Thread: Buying D3 - V8 or TD?

The used market is adverse to petrol four wheel drives, so you should be able to find a bargain petrol D3 compared to the diesel D3.

As far as reliability is concerned, or maintenance costs, I suspect that the petrol V8 would be the pick of the two, fuel costs aside.

It only takes one big repair on the diesel to claw back all the savings in fuel costs compared to the petrol motor.

The 4.4 petrol motor is a bored out version from the XJ Jaguar 4.2 V8 which in itself is actually a Ford motor. Output is 220kW @ 5500rpm, 427 Nm @ 4000 rpm. But with a 86-litre fuel tank, it won't have a great touring range. Nonetheless, the motor will be a lot more economical than the Rover 4.0 V8 you currently drive and a huge improvement as it actually drives the D3 very well.

If you do not do a lot of kms, or a lot of short trips, and tend to keep your vehicles for a long time, perhaps the V8 is the way go to.

Anyway found an existing thread on the same topic: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...t-used-d3.html

Thanks TempestV8,
Not really doing big Ks. only put 130k on mine in 14 years. (total over 200k)
average under 10k a year.
but a lot of the driving is just around town.
I'll check out that link.

Originally Posted by tempestv8

It only takes one big repair on the diesel to claw back all the savings in fuel costs compared to the petrol motor.

And to be fair, it only takes one big repair bill on the petrol engine to compound your extra fuel costs over the diesel.

The diesel is actually a Ford engine as well.

G'Day 2cranky

I currently have a D3 V8 and used to run a D1 V8 (1998)
It is a great engine and have not had any big issues at all ( now up to 185000 klms) the V8 is equal to the V6 on economy due to power / weight ratio. I recently did a medium difficulty off road trip with two patrols. These guys had lifted suspension, bars, etc. My D3 is pretty stock except it was fitted with the rear and center diff lockers. I was able to tackle everything these guys did and with using the HDC and diff lockers, was more capable in some areas.
I had a concern on fuel as these patrols had 120ltr of fuel compared to my 80 odd ltr thimble. The Disco ended up just fine but I am looking seriously at a rear bar and wheel carrier as a flat tyre when in the bush is a real pain due to the mounting of the spare (major design flaw) I am also considerng if I use a long range tank but considering the rear bar comes with a jerry can holder, I might leave it at that to start with and keep maximum clearance out back.

good luck
Al

and, engines aside, were there other differences between the petrol and diesel models (as in specs) which might be relevant to this discussion?

I believe the V8 had larger brakes and therefore cannot fit 17" wheels. Similar to the D4 so perhaps the special wheels from GOE solve that issue as well.

Originally Posted by tempestv8

The used market is adverse to petrol four wheel drives, so you should be able to find a bargain petrol D3 compared to the diesel D3.

As far as reliability is concerned, or maintenance costs, I suspect that the petrol V8 would be the pick of the two, fuel costs aside.

It only takes one big repair on the diesel to claw back all the savings in fuel costs compared to the petrol motor.

The 4.4 petrol motor is a bored out version from the XJ Jaguar 4.2 V8 which in itself is actually a Ford motor. Output is 220kW @ 5500rpm, 427 Nm @ 4000 rpm. But with a 86-litre fuel tank, it won't have a great touring range. Nonetheless, the motor will be a lot more economical than the Rover 4.0 V8 you currently drive and a huge improvement as it actually drives the D3 very well.l

The D3 V8 not a Ford motor. It is the AJ26 V8 developed by Jaguar.

The other petrol motor, the V6, is a Ford motor.

The 2.7 litre diesel is a PSA motor, not a Ford motor.

Willem

Originally Posted by Timj

I believe the V8 had larger brakes and therefore cannot fit 17" wheels. Similar to the D4 so perhaps the special wheels from GOE solve that issue as well.

The V8 D3 can also use 18" (or larger) wheels from a D3 or D4 - it doesn't have to use the GOE 18" wheels.