Making a TD5 more fuel efficient

[monkie]

3 hours ago, Anderzander said:

It’s in a tiny series - and a really good Turner engine.  Not pulling all that weight makes a huge difference.

Very impressive nonetheless. I guess you must also be keeping your speed down. I've always found that pushing just another 10mph more above 55-60 really erodes economy in a land rover. 

[Anderzander]

I agree - and I have been described as ‘driving like a grandma’ on numerous occasions.

[monkie]

4 minutes ago, Anderzander said:

I agree - and I have been described as ‘driving like a grandma’ on numerous occasions.

Not my grandma; she was darn right dangerous in her bright yellow Datsun Cherry. 

[Mo Murphy]

2 hours ago, Anderzander said:

I agree - and I have been described as ‘driving like a grandma’ on numerous occasions.

Do you still have the turbo on it Stephen ?

Mo

[FridgeFreezer]

6 hours ago, Anderzander said:

It is a more refined experience though…. 😉

Than a V8 disco? I somehow doubt that. Nothing wafts along like a RR or Disco with a V8.

[Anderzander]

1 hour ago, Mo Murphy said:

Do you still have the turbo on it Stephen ?

Mo

I do - 300tdi one.

[Anderzander]

13 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Than a V8 disco? I somehow doubt that. Nothing wafts along like a RR or Disco with a V8.

I’m only kidding.

[smallfry]

On 7/20/2021 at 8:32 AM, FridgeFreezer said:

I nearly bought a TD5 Disco as a daily until I saw the MPG, may as well have the V8 there's so little in it - and the TD5 doesn't appear any more reliable and is more complicated.

@muddy driving at 55-60mph is what does it (and accelerating gently) as air resistance goes up exponentially as you get faster. I can get 22mpg out of the ambulance (4.6 V8, ~3ton, huge frontal area) if I stick in the slow lane, dropping to ~16mpg at 80mph.

Indeed. 

Got to factor in the wear and tear on the Defender plus the cost of tyres, which will be a lot if you are realistic.

If you are worried that "someone might see you", well take it from me........ No one cares. Its the same with prestige cars. The only people who care are someone else who has got one.

Buy a sub £1k Diesel estate. More practical and useable on EVERY level than a 90, except off road of course. You will be quids in.

Also VERY useful to have a spare vehicle. Especially when the Defender lets you down. Again.

 

[reb78]

59 minutes ago, smallfry said:

 

Got to factor in the wear and tear on the Defender plus the cost of tyres, which will be a lot if you are realistic.

 

 

I'm not so sure. Defender parts are fairly cheap relative to many other cars and the tyres available for Defenders are perhaps a little more than a car tyre but some can achieve 4+ times the mileage.

[Tanuki]

I had a similar quandary back around 2007 when my prime client [where I was working 2 days a week] moved their head-office from Swindon to Leamington Spa - adding at least 280 miles a week to my drive.

I looked at leasing a cheap-to-run hack Diesel [back then the Merc A-class had good offers] because it would at least have been reliable and partly tax-deductible - but then I remembered the tendency of the Fosse Way to grind to a total halt at the first sign of a bit-of-snow and didn't want to take the risk of contract-breach penalties if I didn't show-up in Leamington on a day I was contracted to [missing a contract-day would have paid for a month and a half's lease on the Merc].

So I stuck with my 90TD5 - and though it only averaged 24MPG it never failed to get through.

Don't run a TD5 on crappy veg-oil - the cost of a new set of injectors and/or a fuel-pump when it all clags-up will totally wipe-out any fuel-cost-savings you may have achieved.

Weight-shedding is always good: I used to carry a load of tools, a high-lift jack and a jerrican of fuel around with me [probably 50Kg of weight] - a RAC/AA card and a phone are _much_ lighter. Equally, get rid of roofracks, winches, bull-bars, light-bars and other such tat that adds weight _and_ wind-resistance.

Driving-style is also relevant: *don't* stick it in a high gear and expect it to stagger along at off-boost low-RPM: the efficiency of a turbodiesel depends on the turbo doing its thing to get maximum air-volume into the cylinders - Compression Pressure is the friend of Thermodynamic Efficiency! A TD5 is happier if you let it rev, even if you're only giving it a whiff of throttle.

[monkie]

2 hours ago, reb78 said:

I'm not so sure. Defender parts are fairly cheap relative to many other cars and the tyres available for Defenders are perhaps a little more than a car tyre but some can achieve 4+ times the mileage.

I have BF Goodrich AT tyres fitted since about 7 years ago and many miles. They still look to have loads of life left in them. I get about 30K miles from a set of Michelin primacy tyres on my work car and wife's car each. I reckon I must be approaching that on my BF Goodrich tyres and I'm not even considering replacing them yet. 

[Retroanaconda]

I used to get two years and about 75k out of a set of BFG ATs so a very small part of the overall cost per mile.

Of my 22.2p/mile running costs 18.4p is fuel and only 3.8p for everything else.

[Eightpot]

70 odd miles a day in a Defender will probably get old pretty quick.  Mrs Eightpot has a nice Saab 9-3 estate which is a nice looking modern classic, loads of room, super comfy, 150bhp, uses it for her 180 mile commute twice a week for the last 3 years, hardly spent a cent on it, does an easy 45+mpg and can pick them up for a few hundred bucks. I'd get something like that and save the rattler for the weekend 🙂

[reb78]

1 hour ago, monkie said:

I have BF Goodrich AT tyres fitted since about 7 years ago and many miles. They still look to have loads of life left in them. I get about 30K miles from a set of Michelin primacy tyres on my work car and wife's car each. I reckon I must be approaching that on my BF Goodrich tyres and I'm not even considering replacing them yet. 

110k miles out of my last set Phil! Yours are barely worn in!

Edited July 21, 2021 by reb78

[monkie]

42 minutes ago, reb78 said:

110k miles out of my last set Phil! Yours are barely worn in!

Great, that's fantastic value

[FridgeFreezer]

4 hours ago, Retroanaconda said:

I used to get two years and about 75k out of a set of BFG ATs so a very small part of the overall cost per mile.

Of my 22.2p/mile running costs 18.4p is fuel and only 3.8p for everything else.

I think the Pirelli P-Zeros on my Jag did ~40-50k on the front and basically forever on the back, and were surprisingly cheap for 18" low-profiles, less than £100 a corner and the tyre guys didn't have anything more expensive (but plenty cheaper options). Came out to <0.005p/mile I reckon.

[L19MUD]

On 7/19/2021 at 12:46 PM, landroversforever said:

Different to Fridge's as he's got an R56 from memory, but by F56 JCW will do anything from 8mpg on a 'fun' afternoon to ~50mpg drive to work. That's a 2L turbo petrol JCW too. I think Fridge's will be the 1.6 turbo at that age. 

The 1.6 Supercharged is terrible on fuel - Never managed more than around 30 mpg on a run and way less on country lanes and around town. In fact I suspect on average the TD5 will be better. My 535i E39 is better on fuel than a 1.6 supercharged Mini in fact!

[Quagmire]

Would love an e39 touring!

[reb78]

I sold my e39 528i a few years ago... I really regret that.... everything in that car was exactly where it needed to be. 

[L19MUD]

Mine is a very early 1996 E39 535i sport with factory fit AC Schnitzer bodykit. I am the third owner, the first having it for 18 months, the second until 12 years ago when I bought it. Not been on the road for 5 years now.

 

Will find a picture!

[reb78]

17 minutes ago, L19MUD said:

Mine is a very early 1996 E39 535i sport with factory fit AC Schnitzer bodykit. I am the third owner, the first having it for 18 months, the second until 12 years ago when I bought it. Not been on the road for 5 years now.

 

Will find a picture!

Don't sell it ever! (unless to me  )

[Lightning]

On 7/21/2021 at 3:06 PM, smallfry said:

Indeed. 

Got to factor in the wear and tear on the Defender plus the cost of tyres, which will be a lot if you are realistic.

If you are worried that "someone might see you", well take it from me........ No one cares. Its the same with prestige cars. The only people who care are someone else who has got one.

Buy a sub £1k Diesel estate. More practical and useable on EVERY level than a 90, except off road of course. You will be quids in.

Also VERY useful to have a spare vehicle. Especially when the Defender lets you down. Again.

 

My 2005 110 CSW has never let me down since l bought it in 2014 with 56,000 miles on it.

lt's now on 131,000

 

l get around 26mpg round town driving between customers 

At 55mph l get 32mpg but l can't cope with driving that slowly, l usually end up setting the cruise control at 65mph where it drops to 26mpg

l've got a 240 mile motorway drive tomorrow, l might try 60mph and see what economy l get at that speed.

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Lightning

[paime]

It feels like it's 50/50 between those who are up for commuting in a defender and those who could think of nothing worse. Having been through a chassis swap this year and replaced most moving parts I think I'm probably in a good place to at least start the journeys with the Td5 and if I can't hack the pace then an old German barge might be on the cards. 

[reb78]

22 minutes ago, paime said:

It feels like it's 50/50 between those who are up for commuting in a defender and those who could think of nothing worse. Having been through a chassis swap this year and replaced most moving parts I think I'm probably in a good place to at least start the journeys with the Td5 and if I can't hack the pace then an old German barge might be on the cards. 

Outside of lockdowns, I do a 550mile round trip once a fortnight in the 110 plus local miles at each end (was averaging 25k a year at one point). I have RRC front seats and an overdrive and its a perfectly decent drive. 

[paime]

Once I get the 1.2 transfer in there and sort a few niggles I think it'll be a fine commuting vehicle. I did 480 miles in it last month over to Campbeltown and it wasn't too bad at all. I'm doing a pick up conversion for winter and that should make it a quieter and less condensation-prone place to be. Should be easier to keep warm as well.