Well, I'm a happy man....We've just completed a 1000 mile round trip in our newly acquired RR classic 300TDi and it really does leave me wondering why on earth anybody would wan't anything else? It cruised for 7 hours at 80mph whilst only guzzling a gallon every 28 miles or so, was very comfortable and hasn't missed a single beat ( touch wood ) there is however just one minor niggle...ITS BLOODY NOISY!!! It has a noise killer engine blanket ( which only offers negligible benefits I think ) and will have a recon box fairly soon which hopefully will eliminate some of the transmission wine, but I still feel it could be allot quieter, especially on those long trips ( which it will be doing many of ) does anybody know where I can get a decent sound proofing kit? Also I'm going to do a little bit of tuning ( although it does go really well already if I'm honest ) first stop is a de cat, is this a good plan? It's got an Alard intercooler but I want to increase boost pressure by adjusting the actuator rod, any idea what the standard pressure is and what it can be safely increased to? ( engine has done around 100K and is in fine fettle having been fastidiously maintained ) Also I feel the ride could be more forgiving? It has newish shocks which look like they might well be uprated, can I fit softer springs and where would I get some? Think that's it for now at least!

:welcome2:

The Classics did suffer from noise, tyre/road noise particularly....

The 300TDi is quieter than the 200 and the '80s VM, but it is still a diesel after all....

I think Exmoor trim used to do sound deadening material to fit under the carpets and over the transmission tunnel....but can't be 100% sure.....there was an article in the LRO magazine a few years back where they installed sound deadening material from some company to a Defender with good results....but cant be 100% sure which company it was...maybe popping to the local WH Smiths and picking up a copy and looking through the adverts may throw someone up....

As for tuning - the 300TDi uses electronic fuel delivery I think (I'm sure the early 200's were mechanical and no ECU's) but anywho....any increase in boost will need to be offset with an increase in fuel as this is the only way to get more power from a Diesel is to introduce more fuel, decrease charge air temperature or increase boost pressure...but they are all co-related to eachother so a change in one will need to be followed by a change in another....

You may find after a bit of tuning your MPG drops a bit - you can't have your cake and eat it and all that jazz.....

The ride could be down to the bushes too...some people fit Polybushes and these are slightly firmer than stock bushes....

I can only comment on the suspension question as my RRC is a V8 (quiet, comfortable & warm) but original coils & dampers were still available from LR a couple of years ago, at a price. I think that with suspension (comfort) it's very much a case of 'you pays your money ..... Hard-core offroaders will need totally different spec items.

The cheapest way I have found for soundproofing its to pop in to your local DIY store and buy some self adhesive roof flashing its about 15 quid a roll.
Its a self adhesive bitumin material and you just stick it to the body panels everywhere you can it helps stop vibration as well.

Ideally you need to strip all the inteior trim out including headlining and door cards and carpets..

The engine is a direct injection common rail 5 cylinder lump, forget playing with the turbo unless it's down on pressure, just look for a re-map. RAVE will give you the turbo pressure figure.

Datatek said:

The engine is a direct injection common rail 5 cylinder lump, forget playing with the turbo unless it's down on pressure, just look for a re-map. RAVE will give you the turbo pressure figure.

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Bugger! That's why my 300TDi is so crap - it's only got 4 cylinders!

Trewey said:

Bugger! That's why my 300TDi is so crap - it's only got 4 cylinders!

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Really? My son in laws has 5 cylinders and that's what it shows in RAVE
Only guessing but I thought the 200Tdi was a 4?

Td5 is the five pot. Clues in the name, the 300 has 300 cylinders

goonarmy said:

Td5 is the five pot. Clues in the name, the 300 has 300 cylinders

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OK, you can see I know little about the Disco, I was sure it said Tdi on the back It's definately got 5 cylinders but, typical for the tight arses at LR it's only got 4 glowplugs

Thanks guys, good advice and a chuckle! Thought about the roof flashing idea also, have you tried it and with what results? Does it work as well as the stuff you buy from the stereo companies? 300TDi is definitely a four pot, non common rail and the manual gearbox has a mechanical pump ( autos had early Bosch VE I think ) which is why I love it....A bag of spanners and a Haynes and you can do just about everything your LR dealer would charge 6 squillion quid to fix!...Gotta ask yourself why things are so complex now haven't you? After all it'll do over a ton, pull 3.5 of them and still get best part of 30 mpg....although not all at the same time obviously!

MrToad said:

Thanks guys, good advice and a chuckle! Thought about the roof flashing idea also, have you tried it and with what results? Does it work as well as the stuff you buy from the stereo companies? 300TDi is definitely a four pot, non common rail and the manual gearbox has a mechanical pump ( autos had early Bosch VE I think ) which is why I love it....A bag of spanners and a Haynes and you can do just about everything your LR dealer would charge 6 squillion quid to fix!...Gotta ask yourself why things are so complex now haven't you? After all it'll do over a ton, pull 3.5 of them and still get best part of 30 mpg....although not all at the same time obviously!

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The flashing drops off when it gets very hot, should be OK in the UK

The Flashing works fine and it is a lot cheaper than the dynamat stuff.