Thread: Petrol V Diesel

Unless you know the service history from day one, you cannot predict what will need doing to any car that you don't know.


A V8 usually needs a camshaft by 150000km if all the oil changes have been regular but it could soldier on with lower power way past 200000km.


Same with gearboxes. Unless you know how it's been driven, you can't forecast what will go first. A town car might get a lot more gearchanges over it's lifetime than a freeway car. Towing will place load on the driveline too, and can be hard on 5th gear.




What sort of driving will you be doing? IMO that would make the choice between diesel & petrol easier.




As for the Range Rover option, the only Range Rover available here in decent numbers is the LM/L322 & you need to add around $25000 to your budget.

Originally Posted by Scouse

Unless you know the service history from day one, you cannot predict what will need doing to any car that you don't know.


A V8 usually needs a camshaft by 150000km if all the oil changes have been regular but it could soldier on with lower power way past 200000km.


Same with gearboxes. Unless you know how it's been driven, you can't forecast what will go first. A town car might get a lot more gearchanges over it's lifetime than a freeway car. Towing will place load on the driveline too, and can be hard on 5th gear.




What sort of driving will you be doing? IMO that would make the choice between diesel & petrol easier.




As for the Range Rover option, the only Range Rover available here in decent numbers is the LM/L322 & you need to add around $25000 to your budget.

G'day Scott,

I would be looking at a daily driver. One that is also capable of going on overnight trips to tow something like a long wheel base Series 3.

I know very little about Range Rovers. I do not know what has LM/L322?

A quick check on eBay and Carsales showed a few examples that were in the same price range and Kilometres. Most of which were P38As, and I started to wonder about that.

Kind Regards
Lionel

If you go down the D1 V8 path, I know where there are a few spare parts locally .

I don't think 5/6 K will buy a LM322 Rangey and not sure it will get you a P38 that does not need even more $$ spent on it either.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

...

I would be looking at a daily driver. One that is also capable of going on overnight trips to tow something like a long wheel base Series 3.

...

A stock D1 300tdi will set you back $3-5k and use 8-9 L/100km. However it would be painfully slow towing a SIII 109 on a car trailer.

A V8 D1 will be a bit cheaper to buy, and tow better, but cost twice the rego and fuel.

I've got both and have to agree on the towing front. I simply don't have the patience to tow anything heavy with my 300Tdi auto anymore. Car carrier, forget it.

If fuel doesn't bother you, get a V8 manual. Put it in fourth and rev it like a turbine.

Hello All,

Thank you everyone for your responses. They were much appreciated.

For the percentage of time that I would be using the vehicle to tow a Series 3 109 around, as opposed to normal daily driving conditions, it would seem the diesel would win out.

As mentioned by Isuzurover, "Twice the registration and twice the fuel bill" Icky poo

I can manage slow towing on the rare occasions that it would occur. If people get impatient they can always overtake me. A 300tdi would still be faster than a 2.25 litre diesel currently in one of my Series 3s!

Kind Regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Thank you everyone for your responses. They were much appreciated.

For the percentage of time that I would be using the vehicle to tow a Series 3 109 around, as opposed to normal daily driving conditions, it would seem the diesel would win out.

As mentioned by Isuzurover, "Twice the registration and twice the fuel bill" Icky poo

I can manage slow towing on the rare occasions that it would occur. If people get impatient they can always overtake me. A 300tdi would still be faster than a 2.25 litre diesel currently in one of my Series 3s!

Kind Regards
Lionel

Make sure the cooling system is 100%, and fit aftermarket egt and water temp guages. Low coolant alarm is also a good idea.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Thank you everyone for your responses. They were much appreciated.

For the percentage of time that I would be using the vehicle to tow a Series 3 109 around, as opposed to normal daily driving conditions, it would seem the diesel would win out.

As mentioned by Isuzurover, "Twice the registration and twice the fuel bill" Icky poo

I can manage slow towing on the rare occasions that it would occur. If people get impatient they can always overtake me. A 300tdi would still be faster than a 2.25 litre diesel currently in one of my Series 3s!

Kind Regards
Lionel

Technically not so. There is a facility to get a rego cost quote online from the Qld RTA. I submitted 2 requests, the only difference was 8 cyl petrol Vs 4 cyl diesel.

TDi came in at $811.85 (10lt/100ks ???)
V8 came in at $1,192.75. (17ish/100ks )

V8s are like bums, they are everywhere and cheap. Petrol is cheaper than diesel (where I live anyway). LPG conversions reduce this even further. I have never had to pay for servicing a diesel so I don't have that info. IMHO, adding all the pro and cons up, you would have to do a heap of K's in the TDi to wind up in front of a V8 given that fuel economy appears to be the only real advantage.