Thread: Ford may have put the last nail in the coffin for the defender.

CUBIC INCHES

Yeah - on paper the new engine appears to be lacking - but drive it before you pass judgment - it lacks nothing - it is the perfect engine for a Defender.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

CUBIC INCHES
- you always want more engine capacity for a bit of grunt pushing around your D130 and all your camping gear.
Where do they think that 2.4 litres on 4 cylinders is going to get them when competing with the Japanese marques?
They should do a Santana and put on an extra 2 cyl and make it 3.6 litres.

Diana

With a variable vane turbo, you've got all those extra cubic inches of air, they're just packed into a smaller space.
Being variable vane, expect a lot of torque at not much rpm too.

There is a replacement for displacement, it's called boost.

Originally Posted by Dougal

....There is a replacement for displacement, it's called boost.

Dougal

Boost has it's place and allowed diesel engines to meet some of the higher emission controls in Europe and North America, although in doing so it puts a little more stress on the engine, however when is 2.4 litres of boosted capacity the equal of the Nissan 4.2 litres of boosted capacity for example.

What I don't really understand is why didn't they standardise the TDV6 across the whole range of LR products or at least offer it as a third option?

Diana

What I don't really understand is why didn't they standardise the TDV6 across the whole range of LR products or at least offer it as a third option?

I reckon that the TdV6 is a very expensive low volume premium engine vs the transit which is very large volume therefore cheap.
In Uk nobody cares about highway performance and fuel is much more expensive than here.
Another example of the Japanese caring about Australia(V8 diesel, large tanks ) and the Poms not caring at all.
Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I reckon that the TdV6 is a very expensive low volume premium engine vs the transit which is very large volume therefore cheap.
In Uk nobody cares about highway performance and fuel is much more expensive than here.
Another example of the Japanese caring about Australia(V8 diesel, large tanks ) and the Poms not caring at all.
Regards Philip A

Phillip

I would tend to agree with you, however adding the TDV6 as an option to the Defender range would require only minimal additional tooling and increase the volume of what you describe as a very expensive premium engine. It would be like the Series 3 Land Rover 2.3 petrol being sold at the same time as they were selling Series 3 Stage 1 V8's 2 versions of essentially the same Land Rover.

I would be satisfied to buy a 2008 Defender 130 TDV6 at a premium price, after all experience is showing us that the Defenders are holding their value in the long term far better than the Discoveries.

I guess it is a question we should ask the new owners next year.

Diana

I just purchased a Nissan Cab Chassis for work. Had a quote on the six litre diesel, but when purchasing could only get the new common rail 3.0L 4cyl. So I drove it and it goes fine. They are not a patch on the TdV6. Still they go fine and this one will cover most of Western QLD heavily loaded. My 300Tdi does not go quite as well but does go anywhere I wish and heavily loaded. I guess if I had a larger motor I would still be looking for more!! They are all Ok, in my opinion.

I guess it does not matter as the 6cyl is not available now.

Originally Posted by solmanic

2.4l 4 cylinders suits me fine.

Less fuel consumption - which people ARE going to start caring about more and more, and only 4 x most of the complicated stuff to go wrong.

Less fuel consumption, not necessarily. I am quite happy with the performance of the Td5 most of the time, and off road the engine size really is about the least important factor.

Towing is a different matter though. When I am loaded up with the camper trailer on the Td5 really is working very hard to get everything moving. I am sure a larger motor would use the same amount of fuel because it's not working as hard.