downgrading from a td5 to a 300??

[tjsj]

Hi, My Dad bought a TD5 about a year ago now and we just dont use it enough, we only really use it for towing a small trailer with a fiesta on it to races etc and doodling around in and its just loosing money too quickly. What are you guy's views on a 300tdi auto for towing etc? are they any good or is it best to get the manual?
Cheers,
Tom

Something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1995-Land-Rover-Discovery-300-TDi-ES-AUTO-7-SEATS_W0QQitemZ140185450095QQihZ004QQcategoryZ29748QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#onPhotoChoice

[Yoshi]

The auto is very gutless, the manual is the best bet, but the 300tdi is fantastic!

[discoverytdi]

TD 5 never had one or ever will have one to many electronic gizmos  to go wrong
300 TDI simple to fix cheap parts nuff said
even the new Defender is available with a 300TDI engine ( armed forces demanded it )

[stripy]

i have a 300tdi auto, and find it pulls very well with or without my caravan on the back,

the one advertised looks nice  :lol:

[Range Rover Blues]

My sister's got a 300TDi auto and it's brilliant, lovely think and not too bad on fuel iff you stay off the back lanes.  Great towcar too.

If it swings it for you, a 300TDi will run nicely on biodiesel too and most are old enough that you'll pay only £180 a year road tax.

My wife has a 300TDi manual and that's good for towing too, about 1500kg it handles with ease (lower 1st gear than the V8) but I worry about doing the clutch in.

For towing 2 tonnes or more I prefer my V8, on LPG it cost roughly the same to run.

[howie]

i found that the 300tdi auto was no  good for towing  , it drank too much fule , whan you tow big loads{like car tralers} :(

did have 300tdi mananl and that was ok {not bad on go go juse}
but got 200tdi now ,and find it better  for the job  as i pull about 2 -2.5 touns of logs  and chippings  most days  on and off road
as part off my job
but i might of had a bad one[300tbi's]

[Jas278]

The later 300 tdi autos are best , as they are more tuned to the job, cant remeber whether its the gearing or engine performance..

[Disco Matt]

The late 300 TDIs had electronic fuel injection and the final auto-fitted examples had this tweaked further - these were the most powerful ones.

Mine's one of the last mechanical ones, with a manual box. They go pretty well, especially if you blank off the EGR, fit a single-silencer exhaust and remove the cat (if fitted). I'm waiting for it to stop raining so I can check if mine actually has a cat or not!

[tjsj]

oh!! I'm torn now whether to go for a 300 auto or the manual. Is the general view, only go for the auto if its a later one with electric fuel injection? If its an earlier one then go for a manual and tune it up a bit? Is the auto box the ZF 4 speed??

[Disco Matt]

Supposedly you can get more go from the electronic TDI whether manual or auto. Mine's the mechanical one and seems fine, whether I'd notice the difference I don't know.

[Range Rover Blues]

Yes the auto is the ZF 4 speed with lock up.  Personaly I prefer the older fully mechanical TDi, less to go wrong and have you seen the price of injectors for the Electronic TDi :shock:

Depending what you are towing I reckon either auto or manual ahould be fine with a bit of a tweak.

[tjsj]

At the moment I'm leaning towards a manual XS or ES spec 300tdi. Hopefully under £3,000 if possible with roughly 100,000 miles on the clock, is this about right to aim for? How much do you think a 69,000 mile 2000, X reg Silver Discovery TD5 manual is worth? Its a GS spec but its the milenium edition so basically is the XS spec, half leather half alcantara, air con, ABS etc.

[muddyjames]

I have a 1995 300tdi auto disco and when I first got it I wasnt impressed about towing with it at all. But an air filter replacement and oil and fuel filter change and it has changed the car big time and now I actually like it for towing.

Down side is that you cant keep hold of the gear you want but kick down earlier on a hill than you would in a manual and I achieve about the same speed by the top of the hill. I did a test with mine and a heavy box trailer up a steep hill and then a few weeks later I was apassenger in a 200tdi manual towing the same box trailer by co-incidence. Both went up the same speed, which suprised me as mine felt slow but obviously wasnt.

As for reversing a trailer. I spent all day going backwards down a tow path 0.7 miles at a time to pick up logs with a large trailer and in mine it was an absoute dodle to do. Stick in low box and it chugs back on it's own. If it had been a manaul I think the clutch would have been burnt out.

And to top it off, you wont regret an auto in a traffic jam :lol:

Would I buy another auto though? Depends what would come up but probably, yes I would look harder for an auto than a manual.

Oh and I am converting mine to veg oil :D