Discovery Choice

Morning all,

I currently have a 1998 300tdi ES spec discovery. We only use the disco at weekends and we bought it to tow our caravan.

Anyway I have just returned from a weekend away and it got me thinking. Our caravan is 7.5m long and has an approximate weight of 1500kg. The disco tow's it no problem until we reach an incline and then the auto gearbox kicks in and the plod begins.

With the current increase in diesel costs, the attraction of having the diesel has wained somewhat.

My question is would I get a better towing capability from the petrol engine (which one would suit my needs)? and economy wise is there much in it ?

The hilly journey from Birmingham to Cirencester with the van on the back cost approx £50 in diesel round trip approx 200miles.

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark

Suggest you get a look at the Spring 2006 issue of Land Rover Owner International - there's a good feature on towing which only recommends the V8 Disco for towing if it has an LPG conversion. They suggest you will only get single-figure MPG otherwise.

Cheers

Mike

Thanks for that, I was thinking along the lines of an LPG converted beast.

Does the V8 tow better or is there nothing in it with a 1500kg on the back ??

Thanks

Mark

I had same dilemma about a month ago - I tow a mini digger for my job, I decided against the v8 as although it delivers considerably more power it does it much higher up the rev range, so harder to get too.
I decided the best bet was a Diesel and spend some money (£500 ish) on tuning / chipping it, albeit a manual for that extra control.
I have just got home havingtowed just over 2 tonnes home up some steep hills, had to start in low range to get going, but was doing 50 and rising by top, and once rolling managed to maintain over 60 on other hills - a different beast now.

imho the manual diesel is best choice for towing biggish loads.

the petrol auto must be the worst choice, poor mpg (single figures is not unknown), and all that wonderful power isnt where its needed.

and unless the gas conversion is done properly, you can have headaches for yrs.
you can buy a lot of diesel fuel for the gas equip costs.

Petrol may be cheaper, but the diesel will deliver more value for money.

I think you would end up with a new mortgage if you bought a V8 to tow.

I would look into some mods for your engine, good thread on here about EGR valve blanking, chipping etc... try these.

Stick with the diesel, and get an intercooler upgrade, plus the usual egr valve and fuel pump mods.
Unless you wanna change the Disco, in which case i could easily suggest a far superior vehicle for towing that van, a 2.5 TDS Frontera, 1996-1998 model, preferably a transglobe edition.

I had to make that very choice, as I tow a horse box with two heavy horses in it, all up weight of about 3 tons, on top of a loaded Disco. I used to have a 4.6 HSE range rover. It was excellent at towing, you almost didn't notice the trailer but the petrol cost was amazing. I tried a td5 disco and although it fine for towing at slow speed (below 40) once you get to a long hill, or an A road/dual carrige way, you start to notice the slow speed you are traveling at. I then tried a 4L LPG V8 Disco and although not a good as the range rover, it is very close. I can tow the whole rig easily at speed and up hills with no worries. Its an auto too. Because it finds the towing easier and on LPG, it probably costs less to run than a TD5. Being a Disco, I can afford to fix it unlike the P38.
I have to admit though, a freind has a chipped TD5 and that is very impressive, although his mpg suffers when he is towing.
I would like to try a 101 but I think my other half would have words with me if I got one.

Thanks for all the interest, much appreciated.

My Disco has the EGR blanking plate fitted and I have had the fuel pump adjusted at Je Engineering in coventry.

As I said above I have a 1998 300tdi ES Auto with aircon. What other mods would you recommend to aid the towing.

I have looked for chipping options but can't seem to find anything listed for my model.

Thanks again

Mark

turn off the aircon, will help on MPG and power...

Don't worry about chipping a 300 TDi, what you want is what Lenny1872 recommended, and that's a full size intercooler - the difference with even more fuelling is immense.