D3 V6 petrol - tell me the good things

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

If it were only 7k then that would be OK but when I bought mine the diff was 18k!

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I'm with you on that one. A major factor for me when buying the D3 was price. I certainly valued the $ savings higher over the possible benefits of a diesel engine. I won't recoup the difference through fuel economy savings and I don't think the diesel would give me much else in the way of benefit for the type of driving I do. Had it only been a couple of K difference I might have gone for a diesel for economy and range but it certainly wasn't, even in the used market (more like $10k for similar KM vehicles).

Re last 3 posts, we would have bought a diesel, but the budget from the company was set and when I did all of the figures, and the company accountant vetted them, the petrol V6 was a more economical option only looking at the dollars over our 100000 km ownership cycle. Re: gutless, I have not had any problems, you work with what you have got, and its a better car for me than anything else I could find at the time in its class. If I wanted power/speed, I put the foot down and I got power. I am sure the diesel behaves quite differently, different power peaks etc. but the petrol does the job fine for me. Does it sound like I am flogging it? when you listen with ears tuned to a diesel, it probably does sound like its reving high, but I drive both diesels and petrol cars and trucks and they are just different, both get from A to B. Re crank shaft sensor, had it serviced three times so far, no crank shaft sensor replacements, I would argue warranty if it did need one. Price difference for me was over $12k.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WhiteD3

If it were only 7k then that would be OK but when I bought mine the diff was 18k!

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oh is it that much,, well in that case then yes, cos when my dad bort the 09 d3 he drove all the engines and specs, was looking for a tdv6 hse with
the primiem leather but it was a 5month wate:eek::eek:,, so just went for the es, im just going off what he sead for the price diff, he sead wouldent bother with the v6 and pay the bit more for the tdv6, and he thort the most refind and best to drive was the tdv6,,

i no every one feels diffrent to each car,, but iv driven all of them and yes if i had the money id go the v8 ( only cos im such a child:D:D and cant go past a good v8) but of every day use,, the tdv6,

we`ve had the V6SE for 2 1/2 years nearly 60,000 km other than needing new tyres and brake discs at 40,000 not had a single problem.

In my opinion they drive and perform much better than the TDV6 on road and off and we average 14.6 l/100km on the trip computor no matter what type of driving it does.

$64 K on the road at the time compared with nearly 80K for the TDV6
figured we could put a lot of petrol in for the price difference

Intend to change it out at 5 years but dont know what for if they dont continue with this cheap option in the D4

Another bit of data for the body of V6 petrol knowledge. Just got back from a 1 week trip around the east coast of Tassie. Did not do all that many Km only about 1000 (went down/up on ferry- met the family at the airport -great storm going over!) With the narrow windy roads we got about 13.2 ltrs/100 kms average. No off road. Average speed was 48.8 kph (lots of slow moving traffic on unsafe to pass roads). Performed very well. When safe it passed everything very well when asked, left a few OLD smok'en diesels crawling up some of the steep windy hills. Found the cruise control conservative on the steep hills, if the speed dropped I just did a bit of accelerating myself and it then dropped down a gear and then all was fine. Great ride, family enjoyed it and with 4 females (plus me) in the car thats amazing!:D

Just traded the D2 TD5 for an '05 D3 on LPG (BRC injection) from James Deacon in Melbourne and I must say it is an awesome machine! Drove home via Brindabellas at speeds not previously experienced due to limousine-like handling, didn't even notice the blown tyre until too late...

LPG tank is tucked under the rear in place of the spare tyre, which is moved to a swing-away on rear bumper. 50 litres of LPG costs about $30 in my part of the world and provides a range of 300 km. Of course, there is also a full petrol tank for backup but who needs it?

Now, just picked up the latest Overlander mag which made reference to July article by Mark Allen on D3 suspension mods not recommended by LR. Also quoted some tricky device by Andrew Trafford, no further details. Any clues? I can see a possible area of improvement in upping the sit-down speed from 40 kph as it could reduce transit times past Big Red. Also seem to recall a while ago a bit of trickery to fool the EAS computer to rise higher than factory settings eg. for serious crawling over rocks.

Could be useful?

Hi Andy,

What engine is your vehicle? V6 or V8?

Also, how much usable LPG litres can you fit into your tank and how far does that take you?

:)

Hi, its a V6 and I agree with previous comments about it being a BIG V6, at 4 litres it beats the pants off the old V8 and sounds just as good! LPG tank capacity is a nominal 60 litres but you cannot fill much past 50, goes for 300 km. Tank hangs down a bit at rear but it is protected by a thick steel plate so I'm not too worried, would like to be able to dial in a bit more ground clearance though, hence my interest in suspension mods...