What's wrong with the Disco 2?

Hi,

I was just wondering, what's wrong with the Disco 2? Anyone who is interested in off-roading seems to be more likely to own a Disco 1 than a Disco 2. Is there any particular reason for this? Is the Disco 1 superior? More reliable? More capable? Or is it just a cost issue?

Personally, I'd much rather own a Disco 2 than a Disco 1 but then again I know little about the differences other than the fact that one is newer, hence this topic.

Rich

RichM said:

Is the Disco 1 superior? More reliable? More capable? Or is it just a cost issue?

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I think you've summed it up there, but in fairness its only what I've heard or seen etc. I've not actually driven a Disco 2 off road, so I'm happy to admit I've only a "gut feeling" the Disco 1 is better. Maybe the electronics and suspension can more than offset the weaknesses, and in fact they're better? I'd love to hear from anyone who's driven both, in a number of off road situations, and can objectively comment.

could be down to cost also. D2's can be more costly on parts to d1's

For me it was a total cost decision. I wouldnt like to spend 3-4k on a Disco 2 only to have **** scratched out of it as soon as you take it down the first lane

I was also told the 300tdi is a more reliable lump than the TD5 (mainly electrically), how true that is i dont know

I will probably replace my 300 with a TD5 when they get a bit older

Tuskenraider said:

For me it was a total cost decision. I wouldnt like to spend 3-4k on a Disco 2 only to have **** scratched out of it as soon as you take it down the first lane

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I did that. Trees scratching on one side and ditch to the other.

I am not sure if a D1 is more capable than a D2. The main arguments I hear why the D1 is better off road are because the D2 has a greater rear overhang and depending on the age may or may not have a lockable centre diff.

I suppose if you wanted an out and out off roader for pay and play then a D1 would probably be better but for green laning and on road use I think a D2 is the best choice.

I have a 200 Tdi and a TD5 Discovery.

The 200 Tdi is awsome off road. It has standard suspension and 7.50 x 16 SAT tyres on.

I only use it on P&P days, and it was a rusted MOT failure. Obviously I dont wory about damaging it, and this does let me do things that I wouldnt want to do in mt TD5.

It can take extreme climbs and seems to produce grip from nowhere. It has no problems with approach or departue either.

I,m sure if you didnt care about damaging your D2 then you wouldnt be far behind the D1. ( limiting factor being reduced approach and departure angles ).

The above is a comparison for exreme offroading on dedicated sites. In the real world of every day off road usage, the D2 has never let me down. It has sufficiant ground clearance for our winter mud tracks and good grip from the AT tyres. The widely quoted down side of the D2 is its poor approach/departure angles, but for the type off land that I drive over this doesnt come into play.

There,s no denying that the 200/300 Tdi,s dont have the potentially troublesome electricall systems of the D2, but said systems do add to the D2,s " more modern " feel.
Thanks to the wealth of knowledge on sites like this, I have yet to be beaten by any of the " common " faults of the D2.

Its such a shame that the D1 was/is so plagued by rust, as the D2 isnt. Its a shame to see them getting " beaten to death " on P&P sites, only finally to have thier motors ripped out and scrapped.

Del.

It is madness to buy a D2 and wreck it, they cost too much. At a recent visit to
LRexperience i had the opportunity to drive a RR vogue and a defender 110 offroad.. The 110 was just the same as a disco 1 or 20 year old defender, not a lot has changed, but it had traction control (as well as the standard centre diff lock). We drove up a reasonabley steep difficult axle twist section twice, once with and once without difflock, and i was suprised to see that in both situations, diff lock seemed not to help very much. It was not easier with difflock, once a wheel came up tc kicked in and kept us going. SO...... To compare D1 and D2 (forgetting about angles and such) i would say a D2 would be better (by a fair amount) offroad, as it will do more to keep you going, and when we go to extremes we chop body work down etc anyway, so i wouldnt worry about approach angles etc if buying to offroad. My thinking is though, the electronics are great when they work, and given that we are talking about land rover products i would suggest its much wiser to go with the older mechanically controlled version. That way when something goes wrong you can actually fix it.

Don't get me wrong i love the look of a d2, and very nearly bought one. But then when you look at part costs its insane. I'm a merchanic so do all my own repairs, but still can't swallow the parts price compared to my 300tdi. Shame thou as a td5 drives lovely.

alex8882 said:

But then when you look at part costs its insane.

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I dont know alex, I,ve managed to get all the parts I,ve needed to fix my D2 at, what I,ve thought to be, resonable prices.

By comarison to other modern vehicles, I,ve found the D2 to be much cheaper to maintain.

Obviously the big thing with repair costs is the labour, which is why I wouldnt recommend anyone to buy any Landrover unless they could use a spanner !.

Del.

People talk about approach anlges on the D1 V D2, they are pretty much the same tbh, people just take for granted that you remove the lower valance on a D1 as it's easy to do, stick a winch bumper or cut the D2 the same, and its no different......

Departure angles, yes the D2 is longer, but air suspension will help that a little, but tbh most people have a towbar on either models, so that throws out your departure angles straight away........

on the plus side the D2 has more axle flex if it has ACE fitted........and add a diff lock to the TC and it wont be behind any D1...........it will be way ahead

Urban Panzer said:

most people have a towbar on either models, so that throws out your departure angles straight away........

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That is the thing that I,m dragging the most. I did see the one you fitted to yours at Yarwell. I,ve been looking for one ever since ! ( for the right money ! ) To just be able to pull the pin and shove it in the back would be great.

Del.

50 pence said:

That is the thing that I,m dragging the most. I did see the one you fitted to yours at Yarwell. I,ve been looking for one ever since ! ( for the right money ! ) To just be able to pull the pin and shove it in the back would be great.

Del.

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I've just spent the day driving my mates DII TD5 and I can tell you it is quite fabulous off-road.

Some of the things I did and places I went with it you would never have attempted with a DI - the Traction Control and Hill descent control worked admirably.

Just excellent, no more to be said.......................

Dave

hi rich m , have had a 300k mile early 200 disco 1 , which i knew was a ****er when i bought it off flea bay but once i sorted all the jobs it was pretty good on and off road , sold that to my mate who in turn used it for work plus a few play days , he was given a better 3 door with a shaged out engine so the engine was swapped and the rest was scrapped, i thought i would treat myself to a disco 2 , looked about and got one , it was a 2001 2.5d es auto met blue cream leather with all the toys, it had only had 1 former keeper and had only covered 79k , took it off road but only light stuff , bit of green laning got the odd mark here and there but nowt to bad , my thinking was that i could have a play and after a good clean use it to go out in , how wrong i was prehaps just bad luck but in the short time i had it i had so many things go wrong , new auto box £1100 , xyz switch x2 £300 air suspension pump £250 cracked manifold and various flashing lights on the dash , drove me round the bend , anyway sold it (phew) and bought a late 300 d1 basic nice , drives the same , just dont look as good , regard andy

a D2 will cost you more money to maintain over a D1 no question...but I would never get rid of it...awesome vehicle

D1 300tdi all the way

no electronics ( no ABS or aircon either) no hassles

or to put it another way

if it aint there it cant go wrong

well said trax , i owned my disco 2 for about 18 months and only used it now and again , prob only covered about 6k thinking back it spent more time on the back of the rac truck than it did on the road , i love my £650 300tdi , just done head gasket timing belt fan belt and oil and filters in about 3 hours , so easy to work on compared to the 200 or the td5 , fan belt take a matter of minutes and you only need 1 spanner