300tdi vs a td5?

**strangy** · 29th January 2016, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by TerryO

Interesting discussion. Hands up anyone other than Blknight who has needed to run their vehicle on the above waste oils as fuel to get somewhere? I did say needed, not chosen too. The other point is I guess if your stuck in the outback with next to no fuel chances are there isn't a local Chippie that you can ask for their old chip fat to fuel up your vehicle.

Having lived and worked in many remote parts of Australia, I've never seen the need or availability of chip oil or waste oil as a viable "stuck in the outback"fuel option it just doesn't happen or exist.
If there is any form of civilisation, you will typically find a drum of jet fuel. I'll carry a small bottle of 2 stroke in my remote touring kit to add in the event I had such circumstances to render my fuel state critical.
The only circumstance in Oz where you "need" to involuntarily contemplate muck fuel ( veg, waste etc) is nowhere.
If you can find anything to burn as fuel and the means to filter it to be viable then a more conventional fuel would have been available anyway.

**shedlock2000** · 17th April 2018, 05:11 AM

I hate to resurrect an old-ish thread, but I was hoping for some slightly different advice related to the OP's question.

I am in Canada and my query is better answered here by you guys than the UK forums, because it is to do with monty mileage. I am planning to buy a 110 for summer camping trips -- likely in the thousands of miles per trip. I am interested in whether the 300Tdi or the TD5 would be better for highway miles at 70-80mph?

I have owned 43 Land Rovers in my life -- including several Td5s in 90s and D2s (though this was in the UK and they were new land rovers). However, I have become more sedate in recent years, owning L322s and LR3s (the latter of which was a bloody nightmare and resulted in the switch to the L322). The time has come for me and the g/f to consolidate; she is having my MY 2100 L322 and selling her 2017 Disco Sport, and I am switching to a 110 for camping with her and the kids (though the 110 will need some serious mods to resist the -50c we get up here in winter).

Anyway -- can anyone advise on which would be the better engine vehicle to do a bazillian miles in? Anyone suggest replacement seats for such trips?

**loanrangie** · 17th April 2018, 06:35 AM

I love the TDI for simplicity but the td5 wins for highway miles.

**strangy** · 17th April 2018, 06:39 AM

I can say the heated Recaros found in XVS models are very comfy and direct bolt in
Also very pricey unless found in a wreck.

**shedlock2000** · 17th April 2018, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by loanrangie

I love the TDI for simplicity but the td5 wins for highway miles.

What makes the TD5 better, Loanrangie?

**Slunnie** · 17th April 2018, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by shedlock2000

What makes the TD5 better, Loanrangie?

Power. Did the tdi have cruise control?

to the question, I think to cruise at 70-80mph, the TD5 would be your only option from the two listed. On the flat the Disco2 TD5 will sit happily on 130kmh all day, faster will really compromise your range, and it will max out at just over 160kmh with a standard or tweaked engine. The Defender has a bit less power and aerodynamics so will be a bit slower.

**shedlock2000** · 17th April 2018, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Power. Did the tdi have cruise control?

to the question, I think to cruise at 70-80mph, the TD5 would be your only option from the two listed. On the flat the Disco2 TD5 will sit happily on 130kmh all day, faster will really compromise your range, and it will max out at just over 160kmh with a standard or tweaked engine. The Defender has a bit less power and aerodynamics so will be a bit slower.

Hey Slunnie,

I don’t think cruise was an option on any Defender, was it? I had a pretty tricked out Defender back in the Uk (it was a 2002 and brand new with all options, and it didn’t have cruise).

Did they uptune the TD5 for the D2, then? I had a D2 with a TD5 in it — it was a great vehicle, but presumably it had different transfer box and diff ratios.

There are not many places in Canada that can tweak a TD5 (or a Tdi, for that matter!). One benefit from the TD5 is the bigger heater matrix (any help I can get will count!). The prices here are scary (buddy wants $40k for this!!), though, and the most disadvantageous aspect of the TD5 is that it’s RHD — not great for resale in LHD country!

**rick130** · 17th April 2018, 07:48 AM

Having owned both, TD5 is the winner.

The Tdi is a lovely, simple engine to work on, it's actually pretty reliable despite the names I've called it over the years, and was a major step forward for light diesels in terms of efficiency, and may even be better off road than the TD5, but the TD5 is the better highway engine.

Its architecture is stronger so a better base to tweak, makes more power stock and is much more refined (when the engine mounts haven't collapsed!!

)

**AK83** · 17th April 2018, 07:52 AM

Theres's a thread somehwere on here where a cruise system is being retro fitted to a Defender TD5 .. doesn't seem to hard.

300 tdi's never had cruise(maybe the EDC models could have tho).
When I decided to cruise-ify my D1 Tdi, I went with an electric cruise control. Works close to perfect now, but needed a bit of twiddling to make it so.

Gaining more experience with the TD5 now(brothers) I like it more and more .. and more every time I drive it or being driven in it.

Simplicity of the Tdi is why I bought one, instead of the Td5 myself, but having dealt with brothers TD5 now for a while, I chose unwisely.
No regrets tho, still love the D1 Td1 for what it is and does.

My recommendation is go with the Td5.
Also! .. while your getting into modding it for your camping, a little .. actually! a lot of sound insulation can go a long way when you're going lots of miles in short time.
And learn to understand the motor too .. get your hands dirty, fix stuff yourself where you can .. etc.

**shedlock2000** · 17th April 2018, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by AK83

Theres's a thread somehwere on here where a cruise system is being retro fitted to a Defender TD5 .. doesn't seem to hard.

My recommendation is go with the Td5.
Also! .. while your getting into modding it for your camping, a little .. actually! a lot of sound insulation can go a long way when you're going lots of miles in short time.
And learn to understand the motor too .. get your hands dirty, fix stuff yourself where you can .. etc.

Thanks for the info, Ak83 — I’ll be stripping the interior of entire vehicle, pretty much, to add dynamat and some heat insulation — I need to do this because it gets down to -50°c here fairly regularly. The engine will need to have core and sump heaters fitted, and I’m thinking of also fitting a Eberspächer pre-heat system and aux cabin heater. My experiences with Defenders have been only in UK weather, but my RRC wouldn’t keep up with the cold outside, so I don’t think for a minutes the TD5 would.

The cruise really should be something I fiddle with too — I’ll check out that thread. Like Australia, it’s possible to drive for 15 hours here before you get where you need to stop to sleep, so not having a foot on the pedal would be super helpful.

In fact, this is one of the things that is making me hesitant about the vehicle — summers are fine, but winters are perishing. By the time I’ve added these extras, plus electric windows and heated seats/windshield, the cost will be getting up there — especially for something that’s RHD (in a LHD country, that is). These little extras will likely set me back about $10k and she needs tyres and rims too.

Can any of you please remind me how tolerable a 2001 TD5 110CSW might be for a 5000 mike camping trip?

Thread: 300tdi vs a td5?

Thread Tools

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions