need more power 300TDi

My Disco is fabulous, but on a 1500mile trip around Scotland the only thing it needed more of is power.I done a full service B4 I left - all the filters and oil changed, the belt not due for 7000miles.
Flat out with the wind behind me going down hill i'm luckey to get 90mph(on a big private road of course ).
Turning the Air conditioning on drops the rpms by 300rpm at any speed with a drop in speed and pace.I don't think all 111 horses are all there.

Acceleration from 30mph to any higher there is no noticable thrust only more noise(it's an auto) and the needle slowly rotates up the gauge at a very leisurley pace.
I know it not a sports car, but being out paced buy transits and double decker buses is a bit much.
Its a 1999 - T plate auto 300tdi with 107,000miles on the clock and a full service history.
The engine is smooth and compression is within limits.

Get a turbo boost gauge and fit it.

If you don't get a steady 1 BAR boost from about 1600 revs up when you deck the GO pedal it needs sorted.

The turbo waste gate may be stuck open for example.

But 90 miles an hour in any LandRover that hasn't recently driven off a cliff is pretty good!

Do you know if there is a way of getting more boost from the turbo?

lockie said:

Do you know if there is a way of getting more boost from the turbo?

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200TDi's run slightly lower boosts than 300 TDI's (0.7bar if i recall) you can wind the wastegate arm in a slight bit on them there are guides out there for this as it involves some work its not as simple as it sounds.

Most of the searching i did for increasing boost on 300TDI's resulted in advice not to do it on the stock turbo as it already runs 1 bar!

Buy a boost gauge and see what your turbo is putting out as it is. Theres lots of simple mods to give better throttle response and get rid of flat spots without doing anything drastic to the turbo. An example would be EGR removal and cat removal. Search the site a bit and you should find some info!

i don't know how the auto compares to the manuel for top speed but my standard manuel 300 tdi 1997 with 88000mls will do about 105mph anytime i ask it to, ( i also use a big private road to try this)

My 200tdi rangerover has done over 90 in the past but i can't really see any point in worrying about top end speed in these type of vehicles,might be worth trying a manual to see if you find that any more responsive.

lockie said:

I don't think all 111 horses are all there.

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Being an auto it should actually be about 130 horses in there. from around 97 they fitted them with EFI (appologies for wrong terminology) on auto's so you can have it chipped. they have a similar or maybe even the same system as the TD5. i had a 300tdi auto before the one i have now and it was as flat as a pancake. Get youself an upgraded intercooler and a chip if you want to see a real difference.

How does one install a boost gauge.does it connect into the turbo or inlet manifold.
Should I remove the catalytic converter

Thanks to all for the advise

why not strap a rocket to the back, then you can go over the ton, catch a side wind and write it off killing bout 20 innocent road users at the same time

Lockie

How deep is your pocket, my mate has had his auto 300 tdi done by Twisted Performance and it is scary to drive. He recons he has had it well over 110mph but had to slow for the vibration it produced. Much too fast for me, but he thinks it is the dogs dangly bits. It picks up from low revs and just goes and goes, don't know if the auto box will last with the kind of power it is pushing out, he recons about 220 bhp. The downside is it cost him about £1200, but he did have a lot of work done.
I had my Td5 done up to about 170 bhp, quite enough for me, tows well at that and picks up from low revs very well.

Phil*

You will probably find that the 300 tdi won't make much over 1.2 BAR boost no matter how much tighter you set the waste gate rod.

Fit the boost gauge before touching it!