Land Rover Discovery 3 TD6 2.7 review

[Chris Cooper]

Hi

 

I've just written a review about the Discovery 3 from a caravanners point of view. I am really taken by this car - what an awesome towing vehicle.

 

http://www.busyoutdoors.com/Land_Rover_Discovery_3_TD6_2.7_review.html

[colin]

Call me a nit picking missrable old sod if you like, but if you refer to the TD5 engine in series 2 as being an advantage then you don't know much about disco's, whilst it is true that the performance is improved over older models, they tend to go wrong big time, it has a poor reputation for reliability and deservadly so.

[Chris Cooper]

Hi Colin

 

The TD5 was an improvement in power. I have had every model of Discovery (glutton for punishment) and five Defenders. This doesn't make me an expert but I was writing from a personal point of view.

 

Yes, the TD5 has had problems and the 300TDI was probably a smoother engine but I found that it was an improvement. The TD6 is a very different proposition altogether.

 

Just out of interest, I had two TD5s and they never missed a beat but I was probably lucky.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[CliveH]

The new Peugeot derived TD6 is a truly remarkable engine. Totally creams to old 300Tdi and TD5. The TD5 was never a favourite of mine having lots of its electronic gubbins under the seats - just what you want when wading!!!!

 

I think the fact that the military rejected it and stuck with the 300 Tdi speaks volumes.

 

As someone who dislikes diesels - (noisy, smelly and the particulate hydrocarbons emissions make the CO2 "advantage" a nonsense) - the newer TD V6 and the latest TD V8 have made me think again.

 

However, for now I will stick with my V8 3.9 litre on LPG - the economy is better than a diesel and the emissions FAR better. - I even get a discount on my road tax!

 

As for reliability - I, like many others, have had LR's for many years and never had anything other than routine servicing. My old Range Rover was sold with 184,000 miles on the clock and never missed a beat. What’s more as an old vehicle it was still on the road and was obviously wanted by others as I had eleven phone calls when I sold it and the first to see it bought it.

 

Our most unreliable car in the family? - My sons VW Golf. And parts for it are eyewateringly expensive.

 

As a LR aficionado (anorak to most!) - they only thing I would say is that as a vehicle, LR's can and do get abused more than most. A Farmer friend never gets his serviced then sells it after 3 years.

 

Heaven help whoever buys one of his old vehicles because they are not "run-in", not serviced, and spend much of there lives with him up to there axles in mud and crap. :-(

 

As with all vehicles research the vehicle carefully but I believe this applies more to 4x4's than most. *-)

 

[Clive]

I ran a Disco 200TDI from new for 14 years. In that time it was tuned a bit by Warwick Banks, had handling improvements from Overfinch and ended up with a clutch from a Miliatary LR variant which had a bigger diameter and more pressure as the increased torque from the engine would make a brand new standard clutch slip at will. The 200 TDI overblown was as much poke as a 3.5 litre V8 on petrol with carbs. Problems included A frame ball joint quite soon in the second year. Starter motor - even the replacement was duff and the garage removed the gearbox because they could not accept that a brand new replacement starter motor could be duff from new. But it was!.

 

The reason I had it tuned was because for a while we had a caravan and it was totally useless before. It was OK afterwards apart from the need to clean the soot off the front of the van.

 

When time came to replace the rusting Disco only two vehicles were in the frame. The latest LR TD6. and a Toyota Landcruiser. Both drived nice and the LR with its independant suspension a bit smoother. But that 2.7 litre V6 just does not have sufficient "grunt" for a vehicle weighing 2.75 tonnes and LR had gone back to an engine with a cam belt. The aluminium body had been replaced by a steel one. So I bought the Toyota 3 litre diesel. Better BHP per tone and much more bottom end effective grunt. Cruise control and air-con as standard even on the basement model I bought.

My first Japanese car ever. Hard decision but based on engineering considerations.

 

[CliveH]

As a Land Rover "fan" I too have been disappointed with the diesel options available.

 

Though we have a 200Tdi 3 door as a hack vehicle and after a good tune up this thing really flies - it is noisier of course but it seems better than the 300 and TD5's I have driven.

 

The TDV6 seems a very good engine to me but I have not driven one much and never towed with one. A chap we know who runs a local feed merchants now has one and he says it tows his Ifor Williams TA trailer loaded to the hilt with sacks of feed better than the TD5 or the 300 he had before that.

 

Mind you I do like the idea of LR's newer V8 diesel and look forward to that. The reports I have read indicate that this powerplant is truly the dogs danglies.

 

Even a confirmed LPG V8 "nut" could be convinced to become an oil-burner!

 

 

;-)

[Clive]

Plus you don,t really want to go wading with spark plugs!

[cathyee]

Your review about Land rover  discovery is informative. It is really great work. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I have land rover discovery  . I bought it in 2006. Land rover discovery has good combination for space and power. It has high quality driving, good mileage, interior and exterior looks good. We really enjoyed driving this car .