land rover discoverys

[propdinger]

im looking at buying a disco for towing with and it has to be auto seeing the wife will use it as well. i can only afford a V8 auto at the moment anyone who runs one can you tell me how they are on fuel please. i know fuel is going up and all but not really an issue as i need a tow vehicle that can tow 3tonne for less than $12000
any advice on the running (fuel l/h) costs and how they are for reliability


thanks
jeff

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

Ausfish has no peers for fishing stuff

for Landrover stuff without the guff go here

http://www.aulro.com/index.php

no rubbish, down to earth advice, facts & figures from blokes that really know.

chris

[NeilD]

The auto is the choice for towing. From All accounts pretty bullet proof. The manual has a few weaknesses. Series 1 & 2 Disco's petrols are pretty fuel hungry but are good for towing. They are good for a lot of K's if well maintained. Check out the site Chris mentioned. They are the Landy Guru's.
It could be worth thinking about the TD's as you save on fuel and rego with the smaller donks.

Neil

[Big_unit]

Sorry to cut in here, I am after a Land Rover. Does anyone know a good site to find one for sale ? I have looked at carpoint, trading post and a couple of the other more common sites. Any info would be useful.

Cheers
James

[propdinger]

i would of looked at a tdi but the boat being 2400kg with a light load might be abit slow on highway my father has a td5 and thats great but i cant afford one atm just bought a big arse boat and shed and renos so wife would kill me :o ;D


thanks for the site chris
and the neil

james so far i have been looking at carpoint and trading post etc i am going to the auctions aswell to see if i can afford a better vehicle for less (not holding my breath) its hard as most of the cars i want to look at are atleast 1-2hours away and look good in a pic but not in person. have grown up with landrovers cant remember dad having anything else and never had a bad one YET :-X (touch wood)

[Big_unit]

Ive been to the auctions near the airport and the Dealers get to pick the eyes out of them before Public Auctions. I couldnt find one that was acceptable and I aint that fussy. Although you never know your luck on a rainy day.

Cheers
James

[NeilD]

Just keep looking and be quick to jump when you see a good one. I got mine through Carsales. It was a trade in at Southside Landrover. I would drop them a line as to what you are looking for. They were getting a few in as people trade up to series 3's.

Neil

[Coke]

G'day

I have the 2003 Disco v8. Fuel consumption is fairly high - About 13ltr / 100 ks. BUT WHAT A VEHICLE.

The diesel will give you better consumption but, for the difference in price you can buy an awful lot of premium petrol. I have had most of the others incuding the 3ltr Patrol & I think this Disco is the best in all departments.

As for where to get one, I would recomend Consign- A - Car on the Gold Coast [I think they are in Brissy as well]. They take private vehicles on consignment and you con bargain the hell out of the owners.

Best of luck in your search
Cheers
Coke

[SURF_SNIPER]

Tdi's can be tweaked very easily and simply to match and outperform a td5.

simply add a straight throuh exahaust, and adjust the fuel pump which is majorly detuned ( same fuel pump that is used in the 7litre ford f trucks ) cost approx $300 bucks for exhaust and $100 bucks to recalibrate fuel pump.

press pedal and eat hills, simple

or

buy a td5, chip it , exhaust and bigger intercooler and you will blow away v8 comodores, trust me. cost approx $4000

did these mods to my tdi and made a massive improvement in tourque and power. a standard tdi will pull 2-3 tonne no probs all day every day ( least in a defender anway, diferent gearing in the disco's )

Drew

[NeilD]

Drew, what does this do to the fuel economy? I currently get around 9l/100km in a mix of city/gateway driving out of my auto TDI disco.
The new landy petrols must be better than the old ones. My old County V8 was around 20l/100km

[SURF_SNIPER]

my tdi diesl defender with these mods is still aprox 10- 11 L per 100Ks. hasnt realy changed the economy side of it that much ( not hardly noticable ) and i was running 34 inch tall tyres ( now 33's ) it has help a greta deal to turn the bigger tyres and there is a huge difference in tourque now from standard.

i did these mods about 40 000 Ks ago and havent had a prob.

[bidkev]

Researched the landies and am surprised that despite their high towing capacity the ball mass is very low in comparison (150kg max).

As there is 7% weight at my draw bar (of a total towing weight of 2500kg = 175kg) then that would exclude the landie when looking for something to pull my rig.

Now the later NM Pajero has only a 2500kg towing capacity but a ball mass of 250kg?

Seems strange, that the landie can pull more but "lift" less, and that the paj can pull less but lift more. Is this something to do with suspension?

cheers

kev

[SURF_SNIPER]

Are we talking disco's or defenders ?
Is this a tow hitch issue? because landrovers ( defenders ) have the heaviest load carrying capacity ( 130 with twin rear coils ) then any other vechicle on the market, not sure of the f trucks capacities though. will check up on this, doubt a pajero could out perform a defender in this catergory, maybe the discovery though.

[bidkev]

Are we talking disco's or defenders ?
Is this a tow hitch issue? because landrovers ( defenders ) have the heaviest load carrying capacity ( 130 with twin rear coils ) then any other vechicle on the market, not sure of the f trucks capacities though. will check up on this, doubt a pajero could out perform a defender in this catergory, maybe the discovery though.

Mate, go here to get the picture up till 2001
http://www.4wdworld.com.au/tipstricks/weights_4wd.htm

You'll see the NM paj series has a 2500 pull with a 250 draw. I've got an earlier paj :'(

cheers

kev

[MIKOS]

Propdinger,
My old man has a 91 2 door discovery v8 it returns about 17l per 100km on the highway sitting on about 110kmh.He had a range rover as well and he swears by them/the 3.5lt v8 is virtually bulletproof.He can easily tow a pig trailer loaded with another vehicle and it easily sits on 100-110 allday.In my eyes they are great value for money.sorry toyota lovers but i cannot justify spending twice the amount of money to get something that has so many less options and creature comforts.The chassis I have also heard is based on a Defender.Youll love it. ;)

MIKOS

[propdinger]

i just bought one this arvo its a 1997 model disco 3.9ltr v8i so it will pull it no worries. the fuel side of things most say around 15-17ltrs/ 100kms so not the best but byfar not the worst . the book states 4000kg :o but doesnt say ball mass in the book.

cheers
jeff

[bidkev]

i just bought one this arvo its a 1997 model disco 3.9ltr v8i so it will pull it no worries. the fuel side of things most say around 15-17ltrs/ 100kms so not the best but byfar not the worst . the book states 4000kg :o but doesnt say ball mass in the book.

cheers
jeff


Jeff, look at this http://www.4wdworld.com.au/tipstricks/weights_4wd.htm It says only 150kg

Congrats mate. Wish I could find something meself :-/........it'll happen :D

cheers

kev

[NeilD]

I find it hard to believe that a Disco has the same ball wt as a Defender. Their rear suspension is quite different.

Neil

[SURF_SNIPER]

can someone please explain or give a definition " what is ball weight ? "

as i cant belive a subaroo outback is a better tow vechicle the a defender ::)

[bidkev]

can someone please explain or give a definition " what is ball weight ? "

as i cant belive a subaroo outback is a better tow vechicle the a defender ::)

It's the downward pressure exerted at the tow ball. You can pull something weighing 3 ton but depending where the axle is, on what you're pulling, that downward pressure could be more or less than recommended.

I have 175kg downward pressure at my tow ball. If I moved the trailer axle forward I would reduce that pressure and could then (possibly) use a vehicle with a lower ball spec. Unfortunately, in practice it doesn't work because the trailer then becomes unstable at speed.

Like you, I am gobsmacked at the specs I posted and I have googled and searched but I can't find anything contradicting them. Went to a Landie dealer and couldn't even find the ball mass spec in a Discovery or Defender handbook.........just the allowable towing weight.

In the end, I've bought a Prado that has a towing capcity of 2500kg and ball mass of 250kg.

cheers

kev

[Coke]

Have checked the books on my '03 Disco - can't find any ref to "ball mass"

[Coke]

Correction!
Have now found relavent information.
For the 03 petrol v8 the following applies:

MAX TRAILER WEIGHT MAX VEHICLE LOAD MAX TOW HITCH LOAD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2000KG All vehicles loaded to gross vehicle 150kg
weight

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coil spring rear suspension Driver,and one passenger 250kg
vehicles 3500kg


For Self levellig rear suspension, three passengers or equiv - 250kg

The trick is, [for a mechanical idiot such as myself whose expertise extends to roughly determining where the ignition key goes] accurately defining the "tow hitch load". Perhaps the old bathroom scales on a stack of bricks?

Hope this might help.

Cheers
Grahame

[SURF_SNIPER]

that is still not a great deal of weight. 150 kg is me + two bags of cement standing on the back bumber