Thread: V8 ot TDi your learned opinion please

G'day Mick,

Interesting question, and one that I am also going through. I currently have a 97 TDi auto with 140,000 kms. I have had it for a year. I have had no problems with the diesel, other than normal maintenance issues (broken fan belt, cracked fuel line etc). I love the economy - 10.5 km/litre, or about 26 mpg arounbd town and highway (little difference ). It is sluggish off the mark for the first second , but once the turbo kicks in is very zippy. Diesel is a bit noisy, bit not too bad. Torgue is good, but does slow on the hills. My dielmma is the same as yours - when diesels break they are expensive. I will follow the response with interest
cheers
Dave

hmmmmm.....

Same question I think. Have the V8, love the power and the sound, although as far as V8s go it is still a bit gutless really. Sick of the fuel bills, so seriously considering upgrading to the TD5 diesel.

If I was doing much towing I would go the V8 and just wear the fuel bill, coz i worry a bit about the 2.5ltr if worked too hard.

Damn,,.,,,..,,.,.,did a double post.

Everything froze as I hit submit. Good for the post count though! 8O [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Got a mate( dont even think about it Ferno :wink: ) who has just traded his 86 rangie in on a 97TDi, He is VERY happy with its performance.

I dont think the small boat will effect the TDi all that much,

as soon as you hit the dirt the TDi is as good if not better than the 8

having said that----

If you can afford the fuel, go with the V8.

If I could- would I change my purchase 5 years and 140,000klms ago?

I really dont know (sorry Mick! ops: )

I really havent driven a diesel long enough to compare.

I am more than happy with BUB91
( even if it did throw a wheel bearing on the weekend :wink: )

I went through all this when I got my V8.

Took out a 97 tdi manual and it was great around town, nice pick up and the lag wasnt to bad either.
Out on the highway it got up to 110 and stayed there for as long as I wanted it to, but if Iput the foot down it had to think about it for a bit before acting to pass anything.

NOW THE V8

Around town it's not a lot differant( I went with a auto v8) but out on the highway WOW

Get's up to 110 and will hold it all day long, will also pass a 4 trailer road train very easyly, hardly breaks a sweat.
In the sand the v8 has a slight advantage as well.

I like my v8 and no matter which one you get you will be happy with it.

Just ran some numbers. I spend $50 - $60/week on fuel with the TDi at 26 mpg. Seems the V8's get about 13 mpg (around town) so my fuel bill will increase $50 - $60/week, or $2500 - $3000 a year. Over 5 years, $15,000. That would probably pay for a fair amount of diesle repairs? But maybe not. Havent had it long enough to know. Whichever way you go, cars will keep you broke!
Dave

G'Day Mick,

This is the age old decision isn't it? Up until this car, I've always had petrol, both in road cars and 4WDs, although never a V8. I specifically bought a diesel this time and am very happy with it. In my view the fuel economy more than makes up for any concerns over reliability.

The Tdi will pull a small boat easily - we pulled a huge off-road camper trailer which was FULL and had 6 people in the car, for 10,000 km across the northwest with no problems at all.

Dave pretty much summed up how my car behaves and BB also hit it on the head with the diesel having to think about passing things at 110. My Tdi can be frustrating on a hot day with the 'air' on as you'd swear it had about 1000 cc's under the bonnet, but I still love it. I'm often passed by V8s but I don't care - I relax, turn up the CD player and enjoy the ride.

Most times, if you keep the Tdi between about 2.2 to 2.5 K on the tacho in 5th it'll hum along beautifully, returning somewhere between 26 and 29 mpg (with an all time high of 31 mpg, just after I got it). It has great engine breaking and a wonderful low range setup (it's really 'low'), inspiring a lot of off-road confidence.

I love being able to drive 750 km without filling up (most times.. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] ) and I like the fact that diesel is a lot less flammable than petrol. It also means I can do smaller trips without carrying Jerry cans. If you're out in the remote bush, and have a petrol 'problem' (eg you run out for whatever reason) - many Stations don't even have petrol, but they've all got diesel. However, if you plan your trips around places where they do sell to the public, they'll always have petrol.

My mate tows a reasonably large caravan behind his Series 2 Td5 and is VERY impressed. Pulls it well AND gives good fuel economy - still gets 23 mpg.

For what it's worth, that is my 'take' on things...

Regards,

Rob.

I've had both. A 3.9 V8 Disco with an auto, and I currently have a Tdi Defender. Now I know that the Landrover V8 is not particularly powerful, in fact by Australian standards, it's not very powerful at all, but by comparison to a Tdi, there's a big difference. If you can afford the fuel, the V8 is vastly superior on the blacktop and in the sand. The Tdi, especially in a Defender, feels quite inadequate in sand, and 110 kph on the blacktop feels like you're ringing its neck.

On rocky trails and tight climbs the Tdi is the better choice. It has much better low speed control and a good dollop of torque to at least match the V8. Engine braking is much better too. You can really feel the Tdi holding the vehicle back on steep descents. I know my V8 was auto, but even in 1st low, it ran away very quickly.

If you're towing anthing of any weight, especially up hills, the the Tdi will be laborious. I think it simply doesn't have enough power for the size/weight of a Disco or Defender.

I've kept quite careful records of fuel use for both vehicles. Over 6 years the V8 auto returned an average (with little variation) of 14mpg around town, and 19mpg on the highway. I did get 20.5mpg once on a trip from Adelaide to Bathurst in cool weather, no A/C use, lightly loaded and keeping under 100kph. Never repeated it though. The Tdi Defender averages 28mpg for me around town. The worst I've ever done is 24mpg and on the open road I get quite a variation depending on the speed. Normally 30mpg cruising at 100kph, but dropping to 80kph has improved this to 34mpg and raising it to 110kph drops me back to 28mpg. It's all to do with the aerodynamics I think, but I'm in a Defender so a Disco should do better.

The mainshaft wear problem exists on both V8's and Tdi's both R380's and LT77's, right up until Landrover finally corrected it (late '96 I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong). The problem was rectified by changes to the Transfer box and the serial number that the change first took effect is on one of these forums somewhere (maybe LRE), if you can't find it shout and I'll look it up. The problem doesn't seem to manifest itself with the autos, and by all accounts there seems to be little to go wrong them. Certainly the auto (& V8 for that matter), of my Disco was absolutely trouble free for the 160,000km that I had it and was still going strong when I traded it.

There. I've probably confused you more than ever now. :roll:

Best of luck with your choice.

Paul