I am particularly interested in this thread as I am looking at moving from 285/75R16 to 315/75R16 tyres in the not too distant future. I have the 4.11 gearing from Ashcroft currently fitted.
I assumed by VGT Hybrid Road Turbo you are referring to the Turbo Technics s208. Bell Auto Services (BAS) in the UK market the s208 as the Road Turbo <
https://secure.bellautoservices.co.u...id-road-turbo/ > and the s220 as the Race Turbo <
https://secure.bellautoservices.co.u...id-race-turbo/ >.
To be honest I am sceptical about DPL (I assume Davis Performance Land Rover?
Land Rover Performance Upgrades, Tuning, Modifications & Accessories - Davis Performance ) claim that they can do a bigger turbo that also has more power down low.
IRB and BAS in the UK developed the s208 and s220 with Turbo Technics. The s208 has the same maximum flow as the standard turbo charger, but the VGT/VNT provides the significant increase in down low and removes the lag.
The s220 is larger and capable of flowing significantly more, but as a result it has a bit more lag than the s208 model and not as much downlow, despite still being a VNT/VGT. They have yet to find a way around this compromise.
By the sounds of what your wanting the down load and getting rid of lag will better suit than more power up high. There's a lot of threads around, especially on the UK forums, comparing the s208 and s220 effects, and generally most agree the s208 has better downlow and drivability.
The only listing I see on the DPL website is for a Hybrid Garret turbocharger to suit <
Range & Land Rover TD5 Hybrid Turbocharger/Turbo Kits - 4% Off! > - looks very similar to that offered by Alive Tuning <
Hybrid Turbo for Td5 > but for approximately $1,700.00 more expensive (will probably still be at least $1,300.00 cheaper once freight and import duties are added on)!
The BAS s208 VNT is even cheaper than both of those hybrid turbos!
I'd suggest checking some of the UK sites to see if anyone has compared the s208 to the Hybrid turbo offerings from places like Alive Tuning on a TD5.
As for doing a comparison, well it's not much of a comparison is it - a Defender manual compared to a Discovery automatic - there's a lot more factors effecting the outcome than just the choice in turbo charger. A probably comparison would use the exact same vehicle.
The Ashcroft HD torque converter makes the vehicle much nicer to drive and a big difference with the larger tyres. Personally, I would recommend giving it a go before regearing.
If you have a look at some of the other threads there's a few members that have sourced local versions too.
The HD torque converter is complimented very well by a VNT as it allows you to use the lower revs of the motor and the VNT provides 18 - 22psi of boost while your doing so!