DivByZero
SILVER Star
In my opinion, the best 80 series is the "DX" model we have here in Australia. It's one step up from the "poverty pack", but lacking some of the "improvements" on the higher models that make it more of a suburban luxury vehicle than a trail rig. It's still got barn doors, part time 4wd, manual locking hubs, 1HZ diesel, and the "no frills" feel (vinyl floor mats, cloth seats, manual windows), but it's got a couple of extras that make it better. The best improvement is it actually has a tacho. The pov pack doesn't, and you can't just swap in the cluster either, as the injector pump is actually different, you need a pump that has the pickup for the tacho. There's also some misc things like intermittent wipers, and a few other interior things I'm not as clear on (did the pov pack have cloth or vinyl seats?). There are a few gizmos that I've integrated from higher models over the years (IE, the relay to turn off my headlights if I forget to), but I like the simplicity of the base models.That’s commonly called a poverty pack 80. Those are sweet for sure. Mine is a joy to drive. Still feels light because it does not have all the usual off-road accoutrements to weight it down and make it moreish
I'll always prefer a diesel over petrol for this kind of vehicle. There's just so little that can go wrong with this generation of diesel. My HZJ80 is all mechanical. If I remove or bypass the fuel cutoff solenoid in the back of the injector pump, I can take the battery out, clutch start the rig, and drive off down the road. There's no electronics required at all. I know some people like the turbo diesels, but I prefer to keep things simple. I didn't buy an 80 to win street races, I don't care that it takes a bit of effort to get up really steep hills on the highway. The fact is I can drop it into L4, and I've got the low-end torque to climb just about anything. That's what I appreciate, and the reliability that comes from a big, solid, overengineered hunk of iron.
