LandCruiser 70 Series V8 v 4-cylinder towing stress test & drag race! Is Toyota's V8 dead?
Summary
TLDRThe 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
- π They compared a 4-cylinder turbo diesel 70 Series Land Cruiser to a V8 76 Series in multiple tests
- π The 4-cylinder was faster in 0-100 km/h, towing, and hill climbs
- β½οΈ But the V8 used less fuel at highway speeds without towing
- π¨ The 4-cylinder has 500 Nm torque vs the V8's 430 Nm
- π Towing performance was way better in the 4-cylinder due to the extra torque
- π’ The V8 struggled on steep hills and needed low gears constantly
- π The 4-cylinder blew the V8 away in real world towing tests
- π The 4-cylinder narrowly won both standing and rolling drag races
- π But the V8 still sounds better and is more enjoyable to drive manually
- π 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
π 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.
π 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.
π 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.
π 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.
ποΈ 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘four-cylinder diesel
π‘V8
π‘towing
π‘torque
π‘fuel economy
π‘acceleration
π‘auto vs manual transmission
π‘load testing
π‘track width
π‘drivetrain
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
harder now if you did enjoy this video
please make sure you like it and you
share it with your mates and if you
haven't done so already subscribe to our
Channel and press the Bell icon is there
anything in this video that you liked or
didn't like or thought that we got
something wrong let me know in the
comments section below we'll have a
little look at it but until next time
take it easy
Browse More Related Video
2024 Landcruiser 2.8l Auto TOWING TEST vs the V8 70 series
2025 BMW X3 | WHAT WE KNOW Up to this point
Toyota RAV 4 vs Nissan ROGUE Full Comparison! Interior, Exterior and More
FJ CRUISER - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed
The 6th Gen 4Runner & 250 Series Land Cruiser Are Too Similar - Change My Mind
New Tesla Model 3 Performance v Hyundai IONIQ 5 N: DRAG RACE
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)