Opinions on discovery 300tdi with auto box?

Hi, Now I'm seriously looking for a late (95-99) 300tdi discovery (after realising a TD5 was really out of my price range, and having found a buyer for my 110) There are a few around (I'm a bit limited by my location in NW Highlands) for not much money and several are automatics. Does anyone have experiance of the auto box with the

300tdi? I would prefer a manual box, but feel I shouldn't discount the autos, as several are high spec with low miles etc. Usage - generally local road use, no motorways, sometimes with 2 ton trailer, off road use limited to very muddy tracks & fields with said trailer attached. Is there a big MPG difference between the auto & man versions? Also can someone remined me of the favourite rust spots on these discoverys (are they Disco 1 or 2's?) Thanks alot! Andrew
Reply to
Andrew T.
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In message , Andrew T. writes

My R-reg 300tdi auto Disco has been absolutely brilliant.

Previously had a manual 200tdi 110, which had to go because of knee problems on the clutch. Got up to 33mpg with that, get between 24 and 30 mpg with the Disco. At every fill-up I record the mpg. The record was

31mpg. I do drive fairly conservatively as other car was auto petrol Omega which varied from 17.5 to 30 mpg. That had to be recovered 3 times in last year. Good riddance - but replaced by manual Skoda and very nervous about dual mass flywheel! which feels beyond flimsy.

The Disco is loaded to the top with boat repair sort of stuff - jacks, wood blocks, tarpaulin etc. All very heavy. I have used it to tow our

2.5 ton boat round fields and occasionally to tow fishing boats in the similar place. I don't tow heavy things far, though. I like the auto for towing.

Compared with the Omega (had 3 - only the last one was crap) the Disco auto feels very slushy, which, with the turbo lag, makes shooting into a gap at a roundabout hairy. You soon get used to it and the other drivers' melodious honking, though.

Others will advise better about rust. I need to sort out the holes, and there are crunchy bits.

Reply to
Bill

Thanks Bill, it's good to hear some first hand info, I guess my only worry with the auto box is the expense if something fails compared to the very common R380, the only auto I ever had was a LR 2a with V8 and Jag auto box, it was very nice to drive. Andrew

Reply to
Andrew T.

Maybe I should mention the one other hangup I had when hunting for the Disco. Our boat trailer has a hole in a 1 inch steel plate to take the pin of the towhitch, and is quite high off the ground. I tried a couple of auto V8 gas conversion Discos and was worried by the way they rocked on the springs when simulating reversing to pick up the trailer. I'm not brilliantly accurate and point a webcam (connected to a netbook) at the hitch and whatever knock-away pin support I bodge when coupling up on my own.

My 300tdi Disco is definitely much firmer and steadier than the V8's, so the problem doesn't exist. Maybe it was only in my mind, or maybe it's something to check for. The auto gearbox is great for coupling up and rough ground towing.

I've had 5 auto cars and the auto Disco and never yet had a gearbox problem. The cars were all traded in at around 200k except the Princess which had to be scrapped when the heater matrix blew, the garage took the dash to bits and then couldn't get it back together. The last Omega was felled by ludicrous engine electronics and had some bizarre electronic interlocks and other features, and the 'new' Skoda seems just as eccentric. The Mk 1 Disco is a lot better than these for simplicity.

Today I refuelled, so I have the book beside the PC to do the litre gallon conversion. The last 7 mpg figures are below. Where it says snow we were using the Disco exclusively on the untreated potholes round here taking a nearly housebound relative to the supermarkets, often running engine and heater while we waited outside. What can women be doing inside a Marks Simply Food for 40 minutes plus? 5 mins is enough to drive me suicidal.

29.89 25.96 20.84 ice + snow 22.13 snow 20.37 snow 23.56 snow 25.19.
Reply to
Bill

Thanks again Bill, just the kind of info I like to hear, and also for the mpg figures, not bad for such a big vehicle with auto box. Andrew

Reply to
Andrew T.

Reply to
Badger

You mean veg oil at around 60p/l instead of road diesel at the 120p/l it has shot up to in the last month. Darling only accounts for a penny of the

10p rise since late Feb. 20 Feb 2010 1.099 23 Feb 2010 1.099 06 Mar 2010 1.080 11 Mar 2010 1.139 18 Mar 2010 1.149 24 Mar 2010 1.159 31 Mar 2010 1.169 06 Apr 2010 1.189

Most cars, if they can even pull that much safely in the first place, would be a tad sluggish with 3 tonnes. Hum can a Disco pull that much I thought it was 2.5 tonnes?

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I've just reached for my handbook

It tells me for the 300 TDI model

Trailers with overrun bakes 3500KG

4 wheel trailers with coupled brakes 4000 Kgs

( whatever those are )

MPI models ( whatever they are ) a lot less

And still trying...................to learn

;-))))))))))

DieSea

Reply to
DieSea

I have owned the 300Tdi Disco auto. I then made the mistake of flogging that for around ZAR20 000.00 or about tupence - to you lot and bought a Disco TD5 auto thinking that I would need more power to tow my water skiing boat. Well the extra power of the TD5 is handily offset by the extra bulk. My licensing mass on the Tdi was 1914Kg and from memory in the region of 2300Kg for the TD5. Both were base spec so no extra air springs to break and carry around the country side.

In my opinion they were both poor at towing. The problem was that there was a huge jump between lock up third and lock up forth. Once everything had locked up, they both pulled very well on the freeway, but then when the road started going up, it would carry on pulling, but if it shifted down a gear, it would be screaming (well relatively for a oil burner.) I must confess that after a few rebuilds, I tended to drive both very conservatively, and would be happy to just chug slowly up a hill at what ever speed they wanted to go. On the straights however no problems. When driven one up, it was perfect.

I still think the auto is a better option that the manual, you just to plan not to rush if you are towing. Not sure on UK tow laws, but here in South Africa we can tow at the speed limit of 120Km/h. I am presently between landrovers driving a poxy 4Lt ford ranger, that's sole redeeming feature is the ability to tow at around 110km/h up hill and down.

PS the reason I am in the ford was that the TD5 head let go, and locally at least that was going to be a R50 000 repair on a car only worth about R80 000 so I had to leat her go. This caused some domestic friction so hence lying low with the ford until the air cools and then will be on the lookout for a V8 of some description.

Cheers Stephen

Reply to
Fanie

No lockup in 3rd with the earlier ZF4 as fitted to the 300TDi, only the later electronically controlled boxes had the lockup on 3rd as well as 4th - as fitted to TD5, DII and P38.

I agree on that - no faffing about with a clutch and jerky gearchanges with the snatch in the transmission.

50mph (80kph) on single-carriageway, 60mph (96kph-ish) on dual-carriageway and motorways, when towing with a private vehicle under 3500kg MAM.

Hmmm.... in the same way that a scammel explorer goes everywhere (I mean everywhere - through walls, fields, trees, buildings etc) at 40mph - unstoppable but without any form of comfort! Hehehe. Badger.

Reply to
Badger

Hi Badger, Thanks for the reply, good to hear about the auto not being too bad, I'm leaning towards an auto, simply because I'm lazy and the roads around here need many gear changes (except in the V8 where I just stayed in 4th all the time), I'm having alot of trouble finding a discovery around here though, I've got 2.5k to spend, want a late

300tdi, preferably less than 100k miles, good body and chassis. There are many to choose from down south, but virtually none in Scotland. Andrew
Reply to
Andrew T.

Sounds like the opportunity for a southerner holidaying in Scotland to do a delivery, June near Glencoe any good?

AJH

Reply to
andrew

hmmm, glencoe is close to me, June a bit late, I'm going down near Manchester this week to look at one, thanks for the offer though.

Reply to
Andrew T.

On or around Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:14:57 +0100, "Badger" enlightened us thusly:

There's a huge jump between 4LU and 3 though, as a downshift under power at

50+

from what I recall, the last of the auto TDis had EDC and a bit of a power boost, which would be welcome, although you can retune the mechanical pump anyway...

stock TD5, especially an early one, *has* got more power but only at 2500 revs plus. Chipping it is well worthwhile and if I wanted to tow more than about a ton regularly I'd say it was essential, it suffers with the usual LR problem of chronically underpowering the diesel models. About the only ones this doesn't apply to are the latsest RRs and discos, the 2.7 V6 is not that impressive stock, bearing in mind the weight's gone up closer to 3 tonnes.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

I drive a 1998 Disco 300 TDi auto. Bought it in 2001 with 35 k km on the clock (it now has covered 135 k km). We used to tow a fairly heavy Knaus Eurostar, which we =91let go=92 once we realized caravaning was not for us. The autobox never gives a peep when towing the caravan or my dad=92s trailer overloaded with building rubble. Though the Disco 1 auto with (or without) caravan is not fast by any means. I average 10,5 km/ l, about 30 mpg: 36 mpg on long hauls (I did manage an incredible 42 mpg once, though), 24 mpg when towing the hefty Knaus.

Biggest problem so far has been leaking sunroofs, which has been corrected. Otherwise it=92s a reliable old lump. I love it. I wouldn=92t know what to replace it with. Suiting my budget, that is.

Regards, Richard

Reply to
Richard

Thanks alot Richard, hopefully going to look at one on Sunday. I realise they are not quick... that doesn't bother me, as long as it can do 65-70 on the A9 to keep ahead of the trucks on the uphill sections. Andrew

Reply to
Andrew T.

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