Better Passenger Van? Nissan Urvan Or Toyota Hi-ace Commuter or others?

**mondragon** · February 22nd, 2012 07:27 PM

sa bagay mjo tama k nga..more of a cargo hauler ang isuzu i-van dahil sa truck nga sya at payload nya pang truck din compare sa dalawang van na ito n nsa topic...

ewan ko, kc based on my riding experience sa mga gt express service sa malls.... kc halos lhat nman ng urvan eh bago lng din like hi-ace... konti nlng ung luma... anyway, dati kasi nakasakay ako sa urban.. cgro need nya pacheck radiator nya o aircon kasi mula sa mall papunta sa isang mall, todo aircon at blower pero since dun aq nakasakay sa dulo (maximum 18seater po ng urban) almost exhaust napu2nta sa amin.. as in tagaktak pawis ko... pero nung naksakay ako sa hi-ace na puro front facing 18 seater din(mejo masikip nga lang)nkatulog ako sa sobrang lamig.. ewan ko kung may epek kasi brand new ung nasakyan ko..

although alam ko pinagmamalaki ng nissan is aircon and comfort like ride... tapos sa toyota speed naman tama? kasi pareho lng nmn leaf spring sa rear ng urban at hi ace... pwera lng kung mg coil spring ung rear... ? mas less maintenance ang urban sa hi ace kasi timing chain against timing belt ng hi ace

**mondragon** · February 22nd, 2012 07:30 PM

kaya nga kaw na nagsabi na "if the turbo of d4d kicks..." eh di ganun din.. ms lamang nga s speed ang hi ace... itsura pa lang mas mabigat na urban estate sa hi ace eh... same weight specs lng ba ang estate at urban? pakita k nga ng video ng karera ng hi ace at urban hehe

**OTEP** · February 22nd, 2012 09:09 PM

I drive a lot of vehicles. Sabi nga nila bat di na lang daw ako nag tsuper. Sa vans, best to drive ay urvan estate. No replacement for displacement eh. Then hiace. Easiest yung urvan escapade. Magaan lang. MB100 ok din kasi true front engine. I van, i just imagine na closed van ang dala ko. Hehe.

Opinion ko lang po iyan. Uour opinions may vary. Urvan estate din po pagdating sa aircon. =)

Without instrumented testing, off hand the Urvan Estate feels the strongest of the two (against the Hiace). That's a Nissan Patrol ZD30 engine underneath the seat minus the turbo and intercooler. It makes as much power as the 2.5 turbo unit of the Hiace but without having to rely on forced induction.

And I've driven the stock version and the ambulance conversion for both Urvan Estate and Hiace and the Estate feels quicker in both versions.

**mondragon** · February 25th, 2012 09:51 AM

cge nga, can u specify the advantage of urvan sa hi ace? base on my ride ms nakakatulog kc ako sa hi ace.. hi ace kc mas solid ung body..

**cripple_rooster** · February 25th, 2012 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by OTEP

Without instrumented testing, off hand the Urvan Estate feels the strongest of the two (against the Hiace). That's a Nissan Patrol ZD30 engine underneath the seat minus the turbo and intercooler. It makes as much power as the 2.5 turbo unit of the Hiace but without having to rely on forced induction.

I'd actually not want to get rid of forced induction. In Mexico the Urvan is available with the same ZD30 engine but still fitted with the turbo and intercooler, altough detuned to 130hp instead of the 160hp for the Patrol. That could be also a good option to the Philippine market...

**OTEP** · February 25th, 2012 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by cripple_rooster

I'd actually not want to get rid of forced induction. In Mexico the Urvan is available with the same ZD30 engine but still fitted with the turbo and intercooler, altough detuned to 130hp instead of the 160hp for the Patrol. That could be also a good option to the Philippine market...

After my horrible experience with 2 ZD30 engines, i'd gladly give up some power for more reliability. 105 bhp puts it in the same league as the hiace minusthe complications and stresses of forced induction.

Oh, and the srp of a new ZD30 turbo is almost Php100k. Thats for the turbo only.

But if nissan can work the bugs out, ok din. Can never have too much power. Hehe.

**KIANTOT** · February 25th, 2012 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by OTEP

After my horrible experience with 2 ZD30 engines

What is the horrible experience about this ZD30 engines doc?

**GTi** · February 26th, 2012 12:48 AM

Originally Posted by cripple_rooster

I'd actually not want to get rid of forced induction. In Mexico the Urvan is available with the same ZD30 engine but still fitted with the turbo and intercooler, altough detuned to 130hp instead of the 160hp for the Patrol. That could be also a good option to the Philippine market...

There are some Japan surplus turbocharged ZD30 Urvan's here, and they have dual sliding doors too. If the turbocharged variant is not reliable, UMC could've at least added the dual sliding doors.

Just a thought here. Would it be more reliable to add an aftermarket turbo intercooler system to a normally aspirated ZD30 Urvan as compared to the original unit?

**GTi** · February 26th, 2012 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by KIANTOT

What is the horrible experience about this ZD30 engines doc?

Apparently these are very susceptible to turbo failures.

**OTEP** · February 26th, 2012 01:01 AM

Early Patrols (2001) models were prone to overboost and destroying the turbos and/or engines.

On both our units, the headgasket failed.

Cost to replace head gasket, check turbo, egr, intercooler, recalibrate injection system, etc. Roughly Php40,000 per unit. And that's in a less expensive (but still competent) 3rd party shop. This is also the shop where the casa will take your Patrol when you leave it with them since they have the equipment to diagnose ZD30 engines and their injection pumps. The shop is Malabon Diesel.

They say the problem has been solved on the later units but I'm not willing to take the risk again.

Even in Australia, detonating ZD30's on Patrols is a problem.

Adding a turbo is possible. But again, the ZD30 itself is quite complicated. On the Patrol, its drive by wire system can easily detect if you are just revving the engine at a standstill and the variable geometry turbo will not produce any boost. But if it detects you are on the road and you want to go faster, the turbos will spool up quickly. The engine is full of sensors as the ECU uses all the incoming information to adjust the engine's performance.