Thread: Vehicle weight

Originally Posted by Bmachining

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Ive worked out that the 300tdi engine isnt underpowered, the 2 ft long accelerator pedal travel makes it feel that way!

Tdi's are underpowered, but you're right about the accelerator pedal which doesn't help.
Brother had a Merc 320ML and I remember was the same too. Nice smooth V6 motor, you could feel had a fair amount of torque, but it's weight and long travel pedal made it feel sluggish.

I prefer that mode of driving. In the bush in very rough track conditions, that long travel pedal (mechanically linked) makes progress a lot smoother.

I've been curious as to the weight of my Tdi too.
Many moons ago when I had my RRC, I confirmed that with myself in it, it's weight was just shy of 1900kg(can't remember fuel level tho).
And my twin cab Rodeo(4WD) came in at over 2100kg with me in it(but it had dual fuel too).

At low revs the D1 accelerator has long travel to take out surges when travelling slowly offroad in bumpy conditions. At higher revs the travel starts to shorten so at highway speeds you have normal accelerator travel. So the trick is to floor the accelerator when taking off to push through the long travel section of the accelerator.

Garry

Your D1 must be smarter than mine, Garry! My throttle linkage stays the same no matter what you do! Unless you physically get under the bonnet and adjust the linkage holes up or down - I'd want to really trust the co-driver!

On the D1 throttle action tightens up and becomes more responsive the further is it pushed down - maybe you needed the V8 rather than the 300TDI slug for this action to be noticeable.

Several years ago a mate borrowed my D1 for a weekend out with the boys as his Cruiser was laid up for repairs. I couldn't go so was happy to lend him my car. All I did was give him a few tips on how to drive it differently to the Japanese cars he was used to and the rest I left to him. When he got back, the first comment was his Cruiser had more grunt and drove a bit better onroad. His second comment was the D1 ate his Cruiser offroad, especially the low range gearing. His third comment was, what he initially thought of as 'sloppy' throttle response, was perfect for offroad use in the technical sections they were doing. He gave himself a bit of a lesson in finesse vs brute force that day!

I totally understand the long travel throttle for offroad work!

Yeah the 300tdi isnt the most powerful thing around, but it does the job. And very economical round town! I will tickle the fuel pump someday, even looking at a VNT turbo to boost low speed response.

Im past my high powered car days, V8s, inline 6s, 4s, even an old mini with about 120Hp, now that was fast! Locked front diff was umm interesting, was an everyday car.


Does anyone know what the small light, looks like an LED is between the speedo and tacho, down the bottom?