Td4 Auto/Manual economy on motorways (FL1) ??

Hi peeps..

I'm on the lookout for a facelift Freelander 1 with Td4 probably 3 door, poss 5 door (as I just found out I can't get the Alpaca trim in 3 door!! Why can't manufacturers let the customers decide??!!) but can't decide on manual or auto.

I would prefer auto but I do a high mileage (30-40k pa) mostly motorways/A roads at about 65-70mph so mpg is rather important at this speed. Not bothered about urban mileages..

Now, looking through my brochure of 2005 vintage it says that the auto actually does more mpg in 'extra Urban' than the manual, so my question is for those that have experienced both manual and auto, which is actually better at high cruising speed? I drive economically with minimal pedal movement etc etc and I know everyone is different but would appreciate anyone else's input on this.

Thanks!

Hi mate my 2004 Td4 auto will only do 31mpg on the motorway :-( at 70mph ish.

Hi there Spacemonkey,

I've had 2 Freelanders - a 2002 TD4 Manual and my present 2004 TD4 Facelift Auto.

No question - it's the auto-box that wins - every time.

I travel to the Balkans 3 or 4 times a year - 5K round trip - obviously motorway as much as possible. Heavily loaded most times.

I must say that I now have a Synergy2a and an EGR by-pass whjch I didn't have on the manual model.

Steady running at the legal maximum gets me an easy 43mpg. On unlimited autobahnen I use cruise control at 85 - 90 depending on traffic density - even then I get over 40mpg.

I've made conscious effort to increase fuel efficiency as fuel prices have risen throughout Europe. Little things like aero wiper-blades and a bonnet bug-deflector, plus big things like tyre-pressure and an aero-dynamic roof-box all help.

Your 2005 brochure will also show you that the overall gearing of the auto-box model is higher at 42.9mph/1000rpm as opposed to the manuals 39.2mph. Not much perhaps, but it evens out the unavoidable losses inherent in an auto to some extent.

I'm an ex-rally driver and kept well away from autos for much too long - thinking wrongly that I could do a better job myself. True perhaps in the old days of 3-speed autos when i formed that opinion.

City traffic, queues on the M25 all make me smile now.

And as for Alpine work - I cant do any better - probably worse.

Even off-road it's much more sure-footed than the manual ever was - never a second when power is lost changing gear.

That should answer your question - but if you need more opinions - there are probably loads of folks who'll disagree.

You'll get plenty stories of 'thirsty' autos.

Singvogel.

Cheers Birdy.. I figured you'd know.

I must admit I will go down the Synergy 2 etc route and also looking into bigger tyres which will inevitably raise the gearing higher so expect worse round town which I don't do much of, but will be Grabber AT3s, which are excellent tyres on my Deli. Yes I noticed the higher gearing on the auto which caught my attention... I agree about old autos being sad old things but my Paj and Deli are not too bad compared to manuals I've driven of the same- better drive- faster off the line and much better off road! Also allow for bigger tyres and higher gearing at slow speeds better IMO.

So does the bug deflector actually do anything? Never convinced by that one so I'm curious what it does for you.

Does the Td4 auto box hunt around a lot around 40mph (stuck behind a bloody lorry..) or 50mph (stuck behind Mr & Mrs monospeed) ???

Spacemonkey... said:

Cheers Birdy.. I figured you'd know.

So does the bug deflector actually do anything? Never convinced by that one so I'm curious what it does for you.

Does the Td4 auto box hunt around a lot around 40mph (stuck behind a bloody lorry..) or 50mph (stuck behind Mr & Mrs monospeed) ???

Click to expand...

The bug deflector and the aero wipers stop almost all of the flies from hitting the windscreen - so makes cleaning the truck easier - but importantly for me - that means that the beast is a bit more aerodynamic overall.

First long journey I made I didn't realise anything different - just thought there must be less flies around that day - until I looked at the roof box - covered in flies. So without the box the efficency must be improved.

The box does not 'hunt' at all in the circumstances you describe.

Only delay is on a long gradual incline at around 60 - when the box sort of 'thinks' about changing down for a moment or two when in cruise control. Sometimes changes down then immediately back up again. No problem as it happens very infrequently.

S.

my 2000 swb manual TD4 is averaging about 41 mpg at the mo. which is pretty impressive considering it's done 130k miles.

On the motorway try to resist going above 70, makes a big difference.

Cheers! So on motorways at speed, the auto is just as good if not better? As I find myself in the odd motorway jam the auto is becoming a much better proposition methinks..

Spacemonkey... said:

Cheers! So on motorways at speed, the auto is just as good if not better? As I find myself in the odd motorway jam the auto is becoming a much better proposition methinks..

Click to expand...

That was my conclusion too - confirmed over the last 105K

As I said, I was a late convert to auto-boxes - but now I'm more Catholic than the Pope - if you grasp my mixed metaphor.

Singvogel.

Davidspect said:

Fuel consumption figures
URBAN EXTRA-URBAN COMBINED
mpg l/100km mpg l/100km mpg l/100km
1.8 Petrol manual 20.8 13.6 33.3 8.5 27.3 10.4
2.5 Petrol automatic 16.5 17.2 29.1 9.7 22.7 12.4
2.0 Diesel manual 31.0 9.1 42.2 6.7 37.2 7.6
2.0 Diesel automatic 25.2 11.2 39.6 7.1 32.7 8.6

Auto more economic than a manual? suppose it depends on how you drive.

Click to expand...

Very true. Here's a typical days journey of mine.

Aachen to Nürnberg to Wien - at 80mph on cruise-control - 47mpg.

Stopped once, at Hockenheim for a break, otherwise no acceleratgion, no deceleration, just eating up the miles. This is a pretty level stretch - no hills to speak of.

I've done a 2100 mile trip from Aberdeen to Tuzla 3 or 4 times a year for the last 20 years, and kept a detailed record of all fuel and stops.

I can say with certainty that my current auto TD4 gives better fuel consumption than my previous manual - on the over 4K round trip.

Pottering around at home in Scotland I'm not much bothered about what consumption I get.

S.

Interesting that Cruise gives you such a good return on the FL. On my V8 Jag the cruise drank fuel even more than usual. I found it was too severe on acceleration than my right foot was when cruising. So stopped using it..

Interesting comparison that - a V8 Jag and a 4 cylinder diesel Landrover.

If I have to drop out of cruise control for any reason, I do the accelerating back up to my chosen speed and then re-engage the cruise.

I agree that if for example I dropped to say 40mph and I chose 'cruise-resume' to take me back to 70 - then it would give me the absolute max and drop a couple of cogs to do it.

Now that would be greedy on fuel. But to maintain a steady speed on motorways there is not a lot of difference between how much extra throttle I would give for a hill and what the 'auto-pilot' (as my wife calls it) does.

S.

my old td4 manual used to get 40mpg at about 70mph on a run with roverron box fitted and egr blanked off. bought a td4 hse auto 2004 last year and fitted the egr, sent the roverron box back for a upgrade and use it on eco setting at a steady 65mph in cruse control on a 200 mile run the best i can get is 32mpg even using 2 stroke no better. how some people are getting 40 plus in an auto is beyond me? will be getting rid of my freelander auto as soon as i can for a manual.

Yes - it's strange.

But I have checked my figures many times over the same trips under the same conditions. Brim to brim filling up and comparing mileages from the sat-nav as well as the speedo.

I can't claim to have done anything exceptional to improve the mpg really, apart from the Synergy which I set to ECO for motorway use.

All the other things are little tweaks like the wipers and bug-guard which make a very small but positive improvement.

If I were Frontosa I too would be dissatisfied with the consumption, but as it is I'm so pleased with it that I'll probably never buy another manual again.

S.