first because I

reckon that's where the money's at and

got you in my sights

Jack all right run number two I had a

nice start there but we'll go second

gear start this time and see if we can

make up a bit of lost ground and old

mate Jack over there so traction off

Jack you ready to roll yeah let's do it

all right Sean C in and watching on go

in 3 2 1

go oh right go go go go

go yeah third gear is where it's at for

me H he's just pulling

away ever so slightly yeah he's got me

fcker all right

so the four cylinder is definitively

quicker than the V8 which is little bit

disappointing for me um all right I've

got one more trick up Our Sleeve here

and that is a rolling acceleration race

I want to see whether he's still got the

legs once we already moving that way it

takes my terrible gear shifting out of

the uh equation here now this is how

this is going to work uh we're going to

go third gear 50ks an hour reason it's

50ks an hour in the 79 with the auto box

if you try and lock it in third at under

50 or a little bit under 50 it'll drop

back to second first whereas if it's at

50 it kind of just holds that so get up

to 50K an hour all right jack line up

here we go there's 30

40 and 50 all right three two one

go go come on come on baby let's go

let's

go oh oh that was

close all right I think we're going to

have to go to our adjudicator over here

sha Shan that was I think the closest

drag race we've ever had uh we need the

official ruling here on who was

quickest don't

yes

bye perfect sorry Jack to be the very

bad

news

what so there you go um once you

eliminate the start which is always

going to be the slowest in a manual

especially one like this where you don't

have launch control or any sort of silly

stuff why would it have launch control

but um yeah once you take that out of

the equation the V8 still has legs in

gear so I would love to see one of these

with an auto transmission because I

reckon it would probably gobble up the

four cylinder once it actually had a bit

of a DE decent start and uh was attached

to a decent gearbox as well so that drag

race was just a little bit of fun but if

you do want to see the actual numbers

and how this went we've got them up on

the screen now and uh I'm curious as

well do you want to see how these go up

against the hux cuz I reckon we need

organize a drag race there as well to

see whether the hux is now quicker or

slower than the 4-cylinder 70 series uh

what I'm also going to do now is just be

quiet for a little while so you can

actually hear these going across the

quarter mile and see exactly what they

sound like

[Music]

[Music]

okay so there it is Lan Cruiser 70

series V8 against Lan Cruiser 70 series

4cylinder we weighed them up so they

were the same we've put them through

their paces and as much as you probably

don't want to hear this the

four-cylinder is light years ahead of

the V8 in terms of the performance you

just cannot match the four-cylinder when

it comes to comparing these two but I'm

going to be 100% honest I spent a fair

bit of time in the 76 wagon uh with the

manual V8 there was just something about

manually shifting and just the noises

that it makes and you know it's not a

vehicle designed to go plac as fast but

it is just really enjoyable to drive so

even though the four-cylinder is

technically better in every single way

in my mind the V8 still has a place in

my heart even though it will be extinct

pretty soon as emissions regulations get

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take it easy