Thread: Disco 3 or 4. Your opinion welcome.

Originally Posted by rapserv

thanks for the reply Gavin ... and good to know I'm not the only one having this dilemma.

Just for interest ... did you find much of a difference in towing ability going to the D4 from the D2 (I assume you had it remapped as well)
I've remapped the D2 and it goes much better .. but towing the van that's over 3 tonne you certainly know it.
I've had in mind going to the 3L engine as I figured, if I'm going to make a change, I didn't want to go through all this to find I'm still under-powered.
Is the D4 still struggling .. but maybe not as much?
I generally sit on 80-85 which is fine by me .. as long as the cars not labouring. I also like to look at the scenery going past

I went from a 2004 D2a with new engine plus some performance improvements to a D4 SC V6 petrol and there is no comparison between them. Power of 250kw plus 8 speed means towing up to 3.5t is a breeze....no more slogging up a hill at 40ks...now hitting 90ks and rising on the same hill with 3.5t behind🤤

Same for stability and braking...the D4 is waaaay better on all fronts..cept fuel when unloaded...11 vs 13.8ish. But they are/were
about the same when towing ie @15 l/100ks. Currently with cheaper petrol the SC is actually cheaper to run and more reliable I think...touch wood 🙄 i went through 2 g boxes in the TD5 plus flex plates plus torque converters plus rear flex joint ..fprs..inj looms..ecu..tc seals..etc
etc etc

Yes D2 is way cheaper but as I found you can lose a lot of cash quickly in repairs. Mine cost 10k..a bargain at the time ..but owed me over 25 by the time I sold it..not including my labour which was hundreds of hours chasing endless problems.

"No matter whether D4 petrol or diesel,it’s going to have huge maintenance and repair costs compared to a D2."


...no way is that true..petrol engines of all makes cost less to maintain and repair than diesels. Yes some early Rover V8s were dogs but that was due to LR incompetence..not the fundamental design.

Diesels remain good for certain applications eg trucks and tractors but for cars they are problematic due to power and emission demands. Even mighty Toyota cant build a decent diesel for car use.

Originally Posted by INter674

"No matter whether D4 petrol or diesel,it’s going to have huge maintenance and repair costs compared to a D2."


...no way is that true..petrol engines of all makes cost less to maintain and repair than diesels. Yes some early Rover V8s were dogs but that was due to LR incompetence..not the fundamental design.

Diesels remain good for certain applications eg trucks and tractors but for cars they are problematic due to power and emission demands. Even mighty Toyota cant build a decent diesel for car use.

I think what scarry was referring too was that a D3 or D4 will cost miles more per 100k km in running costs, this is absolutely spot on.In my family I still have 3 discovery 2s, a discovery 3 , discovery 4, RRS .

The 3s and 4s and RRS have less issues for sure, but when they do it's costly.

Oils and filters also cost more (except engine oil)

Everything is impossible to get too on the later ones.
Try doing a turbo or A/C compressor, or power steering pump....Damn.

But the later ones -3 and 4 are much much more car,no comparison.

And yes , the D2A is the pick of the early ones, so many little things are better.

Cheers
James

Originally Posted by shack

I think what scarry was referring too was that a D3 or D4 will cost miles more per 100k km in running costs, this is absolutely spot on.In my family I still have 3 discovery 2s, a discovery 3 , discovery 4, RRS .

The 3s and 4s and RRS have less issues for sure, but when they do it's costly.

Oils and filters also cost more (except engine oil)

Everything is impossible to get too on the later ones.
Try doing a turbo or A/C compressor, or power steering pump....Damn.

But the later ones -3 and 4 are much much more car,no comparison.

And yes , the D2A is the pick of the early ones, so many little things are better.

Cheers
James

Mmm..but my point was wrt petrol v diesel engine costs...inc oil cause petrol service intervals are longer..and there's less to go wrong..eg no dpfs or egrs..and petrol ics are less stressed. Other costs car for car should be about the same and so far my D4 is costing waay less than the D2a..touch wood...

Td5 also had 2 oil filters where the SC has one costing 30 bucks..but it has 2 air filters albeit they don't require replacement as often...and no fuel filter either☺

Yes ALL cars are expensive to own and LRs are no different to many other makes out there. In many cases choosing the right one is more luck than science 🙄

Diesels remain good for certain applications eg trucks and tractors but for cars they are problematic due to power and emission demands. Even mighty Toyota cant build a decent diesel for car use.

If you are towing 3T+ then you are using your "Car" as a prime mover/tractor So a diesel engine makes good sense for this application and my "Apparently" not so good 4.5l Diesel V8 in the 79 Series does this job with consummate ease and still does 15/100.
YES the 79 Series is NOWHERE near as refined or as comfortable as a D3/4 But saying that Toyota is incapable of producing a "Decent" LV diesel engine is a Huge call.

Originally Posted by trout1105

If you are towing 3T+ then you are using your "Car" as a prime mover/tractor So a diesel engine makes good sense for this application and my "Apparently" not so good 4.5l Diesel V8 in the 79 Series does this job with consummate ease and still does 15/100.
YES the 79 Series is NOWHERE near as refined or as comfortable as a D3/4 But saying that Toyota is incapable of producing a "Decent" LV diesel engine is a Huge call.

Not just my opinion...there's heaps of commentary on diesel problems which afflict Toyota as well. The Toyota V8 is one of the better ones out there but still suffers from issues. It's future is limited too.

Originally Posted by rapserv

thanks for the reply Gavin ... and good to know I'm not the only one having this dilemma.

Just for interest ... did you find much of a difference in towing ability going to the D4 from the D2 (I assume you had it remapped as well)
I've remapped the D2 and it goes much better .. but towing the van that's over 3 tonne you certainly know it.
I've had in mind going to the 3L engine as I figured, if I'm going to make a change, I didn't want to go through all this to find I'm still under-powered.
Is the D4 still struggling .. but maybe not as much?
I generally sit on 80-85 which is fine by me .. as long as the cars not labouring. I also like to look at the scenery going past

You are spot on. The only reason I upgraded was cos the D2a auto (remapped by TD5Inside for towing/economy and a few other performance goodies) struggled towing with any sort of decently steep hill, even getting into 2nd gear on some examples. Both cars have EGT gauges. The D2 would easily get to well over 600 on a hill (700+ momentarily once before I realised and downshifted). The D4 has never hit anything like 700 - I think 600 in one extreme situation.
Yes the 3L, especially with 8 speed, would be better (ask John_D4), but I'm happy with my less expensive 2.7L. Like the comfort, the towing is chalk and cheese, and I could not say that even once the D4 "struggled" in the way the D2 could - just didn't proceed as quickly as a LC200.
The one thing that did surprise me a little, even though it should not have on reflection, was that a test towing on the flat at 100 kmph (max in WA) gave fuel consumption up near 20L/100 km. Our Qld/NT overall economy was a bit over 16L/100 km from memory while cruising at 80.
Good luck with your decision. If money was no object, I'd maybe go for a MY16.5 3L (later versions seem to be dodging the crankshaft issue), but for my purposes my 2.7L (now at 260K km) is fine.
Good luck with your decision, and let us know.


EDIT - having said all that, the petrol vs diesel discussion per INTER-----, is very interesting, and especially if your future car is a keeper after the big trip, petrol just might be the better long term option, despite being sacrilege to a long term diesel owner.

This is a typical engine replacement breakdown for you. This was from a dealer, on top of this there is around $5500 worth of labour.

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