300Tdi Auto - what to look for

Our 3.9i Discovery is converted to LPG. It does about 10 mpg around town and

13 MPG on a run. Seems the same on gas or petrol. We have two underslung tanks with a filling capacity of 58 litres which gets us a bout 130 miles. We went from Kent to Cornwall this summer and had no probs finding filling stations, we print a list of stations and keep in the car. Our last 3.9i Range Rover (not LPG) did about 18 mpg and our 3.5 90 does about 20 mpg on road (off road its single figures). Personally I would never have a diesel, just love the V8's, thats my opinion! Richard

On or around Sun, 28 Nov 2004 13:32:08 -0000, "Autolycus" enlightened us thusly:

mind, you can't often do that IME - they mostly don't do the cover I want anyway.

He's actually claiming 145bhp, nearer 200bhp for the TD5. So not quite V8 power, but still a useful bit of extra go. That seems to be just the intercooler upgrade though - there are other things that can be done vis a vis the exhaust I guess.

Also

do similar stuff.

On or around Sun, 28 Nov 2004 15:16:01 -0000, "StaffBull" enlightened us thusly:

However, the number of LPG places is still increasing, and I've rarely had problems recently.

You should note that "Autolycus" spent a lot of time towing a big trailer - his mpg figures are thus on the low side. I don't know what system he had, mind.

There's a good, but not cheap (about 800 quid, I should think, by the time it's fitted), option to increase tank space - remove the petrol tank and fit a gas tank (80l which holds about 64l), and an aluminium extra petrol tank inside the rear wing, which holds about 8 gallons of petrol as a reserve - enough for about 120 miles, or more if driven carefully.

the big tank together with say twin 35s would give you a total usable tankage of about 120l, which is more than the petrol tank holds, and which on mine would get me about 340 miles. A 3.9, not towing and driven tidily, would get a bit more.#

on a decently-converted 3.9, running closed loop, you should be able to get

15 mpg, mebbe more, provided you don't get silly with the loud pedal. Should get about 180 miles on the 2x35 tanks alone, which is around what mine gets from the 80l tank, doing about 13 mpg.

The led gauge on this one is actually quite good, but I tend to use the tripmeter mostly. Part of the thing with gauges is making sure the gauge on the tank matches the one on the dash... there are quite a number of different resistances.

On or around Sun, 28 Nov 2004 19:29:03 +0000, Steve Taylor enlightened us thusly:

expensive :-)

nah, seriously, I believe the bloke knows his stuff.

bigger intercooler, more boost, turn up the fuel, perhaps tinker with the timing a bit.

Thanks for that Tim. Hmm. Whats wrong with nipping down the breakers and fitting some ex-commercial intercooler ? Mine is going in a 101 Ambi.

Any point polishing the ports on the (200) Tdi - mine is now in very, very small pieces ready to be rebuilt so anything that can eke more out that I can do now, I may as well.

Steve

People Hi,

Since I have some free time I considered it would be a nice way to spend it adding a few thoughts on the subject of V8 v. Tdi and how to tweak your Tdi

regarding V8 and Tdi engines A V8 engine is almost always more fun to drive and especially if we are speaking for 3.9 or larger capacity , Efi or carburated with a good system (see weber four barrels) . But a Tdi is more economical on fuel and far better when asked to be used under dump or extremely wet conditions. IF tweaked a Tdi feels almost as fast as a standard 3.5 Efi engine or a slightly out of tune 3.9 Efi or properly carburated one.

Tweaking the Tdi.

There are several companies and persons selling intercoolers, hybrid turbochargers, chargecoolers, tweaking the fuel pump and changing exhaust systems with larger bore, more freely flowing variants and last but not least swapping air filter elements with more freely flowing ones or changing the air induction system (air filter housing) with different ones. Personal experience with fitting a full frontal area intercooler bought from Allard, a hybrid turbocharger from Torque Development Engineering, a RamAir air filter element from John Craddock and tweaking the fuel pump following the instructions from Allard and later from the site who everybody knows (feel free to ask for it and I post the URL but I think everybody knows it by now) had spectacular results and up to now (since 1996 when I started modifying the car) seems to have done no harm to the longevity of the engine. The power is calculated to around 160 bhp without changing the exhaust system which reportedly gives a few ponies more and more importantly better torque and at a lower and broader rpm range.

Another thing that has recently been introduced is the VORTEX exhaust system which essentialy comprises of different resonators installed instead of the standard factory ones. Those units are in fact accelerators of the exhaust gases therefore reducing backpressure and thus increasing the velocity of the exhaust and lowering the fuel/air mixture decreasing fuel consumption and emissions and increasing performance on the same time. I have not tested it myself but LR magazines having tested it report positive comments on all the above positive and negative results on performance and consumption/emissions respectively.

What my choice would be? A nicely tuned Tdi engine with a good ICE system playing a V8 recording (kidding)

Take care Pantelis

How much difference?

I've though about removing the cat from my 110. Paddocks list a section of exhaust without the cat and I've thought about fitting that instead.

It's only 22 quid too so I'm very tempted.

Is de-catting a 300Tdi likely to affect things come MOT time?

On or around Mon, 29 Nov 2004 19:38:01 -0000, "StaffBull" enlightened us thusly:

Do they actually test dieselcats, or do they just get a smoke test the same as ordinary diesels?

It's not really a cat is it? Isn't it an Oxydiser or something? And, in answer to your question, no they just smoke test them.

On or around 29 Nov 2004 20:36:24 GMT, "Simon Atkinson" enlightened us thusly:

in that case, I'd pull it and tune it properly so it doesn't smoke. Should pass easily.

Tweaks to our TDi have paid off, it's going very nicely and returning over

32 mpg average, whereas before it was doing about 29-30.

Should do - as long as it's in a decent state of tune. I removed mine and blocked off the EGR and it made a fair difference.

32mpg is not bad at all. Especially as you live in the wilds (IIRC) so I suspect that most of your driving is not along main roads and motorways.

I reckon I'm gonna try removing the CAT and blanking off the EGR then.

Paddocks are about to get a large sum of money from me for wheels/tyres and a vacuum pump so I may as well get the non cat section of exhaust too as its only 22 quid.

I can vouch for the quality of this aftermarket upgrade.

JJF did my 200tdi a few years ago. It was somewhat alarming and really pissed of some kids at the roundabout by the Sheffield United ground once - worth it just for that alone...