Thread: Diesel Tuning Chip for Land Rover Discovery 4

Originally Posted by chippy

makes sense Greg, especially after your experience. to keep it standard if it works well enough...

i am very curious about your comment re the towing 3 tonne capability ?

that concerns me because i did want to tow a big boat, the stats (high torque) would seem to indicate its not a problem? you think otherwise?

i have also considered the defender but it has only a 2.2L engine and much less torque, even though they rate it to tow 3.5 tonne that engine just seems like it would struggle, but maybe there is something i am missing..i also cant see how it can be nearly as good as a d4 or RRS or RR off road with the limiting power and torque, obviously has good ground clearance and rugged sus/build etc but why such a small engine.



cheers
chippy

Agreed, it is only my opinion, but I just look at it from common sense. If a manufacturer quotes a 3.5 ton towing capacity, I assume that 3.5 tons is at the very top end of the scale, i.e., you're wringing its neck at that weight. So I tend to go conservative. I tow a 2.5 ton boat, and I feel much more comfortable doing with the standard 4.4 TDV8 in my Vogue than I would even with a chipped or remapped 3.0 in a Disco or RRS.

Even with the 4.4 you sure know the boat's tailgating you. I just don't believe in running things at their absolute limits if you don't have to. The less stress on the engineering, the longer it'll last. That said, yes I know there are lots of 2.7 and 3.0 LRs out there towing big heavy vans around Australia. I just wouldn't particularly want to buy one of them second hand.

Originally Posted by GregMilner

Agreed, it is only my opinion, but I just look at it from common sense. If a manufacturer quotes a 3.5 ton towing capacity, I assume that 3.5 tons is at the very top end of the scale, i.e., you're wringing its neck at that weight. So I tend to go conservative. I tow a 2.5 ton boat, and I feel much more comfortable doing with the standard 4.4 TDV8 in my Vogue than I would even with a chipped or remapped 3.0 in a Disco or RRS.

Even with the 4.4 you sure know the boat's tailgating you. I just don't believe in running things at their absolute limits if you don't have to. The less stress on the engineering, the longer it'll last. That said, yes I know there are lots of 2.7 and 3.0 LRs out there towing big heavy vans around Australia. I just wouldn't particularly want to buy one of them second hand.

I agree, I wouldn't even think about towing 3.5t all the time, yes I have towed 3.5t, but that was a one off necessity(broken daughters car) did it tow it well, yes it did, supprisingly well in fact, I'm happy towing our 1.4t camper, our non chipped 2.7l D4 does it quite well.

I can't imagine what the gearbox would be like long term towing 3.5t, don't think it would have a long lifespan.

Baz.

Originally Posted by Redback

I agree, I wouldn't even think about towing 3.5t all the time, yes I have towed 3.5t, but that was a one off necessity(broken daughters car) did it tow it well, yes it did, supprisingly well in fact, I'm happy towing our 1.4t camper, our non chipped 2.7l D4 does it quite well.

I can't imagine what the gearbox would be like long term towing 3.5t, don't think it would have a long lifespan.

Baz.

Given that the one time you towed a 3.5 ton trailer Baz with your D4 you found 'it did tow surprisingly well in fact' so what is the issue other than a concern for the longevity of the auto?

When Greg speaks about 3.5 being at the vehicles upper limit, well is it the vehicles real mechanical limit?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but far as I know 3.5 ton is almost an arbitrary limit. If you go much over 3.5 ton on a trailer then once you add in the tugs fully laden weight (depending on the tug) you aren't that far off of needing a truck license.

Terry, i think, from memory or just gossip, that some of the older disco's were actually rated to tow 4 tonne , but for some reason, legal perhaps, they got derated to 3.5 (?)

Originally Posted by chippy

Terry, i think, from memory or just gossip, that some of the older disco's were actually rated to tow 4 tonne , but for some reason, legal perhaps, they got derated to 3.5 (?)

The old D1's were rated to 4 tonne. But the D1 sure felt heavy weight behind it. It got pushed around, and really did not feel great with anything over 2 tonne.The D2 went down to 3.5 tonne but essentially had the same chassis....well looked the same underneath to the D1. The D2 handled a couple of tonne much easier than the D1....probably torque and slightly heavier.
Maybe it might be something to do with rego, adr's, etc sad to why it went down to 3.5 tonne.
But D4 does handle 3.5 tonne very well. You know the weight is behind, but it takes it in its stride. Anything with 500nms of torque or greater should be able to pull that weight well....provided everything else can handle it.
Brett....

hey Brett, yeah,

i reckon it was quite some time back now but i was looking at buying a big boat...i came across this monster trailer boat that weighed just heaps! right at the legal size limit to go on the roads

the guy was selling it as a pair, the boat and the Disco combined, kinda cheap if i remember right. at the time i wasnt sure why someone would do that but now its obvious, the disco was just so it could tow the big boat..nothing else probably could with an ordinary licence

I have towed a 3.5T van a fair bit with my 3.0L D4 it realy doesnt feel stressed when we tow our van. I also don't feel the need for more power.

My D4 also gets serviced a lot more because it tows. The transmission was serviced at 40000klm and a steel pan added at the time.

The one thing my D4 did wear out was the rear shocks these were replaced under warranty

Originally Posted by TerryO

Given that the one time you towed a 3.5 ton trailer Baz with your D4 you found 'it did tow surprisingly well in fact' so what is the issue other than a concern for the longevity of the auto?

When Greg speaks about 3.5 being at the vehicles upper limit, well is it the vehicles real mechanical limit?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but far as I know 3.5 ton is almost an arbitrary limit. If you go much over 3.5 ton on a trailer then once you add in the tugs fully laden weight (depending on the tug) you aren't that far off of needing a truck license.

Got one of them

Baz