Brasco Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 friend is considering in buying a 4 door with 300 fitted and auto box on a 1989 model. Does the auto box perform well with the 300, cause usually they are more fitted to v8's ? any experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300bhp/ton Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 A bit, a close friend was involved in converting Defenders to auto's about 10 years back. I currently know two people who run auto TDI's both 300's. The both swear they are ideal off road and having been in one of them they do go well. I will be honest and say that they really do need to be tweaked to get the best from them though or they will feel sluggish. In fact Dunham & Haynes in Luton had a very late factory 300TDI auto Classic Range Rover at the end of the Classic RR production run, it looked superb and cruised well but was known as "The Slug!" due to it's lack luster accelaration. However a simple intercooler upgrade and slight tuning of the injector pump would have solved all such issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 At least one person on here - Bishbosh - has converted from V8 auto to diseasel auto (200Tdi I think, in that case), mainly for economy reasons. Think it's a less than fiery combination on the road, but seems to be very effective off it. The trouble with tweaking Tdis for performance is you compromise the only real reason for running them in the first place - fuel economy (okay, and reliability). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I've got a factory 300tdi auto softdash classic. Its fine! Granted its not the quickest motor in the world, and a V8 is a hell of alot quicker, but it does over 25mpg! Acceleration to about 60mph is fairly spritely, but it runs out of steam above here and takes an age to get to 80, although it'll cruise happily at 80, it does tend to slow down a bit uphill. But then its as aerodynamic as a portacabin, and probably wieghs 2 tonnes! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300bhp/ton Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 The trouble with tweaking Tdis for performance is you compromise the only real reason for running them in the first place - fuel economy (okay, and reliability). I guess I might be treading on thin ice by having a different opinion here, lol But in all honesty I can say my 200TDI is as economical know (has an Allisport full width intercooler, injector pump tuning and upping the boost) as it was when stock. If you drive at WOT all the time then it probably does use more fuel, but the increase in power means you can drive more gentle and still go faster. Even on 33" Simex's it still does pretty much the same sort of mpg as when stock and on 31" all terrains. Brasco, thinking about it, swapping the diff gears to a lower ratio (numerically higher) like a 3.75 or 4.10:1 might work well with an auto, it'd stop it hunting for gears so much and be able to make better use of the OD. I know most of the guys in the US who swap to a TDI tend to run it with an auto, I know someone in Florida who did the swap about 2 - 3 months back. I'll email them and see what diff gears their are running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I guess I might be treading on thin ice by having a different opinion here, lol But in all honesty I can say my 200TDI is as economical know (has an Allisport full width intercooler, injector pump tuning and upping the boost) as it was when stock. If you drive at WOT all the time then it probably does use more fuel, but the increase in power means you can drive more gentle and still go faster. Even on 33" Simex's it still does pretty much the same sort of mpg as when stock and on 31" all terrains. What sort of mpg do you get from an auto Tdi? My unmodified manual Tdi disco does about 30mpg (my parents used to get 35+, but with much less urban and motorway driving than I do), which is a damn site better than my V8 auto rangie (15mpg on LPG, ~18mpg on petrol - less if I drive with a heavy right foot). I'm currently fixing up the disco to sell it (it had a knackered gearbox), but having a crisis over whether I should keep it and sell the rangie instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brasco Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 Thanks for the feedback !! Brasco, thinking about it, swapping the diff gears to a lower ratio (numerically higher) like a 3.75 or 4.10:1 might work well with an auto, it'd stop it hunting for gears so much and be able to make better use of the OD. I know most of the guys in the US who swap to a TDI tend to run it with an auto, I know someone in Florida who did the swap about 2 - 3 months back. I'll email them and see what diff gears their are running. would be intersting to know.. thanks I'm currently fixing up the disco to sell it (it had a knackered gearbox), but having a crisis over whether I should keep it and sell the rangie instead keep them both!! will miss each other if you split them apart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEANO3528 Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 keep them both!! will miss each other if you split them apart Nah, get rid of the RR and the Disco will pine for the loss of such a beautiful companion. Sell the Disco and the RR will breath a sigh of relief that the riff-raff has finally gone elsewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Nah, get rid of the RR and the Disco will pine for the loss of such a beautiful companion.Sell the Disco and the RR will breath a sigh of relief that the riff-raff has finally gone elsewhere I think the neighbours would probably put it the other way round...the disco just needs a bit of T-Cut and polish to look as good as new. The rangie bears the scars of a few laning trips I much prefer the rangie, but there's no denying I'd spend a lot more time driving the disco instead of fixing it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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