D1 trip report 25/4/07

[p38arover]

Last night I picked up a car trailer and loaded my old Hillman Hunter to take it to Newcastle to my son:



I used the automatic 300Tdi Disco rather than the 4.6 P38A Rangie to give the D1 a load and a run before the trip to WA on Sunday. Also in the Disco were lots of spare parts, e.g., another engine, several cylinder heads - anything I could get rid of to my son!

I averaged 13.2 litres/100km for the trip. On the way up (loaded) I travelled at about 90km/h (or less), on the way back with an empty trailer I travelled at about 110km/h.

I noticed that if I kept the rpm at 2500 or higher (110km/h) it didn't lose as much speed on the hills. However, I don't know if I was being fooled by the night travel in the rain, but it sometimes seemed to lose speed on the flat or declines. Maybe they were actually ascents and the night travel confused my brain.

Quite frankly, I think the Disco towed better than the P38A! Perhaps it wasn't as stable as the P38A with its longer wheelbase but it pulled quite well. What was really noticeable was the lack of self-levelling and that my headlights were aiming upwards.

The lack of traffic made it hard to compare just how the Disco was performing.

It ended up being an 7-1/2 hour trip - depart at 7pm after loading the Hunter, get home at 2.30 am (including stops for coffee, visiting an ex-colleague to drop off a battery charger to get his car going, coffee with son, etc.). I'd have saved an easy 1-1/2 to 2 hours if I hadn't stopped.

Ron