The 1GD-FTV (2.8L 4 cylinder turbo diesel) powered 79 series was a bit of a surprise to those who loved the 4.5L V8 that was the standard option for 14 years. That said, people seem to be reporting that they perform well and respond nicely to power upgrades. There is even a “Haul mode” on the dash to give the engine more power while towing.

We had a look around while updating our front mounted intercooler design for the new model and found the transmission cooling side of things a bit lacking. What we saw was the normal routing of the cooler piping through the bottom radiator tank, but additionally Toyota have included a second heat exchanger bolted to the fan shroud and “cooled” by the same coolant that goes through the bottom tank of the radiator. On a cool day this can be effective but on warmer days the bottom tank could be as close as 10degC to engine temp. When the transmission should operate around this temperature and can make heat very quickly under certain conditions, it does start to look inadequate.