Possibly 'upsizing' to 3.9i auto

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sp33der

sp33der

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A Geordie in sunny Spain divvent ye knaa
Got a chance of purchasing a 1995 Disco 3.9i auto, what do the panel think of this idea? Just how thirsty will it be? How different will it be from my 300TDi and will it go up steep hills faster than 20mph?:) What should I look for apart from the usual stuff - anything different? Any worldly advice mucho appreciated! Apparently spent it's life in Saudi til 2004, has dual aircon but allegedly no rot. Did this model differ in any major ways from European models does anyone know? Comments comments comments please!:welcome2::D:cool:
 
If your 300 Tdi Disco only goes up hills at 20 then there's something wrong with it. Mine tows a caravn and we don't ever drop below 55 ish on the motorway .. though I guess it also depends on the hill when on lesser roads, we never have or had any issues with it's speed, towing or otherwise.
 
Thirsty??? reckon on high-teens fuel consumption unless you are super conservative with the right foot, then you could be in the 20s on a good run.

As for uphill, my 250k mile 200 tdi will haul its way up over the bridge here at 70 without any trouble, and thats steep enough that most drivers end up at 60 by the top, so I agree with Paul, either you are exagerating somewhat, or your 300 is seriously ill :)

V8 wont actually be much better once up to speed, its not that much more powerful than the oil burners, and still needs to be sitting round 3000rpm to get the best from it. It will however be quicker from the lights, quick enough to scare more than a few chav-saxos.
 
D1 disco's... 0 to 60 auto V8 10.8sec Tdi 18.9sec so a little bit faster, kick down at 70 mph and you will be doing 110 mph in no time. Modern hatch backs do 0-60 in a lot less time.
BHP V8 182, Tdi 112, so there's a lot of difference. V8's don't slow down going up hills and can do 120 mph down hills but then rev limiter then cuts in, how do i know that.
MPG, average for a good engine 18mpg.
 
Ta Discool, I'm quite concerned about fuel costs tbh but reeeeeeeeeally tempted by the extra power. Lurved me Disco for more than a year now, done miles and miles all over UK, down to Spain, back to UK, all over UK again and back down to Spain again now. Spain seems to consist mainly of hills and dodgy bumpy washed away roads (and MEGA storms...even as a geordie I've never seen so much rain as the last 2 or 3 weeks!) Somebody, tell me why I want to buy this big old thing!
 
sp33der said:
Ta Discool, I'm quite concerned about fuel costs tbh but reeeeeeeeeally tempted by the extra power. Lurved me Disco for more than a year now, done miles and miles all over UK, down to Spain, back to UK, all over UK again and back down to Spain again now. Spain seems to consist mainly of hills and dodgy bumpy washed away roads (and MEGA storms...even as a geordie I've never seen so much rain as the last 2 or 3 weeks!) Somebody, tell me why I want to buy this big old thing!
Click to expand...
cos its 8 pots of pure driving pleasure
 
sp33der said:
Ta Discool, I'm quite concerned about fuel costs tbh but reeeeeeeeeally tempted by the extra power. Lurved me Disco for more than a year now, done miles and miles all over UK, down to Spain, back to UK, all over UK again and back down to Spain again now. Spain seems to consist mainly of hills and dodgy bumpy washed away roads (and MEGA storms...even as a geordie I've never seen so much rain as the last 2 or 3 weeks!) Somebody, tell me why I want to buy this big old thing!
Click to expand...
you wunt worry bout fuel once you,ve sampled wot it can do;):D:D
 
I would like to drive to Portugal and back via France/Spain but as I priced the petrol for the trip as £1000 I can fly and sleep in a 4*Hotel for 2 weeks for that.

As Nathan said run on Gas but as i see in the forums it's not fit and forget, it does have it's problems.
 
discool said:
I would like to drive to Portugal and back via France/Spain but as I priced the petrol for the trip as £1000 I can fly and sleep in a 4*Hotel for 2 weeks for that.

As Nathan said run on Gas but as i see in the forums it's not fit and forget, it does have it's problems.
Click to expand...

yup gas does have its problems..... but they just melt away when you hear that v8 a roaring!!!!!
 
We've done the drive via Plymouth - Santander ferry, right down to south-eastern Spain than back across to Faro and more westward. Done that three times but not with the Disco, always with the company vans and our trailer.

Regarding the 3.9, we have had ours a while now and it has settled down to a reasonable co-existence, 18-20mpg toodling round, 14-16 on motorways, about the same on gas.

Gas is a must if petrol is at UK prices, I'd love to take it over to the 'States and run around over there on their cheap petrol!

As Discool says, the gas fitting and type of system will make or break the conversion, the best ones are the later injection systems where the engine has petrol injection to start with, rather than carbs.

Ours is a 1999 Thor injected V8 with Zavoli multipoint gas. We have twin side tanks which give us about 150 miles running out to the field to feed the nags or general motoring, on the trip to Scotland a few weeks ago we averaged a surprising 19mpg on both fuels, but then on a trip you are steady at one speed with little full-throttle work.

Compared with a diesel, I found the V8 fiddly to drive until I got used to it, but our Renault Trafic van with the 150hp engine will show it a clean pair of heels on almost any driving, mainly as it is nearly a ton lighter!

Peter
 
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