Thread: Td1 towing.

Originally Posted by Utemad

I know what you mean but people towing vans that weigh two tonne more than your trailer probably aren't that much slower. Is there another Tdi Disco in your area that you can try towing the trailer with. Just to compare. Fellow forum member perhaps.

My camper slows my Disco down when on LPG in the hills but doesn't bother it much when on petrol.

There are a couple of Tdi Discos at work but I have not caught up with them yet. Good idea though.

Col.

Originally Posted by mcrover

Dont be doing that, take it somewhere like LRA and get them to check it out as Ive towed a 2 horse + tack float with horses and 3 people in the car and it wanst that bad, I'd be thinking that something is up that would be much cheaper to repair than to go buy something Jap.

Even fitting Gas will be cheaper than replacing it with one of the above but then again it all depends on what you want.

Be advised though, as good as the jap product is they dont get the economy of the LR, probably has something to do with the engine being twice as big, they are not as comfy (generally) as a Disco but other than that they are quite good.

In standard form, my mates 80 series Bruiser goes about 75% of the places that my Disco will, not quite as easilly in most cases but it does make it.

I am going to suss out the gas a bit more to see if it is worth it.

Col.

I want it but cant afford it at the moment and the only thing negative I have heard is that some have blown head gaskets but I havnt heard of it being common.

The Tdi is never going to be a rocket in standard form, however I use mine for towing other Land Rovers / Range Rovers around and have no problems - even with bigger rubber and standard diff ratios.

Sounds to me as your Disco needs some TLC!!!

LRH

How big are those hills? I have towed a caravan with mine and don't think it is much slower than similar aged diesel vehicles. I think if you looked up the specs even being twice the size the japs aren't that much more powerful unless you're looking at newer ones that had turbo's. Toyota's probably more powerful than Patrol i have overtaken many a patrol diesel going up steep hills. Diesels are slow but they get there, a camper should not really pose to much for a tdi they have the ability to tow 4000kg so a change in driving style or lowering your expectations might be required. If it is really steep turn the aircon off for a little more power and learn to live with the fact you are not driving a perfomance engine but a workhorse. If not go out and buy a petrol engined vehicle that produces more power but sends you broke on fuel bills. Just for comparison tdi produces 85kw approx a VR commodore will produce 165kw so no prizes for guessing who is going up that hill quicker.In most well travelled areas a slow vehicle lane is provide for caravans and other slow vehicles when steep inclines are encountered so being slow should not be a problem unless you are impatient. Sorry about the rant.

Originally Posted by dhard

for comparison tdi produces 85kw approx a VR commodore will produce 165kw

Actually the VR wasn't that good.

Power 130kW @ 4800rpm
Torque 295Nm @ 3200rpm
Kerb Weight 1362kg

However as you can see the Commodore weighs about 6-700kg less than the Disco,

Just another data point for your reference - I tow a 1.3ton camper and I can do 95km/hr up 90% of hills, and 120 on the flats or 100 into strong head winds.

However mines a manual. The later model autos with the electronic control reportedly had an extra 20Nm of torque. My brother in law has one of the first auto's (no elec control) and it seems to perform worse than my manual.

I have just bought a camper and have a tdi auto 97 disco. Will be interested to see whether I have the same dramas. I have a larger intercooler and am planning a larger exhaust. I run standard rubber, but may put 245 75s on... The hills around Adelaide, especially the last one into/out of town is very large, I wouldn't be too disheartened, especially seeing you still have the comfort and fuel cost of a disco compared to a similar sized Japanese car. I've driven a 2A 186 and Defender up and through those hills and been overtaken many times but still had a smile on my face.