Hi all,

I just got a Hiace SCL with a 3L (2.8 litre) engine in it. I love it, but it seems rather slow. I get a top flat land speed of about 108-110 km/h with no wind, and it just dies going up any kind of a real rise without a tailwind. I can cruise at maybe 90 - 95, depending on wind. I get about 15-17 l/100km on the highway, but about 13-14 in town (!). This is on highways around Edmonton.

What are other folks getting who live on the Canadian prairies, or anywhere else that's at around 2,100 feet above sea level?

My tires are 215 65 R15s, my air filter is new, HAC apparently works, ERG still hooked up, speedo accurate to within 1%, no smoke out the engine, only 117,000 km on the vehicle.

Cheers,
Pard o' Hiace

The problem is likely 2 things
1. Your tires are smaller than stock size which means your engine is faster than is has to at speed, and that speedo and odometer are a bit off which will mess w/ your efficiency calculations.
2. Your hiace (like mine unfortunately) has a differencial designed for Japanese speeds. You can figure out which differencial you have off of your VIN plate and using this site:

http://www.brian894x4.com/Gearratiosanddiffs.html

The solution is to:
1. get larger tires (see Hiace in Canada post)
2. replace your differencial (2 if you have 4wd)
3. slow down. I get about 14L/100 km at Alberta highway speeds but about 10L/100 when driving around 80km/hr on Vancouver Island highways.

Thanks Zoochy,

I'm aware that the tires are slowing me down a bit. I have checked the speedo against GPS readings, and it is accurate to within 1-1.5 km/h. You mention replacing the differentials. That sounds very expensive.

I am still curious to know what kind of Alberta highway speeds you were able to obtain / maintain. Good to hear about your mileage.

My Hiace will go about 115km/h but it sounds terrible at that speed. Engine sounds happy until about 100km/hr then it starts reving faster than it really wants to.

Differencials are cheap from a wrecker. There are forerunners w/ diffs that will fit. Labour I was quoted about $300 at a 4x4 shop here on the Island but I got to find the diffs myself... I'm presently trying to avoid changing the diffs and just figure out the max tire size is that will fit in the wheel well.

According to: http://www.dakota-truck.net/CGI-BIN/TireCalc.cgi

215/75/15 (as used by PBS) only gives about 7.5km/hr @ 100km/hr. I'd like to run 220/80/15 as that would give and extra 10 km/hr @ 100km/hr but I'm not sure if they will fit... Simple solution if it works.

Good to know the four-runner differentials will work. These vans seem to have a lot in common with those trucks!

Pard o' Hiace

Hey,

Comment on the tires... the 215/75R15 didn't leave a whole lot of room on the inside of the front wheels. Though it did look like the wheel wells could have taken a little bit more...

I have started looking into whether a suspension lift kit is available for the hiace. Of course, a body lift would get you a bit more room in the wheel wells too. But I'ld like the extra clearance for that transfer-case.

You probably know this, but bigger tires play against you in 4x4 power (slow speed stuff) -- but hey, is anyone really doing REAL off-road stuff in a hiace? In the same way, it will also slow down acceleration capability from a stand-still (if that is possible...).

Re: top speeds, I can cruise on flat land at about 105 or so... the engine starts gettin loud. Probably happiest around 90. A friend with a manual 3L drove across the country and said he often drove at 120. He also mention the rpms were at about 4500!! Doesn't seem quite right to me...

Cheers,
P

Hmmm . . .

When you say cruise, do you mean you can maintain that speed over little rises without flooring it all the time?

I have it floored almost constantly to do 100.

I drove a manual Delica a couple of weeks ago, which could hold 130 up a rise. And the engine in it is less powerful than the 3L. Prone to occasional failure I hear from some, but nowhere near as bad as the 2L-T.

I agree about the real 4WD - looking at the clearance the van comes with I would not want to do anything serious. For me so far the 4WD is just extra weight that comes in handy (really handy) in bad conditions.

A new set of tires and a lift -kit sounds like more money than replacing differentials. It would look pretty wild, mind you.

I can imagine that my van would be hitting 4500 if it were to get to 120. Problem is it does not seem to have any extra power anywhere past 4000 or so. Probably a good thing - driving above 3500 is less than pleasant.

I'm thinking about getting a bigger exhaust. I hear that can add up to 18% - so I could figure more like 10%. I wonder about what kind of noise that would unleash though.


Do you find the hills slow you down more with your larger tires?

You know, when we first got our van, it was LOUD (like a school bus) and had very little power. Turns out the thermostat that controls the fan clutch was broken, so the fan was spinning at engine speed no matter what temperature. Even if the thermostat isn't broken, the fluid in there can gel a bit and have the same effect.

You might want to check this out if you are concerned that you might have a problem. Apparently it can suck 10-15% of your power. Replacing the clutch made a noticeable difference on noise and power (though don't get me wrong, our van remains quite noisy and underpowered, like all hiaces!).

Cheers

Pete

I just joined this forum. I am a brand new owner of a mint condition 92 Hiace Super Custom.
I live in Southern Alberta at an altitude of 3000 ft. Just picked up my hiace from Vancouver on the weekend. Drove it for 16 hours straight back to Alberta. My Hiace has 46k on it. Practically brand new. I easily on flat land was able to cruise at speeds of 120 kmph and could have easily gone higher. The guy I bought it from said it went to 140 km/h. Anything above 120 was revving the engine to hard and I didnt want to push it. More than enough power to handle the many mountain passes. I was surprised to see that the temp gauge didnt move one bit even though it was 30 + degrees outside and I was working my Hiace hard through the mountains. Out of province inspection came up completely clean! Top notch deal I got. Only paid 9000 flat for a 3.5 b rated Hiace with 46 k on it. Great van.

Wow. That's so much better than my experience. Mine crawled over the passes. Who did you get it from? Is it a manual, or an auto, a 2WD or a 4WD?

Mine is in a diesel shop in Calgary right now, where they are quite gloomy about the prospect of it doing better than 105-8 on the flat, and being any good at all up hills, based on their experience of 2 other Hiaces. Maybe they are missing something then. What kind of fuel efficiency do you get? Do you have any black smoke?

-Mark

I get a little black smoke when stepping on the throttle hard when unnessesary usually up hills. From what I understand VW has or is going to completely pull or stop new diesel imports form coming to North America for a couple of years until they can produce a vehicle that can handle our poor quality diesel over here. I suspect similar issues mechanically with our Hiaces as with VW.

Thanks for the reply. The shop I took the deisel to says the smoke is normal - seems kind of bad to me - even get it without going up a hill.

What I've heard is that Hiaces were actually OK with our crap diesel because the engines are primitive, but the newer deisel with less Sulphur makes putting diesel lubricant fuel additive a year-round requirement, which makes running the things even more expensive. I use 14-20 L/100km on the highway. I understand others typically do better, more like 9-13 (!). What do you get for fuel economy? Do you have a manual or an auto transmission? I've heard that makes a significant difference.

Cheers,
Mark

I bought a used super custom with engine 3.0 1 KHZ
and i had a speed of 145 km / hr on it but it was still going more.... its a superb van.

its a automatic van it goes on 120 KM/HR max when i keep my O/D button off and when i press O/D button on located on the gare it just drop the RPM from 4000 to 2000 and increase its speed from 90 to 115 and when i take its RPM from 2000 to 3500 the speed becomes 140+ and it goes on the 140 speed in seconds uuuuuuf what a pick.....

please check if you have not on the O/D button...

letschill :)

Thanks for the info on your speeds Letschill. I can't wait for the 3 litre turbos to be available here. Yes, I have the OD button in.

What kind of fuel efficiency do you get with your van?

Cheers,
Pard'o Hiace

Hi I have a 2.8 LWB manual in NZ, will cruise at 120kph and 140 tapped out on the flat is doing 3000rpm at 100kph, does 8.5-10 ks / litre on a trip at 100-110kph with a big load, 3 mx bikes and 3 people and all gear for a mx,most driving done at 0-2500ft can tell much difference between sealevel and 2500 ft, these motors are on 68KW!!! not a rocket ship, Ive just fitted a 1 kzte to this van and intercooled it, should be around 110KW same as a Prado, should cruize easy at 130-40 and 170 flatout, will get it going in next few days. we also think our diesol is crap here compared to Europe, I have friends with autos 2.8 and they are gutless, wouldnt pull a sailor off your sister, and you need to own a fuel company, give the "slushbox" a miss and use the clutch

Hi Noel,

Thanks for the info. Wierdly, my van's top speed kicked up from 108 to 115 on the flat the other night. It was dustless out , so I thought I'd see what it would do without the air filter. I got the improvement right away, and then it stayed when I put the air filter (not clean) back in.

I look forward to hearing more about your KZ conversion, esp. to see if you get better fuel efficiency with that engine. Putting a turbo on my hiace would cost me about $3-4000 canadian. So I wonder what it might cost to import a KZ, put it in my van, and sell the 3-L to somebody here with a four-runner or some poor sap with a 2L-T Hiace/Prado.

Cheers,
-mark

Hey Pard o,

Just wait another year and you will be able to import a Hiace w/ the KZ engine stock.
That's my plan.