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Gotta love the "get a different vehicle" angle in some of the answers.
As the owner of a '92 200TDI Defender as well as a 1.2T wind-up camper (which is almost as tall as a modern pop-top and possibly heavier) I have no complaints. If you expect effortless hill climbing, think again. If you expect to hold 100km/hr in all circumstances think again. The chassis dynamics, steering etc are more than capable. The braking is fine (I have override brakes on the camper). Engine braking is good but then i'm only comparing to petrol. Where the 200TDI lacks is in power - 90km/hr is a reasonable goal, a little more down hills and a little less up them. And Noise, Vibration and Harshness - well, you know that already by now. It doesn't get better under load!
But I wouldn't consider trading. After Christmas we'll take the camper on a 4000km trip over 4 weeks. I am happy to accept the limits of my vehicle, so as I say no complaints. I wouldn't look at a large van, though, and as said minimising height and width will maximise highway performance, not to mention trail performance.
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Our 98 tdi300 110 tows our topaz van very well. Yes long steep hills are slow going but realy not that big an issue. I fitted EGT and boost gauges. before fueling it up abit. A noticable improvement in mid range torque. It now returns 11.5L per 100km. When towing this goes to around 14L per 100km. The van comes in at around 2T. The defender is also running 285/75 BFG`s.
We also have a 2010 pajero diesel, I know should have brought a PUMA but could not see the point in a new one I like the old one too much. The pajero has plenty of hp and torque. However in my opinion is not as good a tow vehicle once the road surface becomes less than perfect.
Dungie
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ignore the td5 and puma posts as your 200tdi is not quite in the same league
my 300tdi.....yes a little different but much closer in engine performance the the td5 and puma towed our pop top caravan OK. it did struggle on the bigger hills but if your not in a rush its not really a problem, mine has been tweaked
