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Thread: Test drove the SD4 and TD6 D5 today

  1. #1
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    Test drove the SD4 and TD6 D5 today

    Hi all


    Future D5 owner here. I was keen to compare the SD4 and TD6 before purchasing and thought I would share my thoughts in case others found it helpful. By way of background, I have never owned a Land Rover before but have owned an short wheel base FJ40 Landcruiser which was used for beach work and a 100 series 1HZ Landcruiser which used for beach and bush. I have briefly driven a D4 some years ago, so apologies if my observations are restatements of the obvious as it is all new to me.

    Buying intentions

    Going into the dealership today, I was intending on ordering the SD4 as I felt that hit the value sweet spot but I wanted to drive the TD6 to be sure first. I will let you know how I went with that in a moment.

    On the dealership floor

    The D5 has significant visual bulk. I know how long it takes to hand wash a 100 series (there is a lot of paintwork to cover) and the D5 feels every bit as big from the outside. Climbing inside the cabin, the impression is reinforced. There is a large gap between passenger and driver with a wide centre console in between. The centre console takes the form of a stacking Matryoshka doll with new layers progressively peeled back. There are two deep and large cupholders (not American big and large mind you) and a iphone holder with built in lightning charger. Annoyingly you need to take the cover off your iphone 7 before it will fit in the holder so I can't imagine using it. The cupholders slide back and reveal a further deep cubby underneath suitable to hold a small colony of hamsters. Peering forward over the long bonnet, there is a significant blind spot ahead which would swallow scooter riders, cyclists and mothers with prams. I didn't like the lack of forward vision.

    The leather surfaces are soft and pleasant to the touch. The wife was rather unhappy to note that the centre console cover was fabric rather than leather and it would require the HSE Luxury trim plus leather extension pack in order to get a leather cover. She pointed out that the price differential between the SE and HSE Luxury plus leather extension pack was about the same as the entire cost of her prior car when new, which came with a leather covered centre console from the factory.

    I popped the bonnet on the SD4 and looked in the engine bay. It looks extremely tidy and is garnished with plenty of plastic cover. Peering past the plastic cover, you could comfortably fit a 5 year old child in the gap between the radiator and the engine and with proper instruction and encouragement they could change your serpentine belt at the same time. The battery is noticeably absent although there is a pillar prominently displayed with a + symbol.

    The infotainment center is rather fiddly. The salesman helpfully showed us four different ways you can get the stereo to play the wrong music when trying to play a song from your iphone but we were not quite able to crack the secret of getting to play the correct song. This is pretty low down on the priority list so we moved on to the test drive phase, although lack of proper Car Play integration is a bit average on a car of this quality.

    SD4 Test Drive

    We were standing on the dealership forecourt and our test drive guide started up the engine. I was standing there happily chatting away and realised that I consciously needed to check the engine sound because it was so quiet. To be fair, we were about 30 feet from a busy road, but the vehicle was astonishingly quiet from the outside. The old diesel clatter is still there, but it is faint and far away. It is almost as though you are lounging on a haystack on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the middle of a field and you can see a farmer driving his tractor in the field in the far distance - that is the sound that the SD4 makes on idle.

    Climbing into the driver's seat, the controls all fell easily to hand. The indicator is in its rightful place on the left hand side and it is easy enough to perform a full shoulder check. Somewhat worringly, the side view mirrors refused to fully swivel to give the maximum vision possible. Instead at max reach I was stuck with having 10% of my mirror on each side obscured with the view of the sides of the car. I am not sure whether this is a design issue or more likely operator error.

    Pulling away from the kerb, the SD4 is silent and smooth. On low throttle it is silky smooth. I found it quite disconcerting to have no idea what gear I was in at any given time. This made me feel quite aloof and separated from the drivetrain. There are flappy paddles but I dont know what I would do with them given there is no feedback as to what should be happening. The steering is responsive in the sense that it generally goes in the direction you point it but in the short test drive I felt it lacked the razor sharp precision which would give me the confidence I could slot the vehicle through a pair of roos at 100 km/h.

    I can comfortably rest my right elbow on the wide door sill while driving which is my preferred position for long distances. There is an arm rest to the left of the driver which I consistently hit my elbow against while maneuvering the wheel. This was quickly banished to the upright position where it will likely remain until the end of days.

    Stepping hard on the brakes, the vehicle's nose dived and I managed to see what I had been missing in the giant front blind spot all this time. If only front vision was this good at all times. It pulled nicely to a stop despite its still hefty 2000kg weight. No seatbelt pretensioners fired which I was expecting so maybe the D5 does not have them. I would have liked to have tested the cornering more aggressively but our test drive guide was the nervous type and we were only the second people ever to have test driven this vehicle so I decided to go particularly easy on the corners. Accordingly I dont feel I have a good understanding of how much body roll it is subject to.

    If you want to step on the throttle, it is best to do so and then take a hold your breath and count to three. One, Two, THREEE... There is a fair gap of time between stepping on the accelerator and the world outside speeding up a bit. Because that it was it feels like, the SD4 gently leans back on its haunches (no squatting here) and then the world outside accelerates towards you in a reasonable and sensible fashion. The illusion is somewhat broken by the silkiness of the gearbox being replaced by a more abrupt distant thumping. Letting off the throttle sharply, the SD4 immediately settles back into its placid ways. I would describe the experience as workmanlike, but not engaging.

    After a series of wafting about the local urban roads interspersed with holding one's breath and counting to three, I satisfied myself that I had extracted all the performance information I was going to get on a test drive on pavement and went back to the dealership.

    TD6 Test Drive

    This was destined to be a much shorter test drive as we had already established the basic handling characteristics so far as we were able on a test drive in urban conditions. Again the TD6 was very quiet standing 3 feet from the bonnet - I don't recall any hint of diesel clatter this time but maybe I was not listening properly.

    Pulling away from the kerb, the TD6 was even silkier and smoother on light throttle if this is at all possible. Think of it as being the difference between 9 and 9.5 on a 10 point scale. There was no discernable weight penalty despite the extra 100kg under the bonnet. Again I felt disconnected from the drivetrain as though it was no longer my responsibility to know about things like gears and what they do.

    Punching the accelerator, it immediately became apparent where the extra money went. Off the line, this is a completely different vehicle with a discernable shove in the lower back. Don't get me wrong, this is no sports car and lacks top end, but you can definitely play traffic light derby from 0 - 30 and get the jump on the traffic queue. The whole 'wait and see what happens' experience is completely gone as the torque is there immediately.

    Much to my disappointment, I was immediately swayed by the TD6. It responds when summoned and maintains its silkiness through the gears even under heavy throttle. Despite the increased price tag, this is definitely pick of the litter. I came away with a completely different attitude to the 6 cylinder. What is more, it actually has character. Snap the throttle shut and you get a faint bark and crackle of overrun. You can tell, buried somewhere down deep inside, beats the heart of an athletic beast waiting to be let out of its cage with a tune and free breathing exhaust. This is the one for me.

    Conclusion

    SD4 good, TD6 better

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Nice write up Bilby - Thank you!
    Mark

    Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most

    2015 TDV6 D4.... the latest project... Llams, Traxide, Icom 455, Tuffant Kimberleys and Mofos.... so far.
    2012 SDV6 SE D4 with some stuff... gone...
    2003 D2a TD5...gone...
    2000 D2 V8...gone...
    https://bymark.photography


  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Did you pop the SD4 in sport mode? It really transforms the drive in the 4-pot diesel Evoque
    Now 2016 D4 HSE 'Leo' and Steve the Triumph Speed Twin
    Then 2010 D4 3.0 HSE 'James'
    Then 2010 RRS TDV8 'Roger' w traxide DBS, UHF, Cooper Zeons, Superchips remap
    Then 2010 D4 TDV6 'Jumbo' w traxide DBS
    First love 2002 D2 TD5 'Disco Stu'

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the informative review Bilby, it sounds like you should be writing for a magazine.
    + 2016 D4 TDV6

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Milton477 View Post
    Thanks for the informative review Bilby, it sounds like you should be writing for a magazine.
    Definitely Top Gear-inspired
    Now 2016 D4 HSE 'Leo' and Steve the Triumph Speed Twin
    Then 2010 D4 3.0 HSE 'James'
    Then 2010 RRS TDV8 'Roger' w traxide DBS, UHF, Cooper Zeons, Superchips remap
    Then 2010 D4 TDV6 'Jumbo' w traxide DBS
    First love 2002 D2 TD5 'Disco Stu'

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