We are looking for a newer Discovery 1998 onwards and have about £10,000 to spend. Had a Discovery V8 for past 7 years, got large twin axle caravan plus some horrible kids. Any opinions on sticking with a V8 or going for diesel, and going for a late series 1 or early series 2 Discovery. Bruce has a preference for the V8 and manual gearbox, as this is what he knows and he's a bit set in his ways. I think that a diesel is worth looking at, so any comments would be appreciated!
Well of course you'll get better mileage with the diesel, I get 30mpg + on mine and it rarely drops below 28 unless I gun it round town on short hops. It'll tow just as well as the V8 I guess but it'll be noiseier and perhaps less responsive whether towing or not. Servicing is easier and probably cheaper although required more often - every 5k on mine. (1992 200 Tdi now with 200k miles on the clock) My engine has never missed a beat and they start really easily no matter what the weather. On the downside they always emit a puff of black smoke on startup and they are a bit gutless unless you tweak the diesel pump up a little - mine still passes MOT with the pump tweaked - but one is concious of not being as environmentally friendly as a petrol engine would be.
On balance I'd go again for the diesel, they are also much safer in terms of fire should a fuel line leak or similar. I guess you need to test drive one! TonyB
I've driven both regularly, and although the TD5 is of a similar power, I find the characteristics of the diesel much less friendly than the V8. The petrol model is smoother,and less 'eager', i.e. the turbo on the diesel gives good power, but it needs more gearbox work than the V8, so for towing, my preference is an LPG fitted V8i (although mine's carb) as ti's easier to set up the injection model for gas. You get almost diesel mileage, and V8 'feel'.
I don't know how you manage 30+ mpg, perhaps you live in the flatlands.
Round the hills, and in the traffic, around Sheffield and The Peak District I seem to get around 25, best 28, worst 21. So MPG obviously depends how where one lives and how one drives.
Or is there something wrong with mine. Disco Series II MY2000
Most of my trips are in excess of 20 miles, I rarely do short trips. I hardly ever exceed an indicated 75mph either. Usually only one in the car and little luggage. It's a 92 200 Tdi with 200k miles and I've not touched the engine since I got it at 124k. ( Apart from oil changes and a couple of water pumps and timing belts natch!)
I don't think hills have much to do with it. What goes up must come down, you burn more fuel going up but much less coming down per unit distance.
Had the Disco II a couple of months and have an overall average of
26.6, mixture of short trips into town (5 miles RT), shopping (50 miles RT) and half a dozen or so longer motorway cruises (>100miles single).
Driving style (light or heavy left foot) and type (stop/start or cruising) have a much greater effect on MPG than ordinary public road terrain IMHO. Of course if you are off roading that is a whole new ball game...
Disco II MY2001. It's an ES so all the toys, aircon (in "econ" mode), ACE, etc etc so probably at the top end of the weight which is around
We were both committed manual car drivers before buying our series II disco. We test drove an automatic 3 years ago and fell in love straight away. Would never think of driving a manual again. If you're after fuel economy consider the diesel though - the petrol is thirsty work and uses only premium unleaded which adds about 10c a litre (fuel in Sydney is around 96 cents a litre right now, so we pay around $1.06 a litre).
Early Series II Discos were notably weak up to about 2000rpm. Stalled a lot in town, and towing entailed a lot of clutch slip until you got to the magic
2000 figure. Mine was a 2001 manual; apparently the autos had a better fuel map, and the problem was addressed on later models. Brilliant engine on the motorway once you were up to speed, but a pain in the rear everywhere else. Swapped it for an older V8 P38 and never regretted it. The Disco wasn't that economical either - about 25mpg overall against 17 for the V8. I'd advise a test drive - with a couple of tonnes on the back - before you commit yourself. If you do go for it, get one with SLS - brilliant.
Lots of stop go motoring round here, and many journeys of around 4 to 5 miles I have seem to think that the mpg decreases dramatically over about 65 mph on the motorway. Haven't towed yet, the caravan comes next month. Series II is heavy at 2880 Kg, Aircon, SLS. 7 seats etc may be that's it.
in article snipped-for-privacy@raefell.demon.co.uk, hugh at hugh@[127.0.0.1] wrote on 15/2/05 10:18 pm:
No he's had auto's - various models of jaguar cars. Never had to tow a caravan to accomodate 2 adults and four kids when we had them. I think his preference for the manual was that was what we'd got, and what he was used to.
Any way thanks for the advice. We went to look at a 2000 Discovery GS model today in Epsom Green - auto V8, 1 owner with full service history, just had
60,000 mile service and we've decided to have it.
Got to get rid of the surplus vehicles as it looks like a garage forecourt outside our house! The RR is for sale(will post further details in the morning) as will be the Series 3, once we've got the half shaft sorted out, and replaced the carb which Bruce has "borrowed" to put on the lightweight. MOT needs sorting out on it too.
Going to keep the other Discovery for now as we've got to transfer the registration plate, its just had an engine overhaul and we've had it a long time and are quite attached to it.
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