Deisel or Petrol... Auto or Manual

G'Day...Im sure this has come up on more than the odd occasion......But...I am seriously considering buying a Navara dual cab D40.
I have an old Mazda petrol ute now but as its only a 2 seeter with a family of 4.
Y the ute u may ask...i use it for carrying my sons and my dirt bikes to and fro.
I see myself wanting to do the odd trek into the watagans and along the beach to go fishing and what not...so the question!!
What are the benifits of a deisel over a petrol motor...given that the price of deisel is more often then not more expensive .....
What are peoples experiences with the auto verses the manula in either engine configuration......
Seems the more i look around the more confused i get.....
Cheers Wayne

My preferance is manual and diesel, but it differs to different models as the d40's are more sensitive in this area than the d22's. Definately diesel for fuel consumption in both models.

Sorry mate, forgot to say welcome to the forum.

Diesel and manual wins my vote.

and gday.

Another vote for diesel/manual.

Diesel and Manual here too. Love the way the Diesel has that low down torque. can crawl up fairly steep hills on idle. also Manual you have ability to rock out of sticky situations.

Spoke to a mate the other day who was saying that in some outback places (deep outback) there are places that you just cant get petrol (sniffing issues), and there was a place he went that when petrol was available it was 2.50 for half litre.

will said:

Diesel and Manual here too. Love the way the Diesel has that low down torque. can crawl up fairly steep hills on idle. also Manual you have ability to rock out of sticky situations.

Spoke to a mate the other day who was saying that in some outback places (deep outback) there are places that you just cant get petrol (sniffing issues), and there was a place he went that when petrol was available it was 2.50 for half litre.

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D40 and D22(2.5) have no low down torque, revs drop below 2000 and you'll stall going up any decent hill.

Well maybe not stall at 1900rpm, but they definately lack that low down grunt. Loads of power from 2000 on though. I can let mine drop down to about 1200rpm and ease the power back on, my exhaust made it a little better though, maybe thats it.

I have diesel manual, I wouldn't buy any 4wd with a petrol engine these days. Auto's use a fair whack more fuel in the D40's, and are harder to modify the exhausts because of the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the stock exhaust.

I'm for diesel/manual also, not sure about this stalling below 2000rpm thing... i have the 2.5 d22 and today was practically idling up massive rutted hills

08KINGCAB said:

D40 and D22(2.5) have no low down torque, revs drop below 2000 and you'll stall going up any decent hill.

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Must be fairly different to mine then (ZD30). I'm able to Idle up quite steep rocky and rutted hills. even with about 200kgs extra on board.

I have the 2.5 and no prob low down, maybe the 2 3/4" exhaust fixed it up.

Yer..seems to be that the general theme is for deisel/manual...
After market exhaust perhaps and possibly a chip.....well that will do in the "GO"" department.
Thanks for ya wisdom lads

Just be wary of the D40's clutch. The D22 jockeys will have heard about it, and there's plenty of discussion here about them - the manual D40 burns clutches like Cheech Marin goes through book matches.

I have the auto - and it's very, very smooth. Absolutely no guts at all under 2,000rpm and from a standing start you put your foot on the gas and count to 3 before it starts, but once it does, you're hauling better than the average family car.

My days of driving a petrol are over, as are my manual driving days - I want to just put my foot down and go, smoothly, to where ever it is that takes my fancy, and worrying about ripping a new one in my clutch every time the lights go green is just not going to help.

stalling was probably are poor choice of words, but I cant let the rev's drop below 2000rpm up steep hills, otherwise I fall off boost, resulting in the need to clutch, downshift, not ideal half way up a rutted goat track.

I have a full 3" exhaust system that has made no improvements to low down torque, Perhaps my truck is unique in a crap way?

I've found that with my Navara, gear selection prior to the commencement of a climb is more important than with other diesel 4wd's I have owned in the past. That being said ,it is a small capacity diesel engine so some considerations have to be made.

I have found the fuel economy to be quite decent for a vehicle of this type (am averaging something around 12 l/100km), the equipment I have installed (weight and aerodynamic impacts) and the kind of driving I do. Conversely I often hear the petrol engine navara owners talking about high fuel consumption (high teens).

Flip side - the petrol offers undeniably good performance. Back to the other side....I have never had a problem with the performance of the diesel engine - horses for courses.

The biggest thing for me is touring range - I carry 150L of diesel and can safely get over 1100km on trips (hunting, fishing etc), while having a decent reserve cpacity, where the trip involves some degree of off-road travel. That is great - not needing to worry about finding refuelling points. On the highway - who cares really - service stations are everywhere But I can get up to 1400km between fuel stops on pure highway tarmac.

08KINGCAB said:

stalling was probably are poor choice of words, but I cant let the rev's drop below 2000rpm up steep hills, otherwise I fall off boost, resulting in the need to clutch, downshift, not ideal half way up a rutted goat track.

I have a full 3" exhaust system that has made no improvements to low down torque, Perhaps my truck is unique in a crap way?

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Yes, the fact is a bigger exhaust only will improve performance higher in the rev range and not down low.

Best way to improve low down performance is more cubic inches,
not high reving/ no torque 4 pot screamers.

I have one D40 V6 auto, and 2 D40 V6 manuals. Great engines in terms of performance, but thirsty as all hell and shitty resale. DEFINATELY get the diesel, as for auto or manual, the D40 auto box is fantastic - smooth, responsive (5 speed + overdrive). The manual is clunky and has a really long throw - but either way you're on a winner. The good thing about the auto is that it makes up for the lack of low down torque from the engine by providing you with a fail-safe torque converter. Plant your foot and the transmission does the rest. Fuel contumption will be worse in the auto though

WIR35 said:

The manual is clunky and has a really long throw

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Yep sure is, it one thing i hated when driving my previous jobs D40.

Took me straight back to my youth driving the HR with the 4 cog aussie box

and shifter...

more slop than a pot full of spag bol.

But the '22's shifter is smooth, decisive,

and tight as a 10 year old vir......

aahhm anyway ...aahhm ....

cork in a wine bottle.


And personally i find the 2.5 TD STR, for what it is, drivelinewise has ample power straight out the box.

And thats coming from someone who's driven V8's in all matter of size and tune for all my licenensed life and a bit before.

I'm more than happy with my diesel and to be honest have no intention or interest in soupin it up.

Ifn i needs more power, its more cubes for me.

Anyway each to their own.

I can't say I have a problem with the shifter action on the D40 manual trans. It's worse than some vehicles I have driven, but conversely, better than others. I guess it's all about expectations. I've never missed a gear, and just row through them without a problem.

I'd get the manual just so you don't get a DPF, they sound like the devil!

/joke