Tanuki Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 The time has come to consider a replacement for my trusty 2001 Defender 90TD5. Having driven a new 2.2TDCi Defender I wasn't honestly that impressed - it sounded and felt a lot rougher than the TD5 which is only to be expected when you''re 'missing' a cylinder and don't have a dual-mass-flywheel to compensate. My thoughts are now switching to a Disco "Commercial" - it definitely ticks the box as far as engine size/power/smoothness is concerned, and has a usefully rugged cargo-space to handle the logs-and-dogs side of things. Should also be a good towcar. The downsides for me are: alloy wheels/soft-roader tyres, the autobox, and the air-suspension. Could do without the aircon and satnav and radio and suchlike too. Now, I know that in some EU countries where 'luxury' cars are subject to punitve first-registration taxes quite a number of manufacturers offer "strippers" - cars that are de-contented to reduce the sticker-price and so put them into a lower tax-class. Does anyone know if there are 'commercial' Discos available in the European market ? If so, where? My current Defender was a personal-import from Belgium so I've got no issues about having to do the whole ferries-and-one-day-insurance-and-transit-plates-and-customs-paperwork game if it's going to get me the car I want at a beneficial price. --Tanuki. "Understeer makes you hit the hedge with the front of the car. Oversteer makes you hit the hedge with the rear of the car. Horsepower decides how fast you hit the hedge. Torque decides how far you take the hedge with you." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie D Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Lots here just across the pond in Ireland! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Lots here just across the pond in Ireland! I may just have to investigate sailing-times for the Fishguard-Rosslare ferry ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I guess we are talking disco 4? I wouldnt even consider a manual the 8 speed auto is a pretty perfect box and there's plenty of power on tap. Afaik you can get steel wheels but the alloys are pretty tough, if you don't mind abit of tech andhave reasonable dealer acess I'd say go for it however I would be looking to swap sooner than 12 years I think. Just my 2p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Yes I'd be looking at a Disco4: my money-man is currently investigating the financials to see if a 3- or 4-year lease makes sense. Somehow I just don't feel that an autobox is the right thing in a truck: my experience of a lot of recent autos is that they're obsessed with changing up at stupdly-low road-speeds (for economy/emissions reasons) - a diesel Audi hire-car I had a while back would put itself into 'top' at 35MPH, which was absolutely crazy as you had absolutely no power (the engine being way off boost at about 1100RPM) or engine-braking available. I found this positively terrifying, specially the delay waiting for a 3-gear-downshift and the eventual arrival-of-boost when trying to go for a gap on a roundabout. I once did drive a 3-litre TD automatic Mitsubishi that got it right: there was a mode which basically said "choose whichever gear will keep the engine always on-boost and turning at a speed between maximum torque and maximum power". It even 'knew' that easing-off the throttle coupled with moderate braking probably meant I was going into a bend, and would downshift in anticipation - just right for "slow-ish in, fast-as-possible out" towing on twisty rural A-roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hok Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 My parents own a Dutch 'Stripped' Disco3 Commercial with an autobox. It has air suspension, aircon, radio/cd player, cruise control and electric windows. No navi, there's a small shelf where the screen would be. Not all Dutch commercial D3's are stripped down versions. I don't know if the D4 was ever sold stripped down, but they are available as commercial cars. I did a quick search on trading websites and I didn't find any stripped down cars. Of course this doesn't mean there are none. D3s with a manual gearbox are pretty rare in The Netherlands and I've never seen a D4 with a manual, but then again I rarely take a good look at them when I see one. If your set on having a manual you'll probably have more luck finding one in Belgium. In case you want to look around on Dutch websites, we call our commercial cars ' grijs kenteken ' cars or just ' commercial '. Other then the international car trading sites people often use www.marktplaats.nl to advertise their cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddychris300tdi Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I have a friend that has upgraded from a Disco 3 to 4, and brought a brand new 110. He says the driving differance between the 3 and 4 is huge. He says its like getting out the 110 and getting in a Disco, two totally differant vehicles. Another think he commented on was the differance in down shift and pull off. It has no lag like the Disco 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hok Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 The V6 diesel in the D4 should be much better than the one that was available for the D3, and it has a modern robotized autobox that will perform much better than the antique model they had in the D3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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