Dear all,

I'm in the process of buying a FFRR as a second car, as I'm after something I can leave parked in London on the street occasionally without twitching the curtains every time a hoodie wanders by. I thought I wanted a 4.4 V8 (circa 2004-2005) but a friend warned me off recently after buying one himself, claiming he gets 15mpg even on the motorway, and at £120 a tank, I should think carefully.

My primary car does 10mpg in London, so I do want something a little more sensible - but with diesel more expensive, and the 3.0tdi presumably a little gutless I'd like to know from owners on here about what they experience in real world MPG. LPG sounds interesting, but a little scary.

It might be a subject done to death, but I couldnt find anything in the past on the forum pitching Petrol Vs Diesel.

I appreciate any thoughts (and realise the TDV8 is the perfect answer, but I dont want to stretch the budget to one).

Cheers lads,

Rowly

I have LPG and get 15 round town and 20+ on the motorway depending on how I drive. 35-40 (depending on where I fill up) gets me 200-250 miles.

I agree that the 4.4 vs the TDV8 performance isn't that different but I still prefer a petrol engine and believe that's the way Range Rover were always meant to be.

Just my 2p.

If your friend is getting 15mpg then his PCV system is shot (if it's the BMW engine) and he needs to have this looked at. This is not something that the dealers are familiar with so a BMW specialist would be the best port of call if he is not mechanically literate.

Dan 

I run a Td6 and I really like it. BUT... that is because it suits my driving style. Relaxed. I also couldn't stretch to TDV8.
I just potter about on main routes and average 30mpg. Many other people seem to get about 22mpg because they are more enthusiastic or spending more time in town. In those circumstances it's not good ecomony and not much performance.

If it was to get about town I would not use a Td6 because the fuel consumption is not that different from a petrol.

I could say the Td6 (or whatever I have) is better as I have one. People tend to like what they have. But I guess you want the truth rather than people sticking up for the engine they have.

Horses for courses. If you are in town a lot I'd suggest a petrol, with LPG like Dan has to lower the running costs.
Of course, that assumes you do enough miles to get back the cost of the LPG kit.

If money was not an issue, I'd go TDV8 every time. They are so quiet and powerful with reasonable economy.

A Td6 is also cheaper to service at LR than a TDV8 by about £100 according to my dealer and most of them have road tax that is about £200 cheaper too as they are pre-March 2006. So there are small benefits to an older car.

Last edited by Fox on 12th Apr 2010 11:54am. Edited 1 time in total

Fox wrote:

Of course, that assumes you do enough miles to get back the cost of the LPG kit.

Agreed, I bough the car already converted. If I'd had to do the conversion myself I may not have gone down this route and I'd be poor now.

I went from a 4.6 HSE P38 though, so filling up for £35 and getting 200 miles is amazing for me! 

I'd also suggest buying a 4.4 V8 that has already been "LPG'd".

I love it and the power that it has in the high rev range is pretty impressive should you ever need it for overtaking etc.

On a 600 mile round trip on Saturday, I averaged 22mpg, and that was sitting at 75-80 with the cruise control and AC blowing cold. I was pretty impressed. (4.4 V8 ) 2006 Mercedes CLS
1991 Retro-style Mini
But really finding it hard to fight the urge for a S/C...

My TD6 was driven in a spirited manner, I am not a slow driver in the main. It was chipped and had sprightly performance, it got me about 25/26 mpg. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

So if people with petrol are doing low 20s on the motorway, and diesel owners mid-20s - why buy diesel?

What are people getting in town driving from both camps?

I drive a TD8V and on a run yesterday, averaged 28.1, thats with A/C on and half the journey was at night, so lights on to.

just as an experiment, the other day I did about 30 miles on the motorway with everything turned off, about the 55 to65mph mark and got 33.4, well thats what the computer was telling me

I average 15-17 town driving and I do have a heavy foot.

Motorway 22 ish at 80-90 on the Autobahn!

For the sake of 4mpg or so I decided I couldn't live with the Td6.

Certainly my next RR will be the Tdv8 as it ticks all the boxes! TDV8 HST Sport **Current**

4.4 V8 Autobiography and 22" wheels **Gone**

I have just bought a TD6 and spend about 25% of my time in Central London, 25% on the motorway and 50% pottering about on A and B roads where I live. My first tank averaged me 26.5mpg and when I reset the Trip B computer for certain journeys I have had 31.7mpg on the motorway at circa 80 leptons, and about 24mpg in central London crawling about. Mine has a plug in tuning box which is as cheap as chips and can be removed should the need ever arise.

I struggle to believe I'd be getting better than 18mpg average on a V8 doing the same driving which over 12k miles per annum works out at about £1100 per year (£95/month) which is not an insignificant sum to me at least.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love a V8, but a mate of mine with an RRS SC is chopping it in for a new TDV6 version as he just can't stomach the regular trips to the petrol station and he eally can afford not to worry.

A wise man once said to me that not all of life's decisions should be made with an Excel spreadsheet, but sometimes they just have to be!

Sure, the TD6 is a little noisy when pushed, but with a remap or similar it is suprisingly effective.

hughjayteens wrote:

a mate of mine with an RRS SC is chopping it in for a new TDV6 version as he just can't stomach the regular trips to the petrol station

Really, a supercharged Range Rover costs a lot to run? Now there's something I would never have guessed!

Seriously why do people buy Range Rovers and then complain about the running costs? You've just spent £60,000-£100,000 on a car and your complaining about £120 to fill up! (ok not you specifically) They are expensive to buy, maintain and run. It's part of the "Premium" of owning the car. 

Fuel costs are a strange one (for me at least) as its kind of the insult that keeps on insulting... if you follow me. For me I think its different for sports cars, as I associate their thirst for the black stuff with performance and speed. My 911 does an average of 12mpg, but that doesn't stop me only filling it with Shell V power - but the Rangie needs to make more financial sense.

Arguably the interior of the TD6 Vogue and a 4.4 V8 Vogue is identically special sitting in traffic - so the decider for me becomes the MPG.

When I got the TD6 I noticed the noise at low speed, but once crusing, if you are doing 70mph on the motorway then its the same asa cruising at 70 in a petrol (mostly). Clearly the 2 engines sounds different.

It's a personal choice whether you don't mind filling up more often or whether you can live with the noise.

Around town driving you'll be lucky to get 15mpg out of the 4.4. A SC will do about 10-12mpg. A TD6 will still do over 20mpg. On a run the TD6 can edge towards 30mpg depending on driving style etc, a 4.4 I think will top out at about 21mpg on its most frugal cycle. The diesel will ALWAYS use less fuel, fullstop.  Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

dan_uk_1984 wrote:

hughjayteens wrote:

a mate of mine with an RRS SC is chopping it in for a new TDV6 version as he just can't stomach the regular trips to the petrol station

Really, a supercharged Range Rover costs a lot to run? Now there's something I would never have guessed!

Seriously why do people buy Range Rovers and then complain about the running costs? You've just spent £60,000-£100,000 on a car and your complaining about £120 to fill up! (ok not you specifically) They are expensive to buy, maintain and run. It's part of the "Premium" of owning the car.