Originally Posted by
Mauser308
D40 4x4 barely sneaks in under the rules for classifying a 4x4, and like the VW and the Toyota - they are either absolutely rubbish at towing heavy trailers or have overrated tow weights.
To be brutally honest, the D40 I drove on the road was utter bollocks. Factory suspension sucks and I have a funny feeling it's a cost cutting measure by all the manufacturers and it's being seriously shown up by the thing we in NZ pass off as a roading network...
The D40 2.5L and the Amarok are very very marginal when towing heavy trailers, I near popped a D40 450-series 4x4's auto box with a 2.2ton box trailer on a hill start onto SH27 out of SH2. Stalled four times, and needed to pull out in low box to get onto the road... My only experience of an Amarok when towing was similar. When you are dealing with heavy trailers, small engines big turbos and high-RPM 'performance figures' are not your friends. That's the only real point of difference and advantage with the T6 chassis Ranger and BT50 with the 3.2L engine - there simply isn't a replacement for displacement when you are using the ute as a tractor unit.
I don't see anything coming out on the market to knock the T6 chassis/3.2L Dura-torq motor combo off it's perch at the top of the sales ranks for the $$$. Even light trucks are going tiny motors, that's great overseas where you have either long flat roads or gradual hills but bugger me - they are near to useless in NZ.
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