Which Range Rover to buy

[KrisDR]

Another vote for the 300TDI. I've had a P38 DSE and while it was perhaps a tad faster, the RRC is certainly as pleasant to drive.

[L19MUD]

On ‎07‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 2:54 PM, Simon_CSK said:

a water leak that I cannot find and keeps boiling over

not wanting to hijack the thread but have you tried the UV dye you can put in the coolant to help you trace the leak? I did this with a TD5 Disco where I could not find the leak as the amount was small and was only leaking when hot. It turned out to be leaking from the fuel cooler and just needed new O rings

[L19MUD]

Back on track but probably not fitting with the requirement of simplicity

 

I have towed lots of heavy trailers (3.5ton honest officer) with both my old L322 BMW V8 petrol and now with my 3.6TDV8 2010 L322 and the diesel is way better. Partially helped by the extra gear but the low down torque makes towing a breeze.

The Air suspension on the Discos and RR's make towing trailers much nicer too.

 

Towing the same trailer with my 200tdi 90 is possible at low speeds but struggles on a dual carriageway on hills although the old girl has done 190k on the same pump and injectors. The biggest issue I find is stability under braking. What can sometimes be a scary situation in the 90 if judged wrong or something happens is of no consequence to the heavier and longer wheelbase RR

[Neil chamberlain]

Interesting reading this post I to undecided

currently using a 2008 d3 for towing a car trailer only so not heavy really 

Its just the d3 is not exactly comfy compared to a vouge So thinking of using a vouge I have got a 2003 4.4 v8 vouge had it ten years would love to use it but not sure how reliable it would be tbh also just had in part x is a 2008 tdv8 which is very comfy to drive but it’s not got a tow bar at present I thinking of fitting one to use it to tow has any one here got one for towing wondering how they compare thanks 

 

[Simon_CSK]

1 hour ago, Neil chamberlain said:

Interesting reading this post I to undecided

currently using a 2008 d3 for towing a car trailer only so not heavy really 

Its just the d3 is not exactly comfy compared to a vouge So thinking of using a vouge I have got a 2003 4.4 v8 vouge had it ten years would love to use it but not sure how reliable it would be tbh also just had in part x is a 2008 tdv8 which is very comfy to drive but it’s not got a tow bar at present I thinking of fitting one to use it to tow has any one here got one for towing wondering how they compare thanks 

 

Neil

I have a TDV8 and a TD6. So far I have only used the TD6 for towing and used it to tow one of my TDV8's from Oldham to Ayr. I have to say it say a very pleasant tow and one which should be greatly inproved with the bigger V8 engine. The only issue I had were relating to the tow barwhich was badly fitted. 

On the drive down, solo, I was getting 21 mpg going back it went up to 24.5mpg. This I can assume was because I wasn't so heavy on the go pedal.

This is my best tow car to date.

[Ed Poore]

The tow pack from Westfalia isn't that dear (think I sourced mine from PF Jones) and fitted it myself. It's what LR fitted from factory.

Bit of a lump to install and you need to remove the rear bumper I think but was a couple of hours work. TDV8 is great to tow with, worst economy I ever had was with 3.5t of trailer and milling machine behind it through the Welsh mountains and got 19mpg. Normally towing 3.5t on the motorway it sat at 25+.

Just because a mad plan is in action I reckon the best tow machine will be what I'm planning . Stability is sorted because it's 109" and 139" wheelbase (6 wheel drive). Torque will be in abundance - given the donor engine's likely to be circa 150hp but a minimum of 440lbft. Vehicles plated for 4t towing (no requirement for coupled brakes from what I've found out so far) and can take another 2t on the back.

Oh and if I run out of power the little Cummins engine going in is generally accepted as good to 1000hp before you need to start messing with internals (bigger injectors and tweak the pump) . Downside is ride is shocking without 2t on the back and it's not the most comfortable but it is still a Land Rover! 

[Blanco]

13 minutes ago, Ed Poore said:

plated for 4t towing (no requirement for coupled brakes from what I've found out so far)

Ed, I think the old Land Rover 4t capacity was bypassed some years ago by trailer regulation, 3.5t is pretty much the absolute for over-run brakes. I still fancy turning the 130 into an artic tractor to push things up a bit, but I have no real use for it any more, if funds ever ease up I still would  fancy testing the limits at 12.5t GTW 😄. On the towing front wheelbase and torque are key, TDV8 would be awesome, Range Rovers and110's are great tow vehicles

[Simon_CSK]

2 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

The tow pack from Westfalia isn't that dear (think I sourced mine from PF Jones) and fitted it myself. It's what LR fitted from factory.

 

 

 

it depends on which part you need. My (New) TDV8 had the mounting part and the electrics fully installed.

I got the removable hitch part fro PF Jones and am currently trying to sort out the pin/bolt that holds on the hitch as the nut and bolt have different threads.

On the TD6 some clown had fitted a smaller bolt which allows the hitch to move up and down creating a banging.

Looking forward to trying the TDV8 with one of my toys on the back which should be sometime soon.

[Ed Poore]

On 7/22/2020 at 9:01 AM, Blanco said:

Ed, I think the old Land Rover 4t capacity was bypassed some years ago by trailer regulation, 3.5t is pretty much the absolute for over-run brakes. I still fancy turning the 130 into an artic tractor to push things up a bit, but I have no real use for it any more, if funds ever ease up I still would  fancy testing the limits at 12.5t GTW 😄. On the towing front wheelbase and torque are key, TDV8 would be awesome, Range Rovers and110's are great tow vehicles

It's an interesting one, I've not really looked into it in any great depth - the 6x6 (in particular is a minefield).

Years ago people automatically got +E entitlement which meant you could tow a trailer up to the maximum rating of the vehicle (and some overall limit I think). Then they stopped automatically issuing the +E entitlement which meant people had to pass a test (a good thing in my opinion). The first few years of that the phrasing I seem to remember was that you were restricted by the capacity of the towing vehicle. They've subsequently changed the rules slightly which explicitly limits you to a maximum of 3.5t on the trailer (so I think if you were to head out and pass your B+E test today then you wouldn't be allowed to tow a 4t trailer with coupled brakes even if the vehicle was rated for it). I have the "intermediate" one which doesn't appear to have this 3.5t limit.

Now that's all to do with licensing rather than vehicle construction. I don't think (in terms of vehicle construction) that new rules can overrule old ones - so if you had a vehicle capable of towing 4t without coupled brakes then it's still capable of towing without coupled brakes. Where that sits on licensing grounds I haven't the foggiest! 🤷‍♂️

Going onto the 6x6 - some of the carnage is that it's registered as a 109" Stage 1 V8 from Land Rover (with 2 axles). Where it's more commonly referred to as a 139" wheelbase with 3 axles... Many other things on the V5 are also incorrect but who knows what they're supposed to be - I'm not poking that bull at the moment, particularly as I am planning in the not too distant future upgrading the 2.8l straight 6 to a 5.9l straight 6 so it'll be a little closer to the 5.7l on the V5 . But I can see why it's capable of towing 4t - the brakes (I've only touched them to adjust them, not overhauled them yet) are amazing but then it has 3" wide 11" drums on the front with twin pistons and the rear axles are similarly oversize. It failed it's MOT on braking efficiency and with the other distractions I had I'd completely forgotten drums need adjusting. So I duly adjusted them for the re-test, tester came out from the Tapley test rubbing his head "you definitely improved the brakes, I smashed my head into the windscreen - I wasn't expecting them to be that ******* good".

So I've not noticed any issues with braking with or without 2t (on the road) or 4t (off-road) on the bed on the back. Just needs some actual power to get it moving but the upgrade should sort that out comfortably... 

[Blanco]

2 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

(so I think if you were to head out and pass your B+E test today then you wouldn't be allowed to tow a 4t trailer with coupled brakes even if the vehicle was rated for it)

Correct, MAM of tow vehicle and MAM of trailer are individually limited to 3500kg each., train weight 7000kg. I have C1+E as well which raises the train weight to 12000kg. It is kind of a grey area, .... there was interest both commercially and in the motor home/caravan sector in mini-artics which took advantage of the regulation but the need for tacho's  and operators licences was never easy to understand and the UK market never really got going. There are a few in France and Holland where they have a couple of niche sectors that suit the combination of small size and increased payload.

[Ed Poore]

Ah but what I was saying is that the +E isn't as straightforward as that because if you passed between certain years (as I did, post 97 but pre some other date) then you can exceed 3.5t towed if the tow vehicle supports it (without cat C). If you passed now, no matter what you cannot exceed 3.5t towed.

There was a period where it was clear(er) on the gov website but I think its been simplified to the point you have to look at rhe legislation itself.

[Arjan]

Oh yes - EU legislation (so not sure for UK right now) allows those with B+E licence to drive some interesting combinations :

Depending on age etc. one can go up to 10 tonnes train weight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blanco]

21 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

But I can see why it's capable of towing 4t - the brakes

I suspect the 4t is just a hangover from the original Land Rover V5, we had a couple of S3 109's in the 70's that also had 4t and that was with S3 'period' brakes! Mind you Dad did test it out a few times , and getting it moving was an issue.... for most of that period it was a 2.25 diesel!

[Bowie69]

IIRC had the same 4t towing capacity, but with coupled brakes, as above though, it has been superceded. 

[Ed Poore]

Don't have it in front of me at the moment but fairly sure the brochure made a point over it because of the increase in swept braking area.

In its current form it doesn't have a hope outside of low range but the planned engine (was meant to be picking it up on Thursday but that fell through) produces 440lbft of torque at a minimum , with a minimum of about 150hp. Potential on that engine of hitting 1000 on both torque and hp without too much effort if I go completely mad  (but without changing internals). Suspect I'll leave it standard and have it nice and reliable for 1m miles.

[Sheffield]

Interesting that no one seems to have suggested a first generation Discovery, which is just a RRC in working clothes. If you can find a V8 auto, change the seats to RRC ( which fit straight in)  they are as nice to drive as a RRC. And very simple to repair.