LetsHopeItFits
Active Member
So having owned a 3.9 V8 Discovery 1 for a while, and having fed it petrol every 300 miles (if Im lucky) and having had its electronics completely break, I went and had a look for a 300tdi instead.
I found one not too far from me, and went to have a test drive. I knew it wouldnt be as quick as mine, but I was shocked. There was a brief moment in the rev range where its not too bad, but either side of that its awful.
So Ive done some googling, and it turns out that they can be fiddled with (increasing the boost pressure, tweaking the fuelling, etc) and they make slightly more power, but having raced my V8 disco against my mates 90 (which had 300tdi disco running gear and those afformentioned mods) its still nowhere close, despite my disco being what, 400kg heavier?
So I looked further, VNTs and larger intercoolers, and the twin port inlet manifold to stop it blowing a headgasket seem to be the next logical steps - but can someone quantify what these changes would do? A rough power figure? Because the 117hp standard 300tdi that I drove felt more like a JCB, compared to the relatively car-like performance of my 180hp V8. My mate reckon his 90 was making 130-140hp, but I very much doubt that, because that leaves him at 80-87hp/ton, and my disco was at 85-90hp/ton (cant remember how much fuel was in the tank) but the gap in performance was vast. I wouldnt be supprised if my V8 would have towed his defender quicker than it moved.
I get that the 300tdi is a completely different engine to the V8, designed to last forever, at the lowest cost, unlike the V8 which is basically a 1960s muscle/sports car engine.
I dont want to just crap on the 300tdi, I want to know if it can be made good. Well its already good, can it be made to go quickly? The V8 does 0-60 in a smidge over 10 seconds, and from personal experience, I can report that it will hold the speed limit up a very steep hill with a very heavy trailer (albeit in 3rd gear). These are the metrics by which Id like a modified TDI to compare, even if it cant beat them, if it can get close, but do it whilst using half the fuel, thats a win.
I found one not too far from me, and went to have a test drive. I knew it wouldnt be as quick as mine, but I was shocked. There was a brief moment in the rev range where its not too bad, but either side of that its awful.
So Ive done some googling, and it turns out that they can be fiddled with (increasing the boost pressure, tweaking the fuelling, etc) and they make slightly more power, but having raced my V8 disco against my mates 90 (which had 300tdi disco running gear and those afformentioned mods) its still nowhere close, despite my disco being what, 400kg heavier?
So I looked further, VNTs and larger intercoolers, and the twin port inlet manifold to stop it blowing a headgasket seem to be the next logical steps - but can someone quantify what these changes would do? A rough power figure? Because the 117hp standard 300tdi that I drove felt more like a JCB, compared to the relatively car-like performance of my 180hp V8. My mate reckon his 90 was making 130-140hp, but I very much doubt that, because that leaves him at 80-87hp/ton, and my disco was at 85-90hp/ton (cant remember how much fuel was in the tank) but the gap in performance was vast. I wouldnt be supprised if my V8 would have towed his defender quicker than it moved.
I get that the 300tdi is a completely different engine to the V8, designed to last forever, at the lowest cost, unlike the V8 which is basically a 1960s muscle/sports car engine.
I dont want to just crap on the 300tdi, I want to know if it can be made good. Well its already good, can it be made to go quickly? The V8 does 0-60 in a smidge over 10 seconds, and from personal experience, I can report that it will hold the speed limit up a very steep hill with a very heavy trailer (albeit in 3rd gear). These are the metrics by which Id like a modified TDI to compare, even if it cant beat them, if it can get close, but do it whilst using half the fuel, thats a win.