P400 S tow review

[WhiteD3]

Fuel consumption and range were always questions in my mind re the P400 vs the D250/300.

Land Rover Defender 2021 Tow Test - motoring.com.au (https://www.motoring.com.au/land-rover-defender-2021-tow-test-128309/)

[scarry]

Fuel consumption and range were always questions in my mind re the P400 vs the D250/300.

Land Rover Defender 2021 Tow Test - motoring.com.au (https://www.motoring.com.au/land-rover-defender-2021-tow-test-128309/)

You would think designing and building a brand new vehicle from the ground up for touring and towing,they would listen to their customers and fit a decent sized fuel tank.
Oh well, everything is a compromise in one way or another, and it will give the aftermarket guys something to design.

[zilch]

looking for an off road van to stick behind my P400, this article was published just at the right time. 20L/100K's is pretty reasonable..
i will have to keep my fingers crossed that is about right. That said I see the need to carry at least 4 jerry cans (tank ish) of fuel to get better range
when we get into the back of beyond, not unless of course an aftermarket option comes up with a bigger tank and I can reduce the number of
jerry cans, one blessing is there is no spare wheel to relocate as on the RRS or D3/4/5

One of the D200 owners on the Aussie FB group owners runs a JB off road van and he recently got an average consumption of about 16.8L on highways
and 20L/100 ish when on NSW country roads with all the twisty's and hills, not bad for the lower powered diesel hauling over 3 ton of trailer

[scarry]

One of the D200 owners on the Aussie FB group owners runs a JB off road van and he recently got an average consumption of about 16.8L on highways
and 20L/100 ish when on NSW country roads with all the twisty's and hills, not bad for the lower powered diesel hauling over 3 ton of trailer

Those fuel economy figures are not worth the paper they are written on without knowing the speed done over the complete trip.

Sitting on 90Kmh instead of 100 makes a massive difference, and quite a few seem to sit on 80Km/h or thereabouts, on the HWY.

Many speedo's dont read actual either.

Just saying, not trying to hijack the thread.

[DiscoDB]

Those fuel economy figures are not worth the paper they are written on without knowing the speed done over the complete trip.

Sitting on 90Kmh instead of 100 makes a massive difference, and quite a few seem to sit on 80Km/h or thereabouts, on the HWY.

Many speedo's dont read actual either.

Just saying, not trying to hijack the thread.

I always thought it was 80kph when people can’t overtake and then increase to 100kph when overtaking is possible. [emoji48]

[zilch]

Those fuel economy figures are not worth the paper they are written on without knowing the speed done over the complete trip.

The remote app also provides the average speed for the respective trip/journeys as well as distance covered etc. I have checked my petrol receipts against the
apps stated figures and they are close enough, so i find it both accurate and very useful, so certainly worth the "screen" they are displayed on

[scarry]

The remote app also provides the average speed for the respective trip/journeys as well as distance covered etc. I have checked my petrol receipts against the
apps stated figures and they are close enough, so i find it both accurate and very useful, so certainly worth the "screen" they are displayed on

There was no mention of an app used?

Maybe I misread.

Sure with the right app,it can be done very accurately,as you do.

Looking forward to your results.

But many don’t.

Dash read outs are also another trap,some vehicles are very inaccurate,others extremely accurate.

[zilch]

There was no mention of an app used?

Maybe I misread.

Sure with the right app,it can be done very accurately,as you do.


The D200 owner was towing a Lotus gator off road van and posted on the owners FB group the screen shots from the LR remote app, each journey is detailed with a map, average speed,
fuel consumption, time and distance.. quite nifty.. the app is tied to your LR incontrol account.. and is available on later year Landie models. Attached a copy of one of my journeys the weekend for reference

168271

[SBD4]

The remote app also provides the average speed for the respective trip/journeys as well as distance covered etc. I have checked my petrol receipts against the
apps stated figures and they are close enough, so i find it both accurate and very useful, so certainly worth the "screen" they are displayed on
I know it's not the Defender but, on a recent trip up to Ballina I was quite surprised by both the efficiency and the relative accuracy of the cars consumption figures. I filled it to the brim and zeroed the trip meter before setting off. By the time I decided to fill up (at SWMBOs instruction due to her fuel anxiety thanks to running out of fuel in a Mini with a dodgy gauge 10 yrs ago[biggrin]) I done the trip up and spent a couple days driving around Ballina/Byron area which left me with 100Km worth of fuel left(ex reserve), 975Km travelled and 77.5L to fill the tank again. The dash was indicating 7.7L/100Km but calculated at 7.95L/100Km. I reckon that's alright for 5yrs/160K Kms.

It'll be interesting to see what the new diesel IL6's achieve.

Happy with that!

[Tombie]

The D200 owner was towing a Lotus gator off road van and posted on the owners FB group the screen shots from the LR remote app, each journey is detailed with a map, average speed,
fuel consumption, time and distance.. quite nifty.. the app is tied to your LR incontrol account.. and is available on later year Landie models. Attached a copy of one of my journeys the weekend for reference

168271

Still not good enough....

I tow, and when I tow on the highway I’m sitting no less than the posted speed.
Yet my average speed for the journey will be significantly lower - similar to your 65km/h avg. for the journey.

I can tell you right now, the fuel burn is significantly different at average vs maximum.

[Tins]

I always thought it was 80kph when people can’t overtake and then increase to 100kph when overtaking is possible. [emoji48]

Nah, needs to be over 100 to catch the trucks on their limiters.

[zilch]

Still not good enough....

I tow, and when I tow on the highway I’m sitting no less than the posted speed.
Yet my average speed for the journey will be significantly lower - similar to your 65km/h avg. for the journey.

I can tell you right now, the fuel burn is significantly different at average vs maximum.

All i can say is that i have compared the app to my petrol receipts and they are not that far out, so by virtue of that it is good enough for me.
I am not going to be overly anxious on the minor difference that i have observed in real world vs what the Land Rover software is reporting

[PeterJ]

I think the general fuel economy figures when towing are really quite good, certainly agree with earlier comments regarding towing speed though, it's quite significant. My D4 with about 3.3t behind it is in that same general vicinity and really if you're towing something like that a couple l/100 one way or the other is not the major concern, the issue really is about range. Having said that look at a Nissan patrol, similar power and torque figures and 130 litres of fuel but the big one is they will tolerate ULP, along with diesel it's readily available in more remote places, not so much PULP. I'm not sure about the defender being able to cope with it, (ULP) does anyone know?

[Tombie]

The capacity thing is pretty moot... 90l / 20per 100 is 450km

An LC 200 with the same load is looking at 24-25l/100km and with its 130L tank is only good for another 90km before its done.

If a larger tank comes out for the P400 it will be a winner....

[4X4V8]

Fuel consumption average (whose average, what speed and where?) when towing is very hard to pin down but I think once they've settled in there are no big fluctuations. Unless you're gunning it in heavy traffic down a motorway, then belting up to 110km/h in a headwind followed by trying to get the trailer onto two (one side) wheels though a mountain range.

In my experience, what fuel consumption a vehicle driving solo achieves in regular heavy traffic is about what it'll achieve towing a heavy trailer. There are always exceptions though.

I would take the figure published as possibly being on the high end. With a combination of a light right foot and if towing a lighter trailer, I'd guesstimate a fuel figure in the mid-high teens for the P 400.

Having said that, I towed a 3.2tonne van with a Jeep GC t-d once. Before that, I'd towed with other, identical GCs and similar vans, averaging 18L/100km at the most. I calculated my fuel costs on that. Despite being fairly new, and performing 'normally for a GC, that bloomin' thing was extra thirsty, never got less than 21L/100km towing over 6000km in the Outback. Often up to 24L. Someone else drove it afterwards solo and their figures were also unusually high. Something was wrong with it.

So what I'm saying is, a one-vehicle, one-test fuel figure is not gospel. If readers were actually paying for such testing, and manufacturers made available more than one vehicle, so better testing could be done, then you might be more certain about it. But the internet is 'free', talk is cheap and everyone's an expert. Sorry. I'm ranting.

[scarry]

The capacity thing is pretty moot... 90l / 20per 100 is 450km

An LC 200 with the same load is looking at 24-25l/100km and with its 130L tank is only good for another 90km before its done.

If a larger tank comes out for the P400 it will be a winner....

We will have to agree to disagree.Its not really moot at all.

Sure, the P400 is a great vehicle even without the larger tank, although if the 130 arrives, hopefully one will be factory fitted.

Looking at the towing range, using the reported fuel consumption at unknown speed, allowing for a 10liter margin,range is realistically around 400KM.

A mate has a late model, virtually stock Sahara,and uses an app for fuel consumption, towing his van at 3100KG.At an 'actual' average speed between 90 and 100Km/hr,it will generally do between 17 to 21l/100,depending on conditions, head winds, etc.
Using 20l/100 as a figure, with 10liter as a safety margin,128L, that is a range,of 640Km.

Range of over 50% more than a stock, empty P400,towing similar weight, with no mods and no doubt empty, at whatever speed.


The big thing is reliability, the P400 is highly complicated, turbo and supercharged,mild hybrid,i suppose time will tell.

[kenl]

So we're talking about a $120k car, and people are splitting hairs as to how accurate the fuel consumption figures are or how much better the other $120 k car is.

For my part if you want a Toyota then buy one, if you want a Land Rover then Buy one, if you can't afford either then don't buy one.[bigwhistle]

[scarry]

Another good read,but US,so many models we dont get here.

Overland SUV of the Year - Expedition Portal Overland Journal (https://expeditionportal.com/overland-suv-of-the-year/?fbclid=IwAR0R6FWchG2mDNmxVLpMB49a4ri_1QclZLmWkRkY v6vkJTlsDCGCbzsbY_U)

[101RRS]

I am not sure whether this vid has been put up but us a great test - worts and all of the new Defender towing in Australia.

Land Rover Defender - Highway Towing Test & Weigh-In - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuRR_c2nZI)