Does daily-ing a 70 Series make you a better driver? (2 Viewers)

[JDM Journeys]

When I have my dog with me, I often get asked:
"IS THAT A SHIBA INU?"

And nowadays that's continued with...
"I've never seen a white one..."

Almost nobody seems to notice or ask about the truck. Which they've likely also never seen...

This seems to be the way. For 4 years I had a Mitsu Pajero Evolution, a Dakar homologation, and number 581 of 2500 ever built. On a long road trip with my buddy in his Delica, a guy in Utah looked at the van and said "Izzat a deezel? Nice..." Then as an afterthought he looked at my rally weapon and added "Nice Suzuki too."

 

[Gun Runner 5]

When I have my dog with me, I often get asked:
"IS THAT A SHIBA INU?"

And nowadays that's continued with...
"I've never seen a white one..."

Almost nobody seems to notice or ask about the truck. Which they've likely also never seen...

This seems to be the way. For 4 years I had a Mitsu Pajero Evolution, a Dakar homologation, and number 581 of 2500 ever built. On a long road trip with my buddy in his Delica, a guy in Utah looked at the van and said "Izzat a deezel? Nice..." Then as an afterthought he looked at my rally weapon and added "Nice Suzuki too."

When I have my dog (a Rottweiler mix) with me, the only question I get is “does your dog bite” and my response is always the same, “she’s never bitten me”. That alone seems to keep some people at bay.

 

[AirheadNut]

I think that daily driving anything that lacks all the modern tech like lane assist, blind spot monitoring, traction control (especially in the winter) and even things like ABS and a manual transmission makes you a more aware driver.

Getting comments on RHD or having a diesel Toyota must be pretty location specific, I hardly ever get comments (except at drive throughs), occasionally will get a thumbs up or wave. Usually reactions are limited to some rubbernecking. It is surprising how many people who do comment assume it must be European because it is RHD, and I've even had a few people ask if Canadians drive on the "wrong" side when I mention I bought it in Vancouver.

 

[jayp2]

Better is relative, but my biased opinion is "Yes it does."

Everyone else is practically asleep on the morning commute, but not you. Nope. You're watching for the apex, looking ahead to plan your braking, carrying speed through corners and down hills, timing traffic lights, coordinating yields, all while shifting a bus transmission, rev matching and synchro-meshing, knowing that if you muck it up there are no airbags, ABS or traction control to bail you out. Somewhere in there you're also monitoring water temp, EGT, and oil pressure as you carefully modulate your throttle position and sneak a peek in your mirror for tell-tale black smoke because you squeezed a little too hard, trying to "accelerate".

If you can manage all that, AND have your morning coffee while making your way to work, then I think you are a cut above the unwashed masses, and exist in the rarified air of the 70 Series driver.

View attachment 3448525

Hammer meet nail on this post.

Same applies to a 40 or 60 IMHO....especially the 40

I drove the 77 up north for a week long vaca up in the mountains, put about 600 miles on it and after a couple days it felt just normal like when my DD was my 40 with manual steering, mud tires and no radio....

The 77 got a bluetooth bose speaker for center console to keep the GF happy until I can do a proper stereo replacement.....she likes the 77, the visibility and has no complaints about the ride quality at all.....she has no interest in driving it (phew) but likes riding in it.

 

[bj70bc]

Seriously old. When I come out of a store and there are people standing around my truck I physically wince, preparing for the onslaught.

honestly, those are the only people i WANT to talk to

 

[Tigris]

I have a weakness for yard/estate sales, I simply cannot pass on if I was on my way to a hospital lol. My Cruiser is my designated yard sale transportation and I enjoy chatting with all the people that talk to me about it, and they are numerous

"Wow! F**ing beautiful truck!" is the number one topic here, followed by the "is it hard to drive on that side?", then, "my uncle had a 40", followed by " did you bring this from overseas?", and very rarely "I worked/lived in X country and never new these Land Cruisers came in black".

I, shamelessly entertain and enjoy every bit of this attention

 

[Sundowner]

I'm going to be unpopular and take a divergent stance by saying no: daily-driving a 70 doesn't really make me any better or worse of a driver.

To explain: I have the exact same conditions around me as everyone else on the road, and the exact same conditions inside the vehicle as anyone else that's driving anything not-modern...so I honestly don't see a lot of room for the vehicle to empower this particular driver. For the most part, I just get in the seat, let her warm up for a minute - because thirty year-old diesel - and then try to remember that the turn signals are on the outboard side of the column and that my travel mug may not fit in the cupholder. Other than that...yeah, it's pretty much like driving any other car.

On the other topic: I guess I don't understand how we don't expect a lot of commentary from the public when they see these rigs. I can only speak from experience in the continental US, but: any 70-series is incredibly uncommon, literally famous in some circles, and justifiably noticeable...and it's basically impossible to not comprehend these facts when you buy one. I was admittedly unprepared for just how much attention it would garner, but that's not the car's fault: with any uncommon or "cool" vehicle, people are going to smile, give you a thumb's-up going down the road, shout "Hey, I really like your rig!" from the sidewalk, want to stand and talk in parking lots, and - my personal favorite - leave notes under the wipers asking where you got it and whether or not you'd like to sell it. Sure, there are times when I'm in a rush and not particularly wanting to discuss anything with anyone, but for the most part I just enjoy the fact that I have something a little less-ordinary.

 

[Tigris]

My typical responses to the public's statements:

1. Thanks! Yeah she's different.

2. Nah, it's easy. If my wife can drive it, anyone can

3. [After a quick verification scan around] Yeah, just couldn't get myself to be another F-150/Gladiator/Bronco etc guy, you know?!

4. [After I'd failed to spot that one F-150/Gladiator/Bronco] I didn't meant it that way man, you know.. I actually like these things...

 

[sodafeld1]

You forgot “is that a new vibration” and “I’ve not smelled that before”.

well said!

 

[DAD4]

Well, I definitely pay attention to different things when I'm driving the Prado. She's a little bit skittish on the highway and gets spooked by puddles, frost heaves and bumps, any one of those will cause either a death wobble or an instant change in heading. One funny thing I've noticed is whenever I'm in a parking lot the Cruiser seems to attract other Toyotas. If I'm driving into town there can be other Toyotas in formation with me. My daughter likes to point them out as I'm too busy driving. The random horn honking/ yelling out the love is pretty cool. This has been my dream vehicle for many years and I feel lucky that I managed to get the one I have.

 

[Chinookie]

I think Blaine was right...

 

[se7en6]

With the more powerful engine options 200PS+ and the electric helpers of the recent years I would think that the equation no longer holds - generally speaking.
I catch myself quite often falling into a more sportive mindset when driving. Specially when I am alone in the car. That doesn't happen with the smaller cars I drive (Opel, Fiat ...). When the GRJ7/VDJ7 is empty it will outperform most other passenger vehicles.
Otherwise if I hold myself together I definitely have a more relaxed and cool mindset, since the vehicle is bigger, heavier and behaves more like a ship, so I prevent speedy turns and quick changes in driving.
Just put in a gear and cruise steady, "it's a cruiser, not a speeder".

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

Driving a 70 Series built before 2010 means there is no airbag, ABS or traction/stability control. A good argument to be careful when driving, because there is less room for mistakes.

Safety systems such as airbags, ABS and traction/stability control are intended to make driving more secure. They can help rendering an unexpected braking or turning into something the car can handle.

The assumption behind them is that there is no deliberate malice or stupidity on the driver's side. A wrong assumption, I am afraid.

After these systems became common, people found ways to crash cars, usually dying in the process.

An idiot driver always finds a way to destroy a car and harm others.






Juan

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Safety is overrated…..