D3 V6 Petrol Fuel Economy

[af3556]

What's the real-world fuel economy of the petrol 4.0 V6? And does the D3 V8 really have lower real-world thirst?

Official figures are 15.2 and 15.0 l/100km respectively.

I do mostly highway driving and would prefer the TDV6 simply due to range (no towing), but the price premium is excessive; is the petrol really 50% higher fuel use than the diesel on the highway?

Ben

[stig0000]

v6 about 13ish giv or take,

and v8 have seen into the mid 11s, on mway,

if you can get a v8,, will most likly be a hse, nicer car to live with

[Neil P]

The V8 is a nice engine with reasonable BHP . Once you start
comparing '05 price variations , there's not too much difference in the
in the actual ( that's NOT the asking price ... ) selling price of
models . Since all these "ages" are well out of warranties
you won't get any nasty surprises with petrol engines. Everything
else about them will obviously be the same . I like V8's , but
showroom stock was '05-'06 ; only to order after that . The
HSEV8 BS requirement put pay to that ! All this long-in-the-tooth
stuff is cheap to buy now. Don't get screwed by people who
think they can get their money back , out of you ! Vehicles are
like realestate ; laugh and walk away , when required.

PS The V64.0 has no pulling power , but will "go" if
you leave it in Sport or use the stick . Go with Stig's
recom. of V8 if you're in that vehicle age group.
It's funny that when the model launched here , the
Dealers wanted to demo the 4.4 , because it "went".

[WhiteD3]

I had a V6 SE for 4 years. On the highway with no roof racks and the cruise on I could get down to 10.x. Around town 14.8 to 16 with a very light foot. Go hard and you're up in the 19's. Sand driving was mid to high 20's.

These are carputer numbers so add at say 1 to the above.

Considering my 2.7 D4 gets 8's on the highway I think the V6 was pretty good as a tourer.

[ls3tourer]

If I go ahead with the D3 I'll go the V6 at this stage. The diesel doesn't seem to be worth the premium anymore and all we do is 100% country/hwy driving.

I would 200% go the V8 if my other half was off her P's!

[af3556]

Thanks all; and I hadn't known about the V8 ordering thing - explains why I don't see many 2006+ SE V8's :-)

Looks like no matter whether you take the official figures or people's reports, the petrol economy premium is on the order of 130-150% of the diesel, which makes a payback period of about 5 years on fuel alone, say 5-7 when the diesel service costs are included (assuming ~$7-8k price premium, 20k km/year, 5 l/100km higher consumption, $1.50/litre). Which gels with what I've read elsewhere.

Hmm, what to do...

[Neil P]

What age and price are you considering ?

[WhiteD3]

I forgot to mention this was running 98 octane.


I had a V6 SE for 4 years. On the highway with no roof racks and the cruise on I could get down to 10.x. Around town 14.8 to 16 with a very light foot. Go hard and you're up in the 19's. Sand driving was mid to high 20's.

These are carputer numbers so add at say 1 to the above.

Considering my 2.7 D4 gets 8's on the highway I think the V6 was pretty good as a tourer.

[af3556]

What age and price are you considering ?

2006+ and "as little as possible" :-)

My budget can stretch to high 40's, but like anyone I'd prefer to keep as much coin in my pocket as possible. From what I've seen so far (SE prices (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_GB&hl=en_GB&key=0AjAbwIsmQdD7dFpqMVVZWk9xX3VYMDdEVmNNamtPVnc&single=true&gid=6&output=html)) I'm not asking the impossible - just a matter of keeping an eye out for that bargain.

I'd prefer an SE as I'm not interested in the "extras" - that's just more stuff to go wrong...

[Grumbles]

.

I would 200% go the V8 if my other half was off her P's!

Can't you get an exemption for her? Victorians can get exemptions so why not NSW? Worth looking into.

[gedaso]

2006+ and "as little as possible" :-)

My budget can stretch to high 40's, but like anyone I'd prefer to keep as much coin in my pocket as possible. From what I've seen so far (SE prices (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_GB&hl=en_GB&key=0AjAbwIsmQdD7dFpqMVVZWk9xX3VYMDdEVmNNamtPVnc&single=true&gid=6&output=html)) I'm not asking the impossible - just a matter of keeping an eye out for that bargain.

I'd prefer an SE as I'm not interested in the "extras" - that's just more stuff to go wrong... For guidance, a year ago I paid $48k driveaway for a 2007 SE V6 petrol with ~50k on the clock. This was from a dealer. A similar vehicle today should obviously be a bit less...

re fuel consumption: during the week around town (Brisbane CBD peak hour traffic), I can get as bad as 20+ l/100km. Do a bit of across-town driving over the weekend will bring this down to mid-teens. Cruising the highway at 100+ kph I can get down to low teens (12 or so).

[Neil P]

2006+ and "as little as possible" :-)


I'd prefer an SE as I'm not interested in the "extras" - that's just more stuff to go wrong... There isn't enough more to notice !
The Aussie HSE spec is a joke . Arm rests , a CD stacker and
another set of vents is just about it . As I remember saying at
the time they launched ; " I bet the factory are laughing at
why they're sticking HSE badges on empty bodyshells ! " .
There's a BIG difference in the Kms on these models , for
little difference in price . You can get a very low Kms example
for the same money ; some with rear air and CD stacker on SE.
I've seen several. Keep viewing the websites. You won't find
many with extended warranty . Most people don't view LR sites,
and are not aware of the advantage of such policies , which are
now becoming far more expensive too. The petrol engine won't
cause any grief. Be aware that low use does not guarantee
less rolling-gear failures ; they're NOT use-related in D3 !

[af3556]

... You can get a very low Kms example
for the same money ; some with rear air and CD stacker on SE.
I've seen several. Keep viewing the websites. ...

I've opened up my saved searches to not just the SE, so see how it goes.

"The websites" - I'm using carsales, carsguide, ebay and trading post (the latter two have bugger all). Of course, I check the aulro market every so often. Any recommendations for others?

Am with you on the lower-mileage-doesn't-necessarily-mean-fewer-troubles; I expect there's a sweet spot between a car that's done only short stop-start trips on one extreme (~10k p.a.) and one that's eaten up a lot of wear and tear at other end (40k-50k+ p.a.).

[Mike&Loz]

On a slight sidetrack. How accurate is the fuel usage display on the D3? I've got the '05 HSE TDV6 and urban driving shows me low 13s. I know when we drove it back from the eastern states it showed mid 11s.

We are running 265/70x17 Mickey Thompson MTZ so I would expect slightly higher consumption, +2L/100km, because of the higher rolling resistance but I would also expect normal figures to be lower.

[Neil P]

.... Any recommendations for others ?
http://cars.mitula.com.au/land+rover+discovery+3+new
That's about it .
I have noticed that the '06 model SE were the most
likely to have rear air , leather ( wasn't on SE spec early on ... ) and
upgrade ICE , especially if Sydney Dealer floor stock . It's as if they
knew that " basic '06 SE " was less desirable and the Sydney Moms
would wear the price hike especially since it was still way below X5.
All these examples that I've seen have Sydney original indications.
Hang in there for one of these if you can get it . Last one I saw
on Carsales ( this year ) was such a spec , low Kms and average
price. Bonetti and Alpaca too ! Ooooo !


Good luck :)

[grumpa]

I have a 2005 V6 petrol. On a recent holiday - touring and about 100k of off road work - I achieved 12.2L / 100Km using 95 Octane.
Grumpa

[mbecker7]

My 07 SE petrol is sitting on 13L/100K's, I use Shell 98 and 95 octane.
I live in Pakenham and work in Clayton South, travel into CBD for business average 1 day a week.
Very happy with the economy for such a big heavy beast.

[townse]

I have 2007 Se and i always get 11.5 o the highway 14 around town and 20 to22 towing a 3 tonne caravan. I have a Haltech power chip installed

[af3556]

Thanks for all the info guys; looks like the petrol is a little better than the official figures suggest.
Makes my diesel/petrol decision even harder :-)

[kirko]

Hi

I bought a discovery 3 V6 petrol 2 months ago. I do just about all city driving and I am getting 19l/ 100km. Very high and alot more than I expected. I did a long run from perth to bunbury and back and only manged to get 12.6 for that.

Overall it uses more than my wifes BMW X5 4.4 V8 2001

If i knew I would have gone for the V8 petrol over the V6 had I know the V6 had such bad fuel economy.

I have been thinking about converting mine to gas. Has anyone had any knowledge of a gas conversion for Petrol landrovers>??

any comments will be appreciated

thanks

[Disco4SE]

Hi Kirko,
Have you considered re-selling it??

Not sure what you paid for your D3, but you are most likely going to have to shell out some more money to purchase a V8 or a diesel.
Buy the time you add gas, a spare wheel carrier etc to your current D3, you might find that this cost difference isn't that great.

This all depends on how many Klm's a year you are travelling as well. It might pay you to hang onto your D3 and put up with the extra fuel usage.

Cheers, Craig

[discotwinturbo]

Craig, the poor guy has only had for 2 months :-(
Looking earlier on this thread, it looks as though he has possibly taken advice from others whose economy was not too bad, only to find out that his is using that much more. The economy that he is getting is unbelievably bad.....maybe something else is wrong causing it to be that bad.
Brett....

[kirko]

Yep, only had it for two months

have enquired about a gas conversion already, have had only two people interested capable of doing it.

One quote at $3650 for a kme system and another quote for a brc system at $4650. I can take $1250 off for the government rebate so it would make it either:-

$2400 or $3400 out of pocket + $1500 for a extra wheel carrier

I paid $30,500 for a 2007 SE with 82,000km's in excellent condition.

you reckon it's worth going the gas option?

I had it serviced and the mechanic said its all good.

[Disco4SE]

Hi Kirko,
Sounds like you need to sit down with a pen, paper & calculator to work out whether the amount of Klm's you travel is worth the money that the conversion will cost......... and how long it would take to pay for itself.

Cheers, Craig

[CaverD3]

Check for binding EPB? Can really stuff your fuel economy.

[~Rich~]

Also with the Govt addition of taxation of LPG and increasing every year will decrease from the value of any LPG conversion.
In NSW the price of LPG has jumped quite a lot already, blame the tax and Julia!


Taxation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)


http://www.ato.gov.au/solutionImages/icon_email.gif http://www.ato.gov.au/images/vr_CDO.gif http://www.ato.gov.au/solutionImages/icon_print.gif (http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/PrintFriendly.aspx'ms=businesses&menuid=0&doc=/content/00298947.htm&page=4&H4) https://www.aulro.com/afvb/ http://www.ato.gov.au/solutionImages/fontincrease.gif https://www.aulro.com/afvb/ http://www.ato.gov.au/solutionImages/fontdecrease.gif




What rates apply to LPG?

The duty rate is based on the energy content of LPG. The rates will be phased in over four years, with final rates in place from 1 July 2015.
Table 1: Transitional duty rates for LPG


Date

LPG
(cents per litre) *
1 Dec 2011

2.5
1 July 2012

5.0
1 July 2013

7.5
1 July 2014

10.0
1 July 2015

12.5

[bee utey]

Also with the Govt addition of taxation of LPG and increasing every year will decrease from the value of any LPG conversion.
In NSW the price of LPG has jumped quite a lot already, blame the tax and Julia!




Snort, giggle. The price went up because of 2.5cpl tax AND a cold northern hemisphere winter causing a spike in the Saudi ARAMCO price of LPG. Yeah, all her fault indeed. The LPG tax regime was put in place long ago, by the Howard government that introduced the rebate scheme. The labor government agreed to defer the tax's implementation so it has less effect.

[discotwinturbo]

Snort, giggle. The price went up because of 2.5cpl tax AND a cold northern hemisphere winter causing a spike in the Saudi ARAMCO price of LPG. Yeah, all her fault indeed. The LPG tax regime was put in place long ago, by the Howard government that introduced the rebate scheme. The labor government agreed to defer the tax's implementation so it has less effect.

Don't defend her. She could stop it. I voted for her.....but labor has now lost my vote.
Apologies for my contribution for the current gov ripping off those that earn more, to give to those that earn less. A great system we have but that seems to be the labor way.
Brett....

[scarry]

Snort, giggle. The price went up because of 2.5cpl tax AND a cold northern hemisphere winter causing a spike in the Saudi ARAMCO price of LPG. Yeah, all her fault indeed. The LPG tax regime was put in place long ago, by the Howard government that introduced the rebate scheme. The labor government agreed to defer the tax's implementation so it has less effect.

Not much of a spike:(,just a large rise
Hasn't come down anywhere near to where it was.
Has dropped to around 83 cpl here,remember it was 58cpl,before the big jump to around 91cpl.

Just imagine the media,etc if petrol or diesel price jumped over 50% overnight.

[Dancing Disco]

Is it worth having a chip fitted to a V6 Petrol Discovery 3. Does the chip improve fuel economy?

[Scary]

If you are getting bad economy around the city I suggest you put it in sports mode.

Reason being I have found that the auto tries to get you in the highest gear as soon as possible and you end up out of the sweet spot of torque (something you TD owners wouldn't know about).

Whereas in auto sport mode the auto holds the gear longer especially when crawling in traffic. This has seen easily a reduction of 3-4 l / 100 in city driving.

Give it a crack. That and get the auto reset and drive it like you stole it for a few weeks - the auto ecu will relearn your driving and start keeping the car in a lower gear more often. They use alot of juice in high gear at low speeds.