New and need Disco advice

[nzspearo]

Hey guys - just joined and need some advice!

I currently have a petrol (3.3) 1995 terrano that i'm thinking of upgrading soon, and am considering a disco 2. I don't need 'go anywhere' capability, but do use the terrano off road for accessing duck shooting and hunting possies - a bit of mud, some steep pummice hills, and occassionally in the sand. I liked the terrano for the fact that I can sleep in the back too.

Also tow a trailer every now and then, but not overly heavy - 5.5m ali boat.

It's going to be my daily driver, and needs to comfortable on road for the wife and bubs.

I like the 2002-2004 facelift discos, but am after opinions about the lack of a centre diff-lock in this model. I've read a bit about the history of LR removing it once they put TC into the discos, but also understand that the TC didn't live up to expectations.

Leaning toward the petrol (easier to find), but assuming the td5 would be cheaper to run.

Looking forward to feedback from disco drivers.

cheers

nzspearo

[turoa]

Discos are fantastic vehicles, but unfortunately are one of those things that if you get a bad one then it can be bad but if you get a good one it will go forever.

They are awesome tow wagons. There are two types of rear suspension, the airbag model and the coil (they all have coil front). Airbags are really good if you tow alot of heavy loads, but can be troublesome if not used for towing much. If you dont tow really heavy loads much, then probably go for the coil model. Much less to go wrong.

They are very comfy vehicles and if equipped with the ACE system, they handle like a car. Less so without it but still very good.

The later models are the ones with the difflock control added back in again. The earlier ones dont have the control for it, but you can just add the lever and cables off a disco 1 and it gives you a centre diff lock again. Landrover never actually removed the centre diff lock, just the control for it. The traction control is actually very suprising. Not so good on some surfaces but quite good on others.

Td5's are fantastic motors. They go awesome when they are chipped. If you go the whole hog on them they turn right on. I would much rather have a chipped and intercooled one over a v8 one because as well as having power they will do 10l/100k easy.

They do have a fair share of problems though, some of the ones my dad has had are the head dowells (they are made of nylon) break and the head shifts slightly and so the headgasket has to be replaced. This is fixed with steel dowells.

Overall fantastic vehicles for the money you pay for em.

Though if you dont care about fuel economy, go the p38 rangies. Cheap, comfy and just overall fantastic wagons.

[lilpigzuk]

Tu's pretty much nailed it. Great all round wagons. The chipped TD5 I had was as quick as a V8. So yeah if you have a choice
With ACE (active cornering enhancement - essential a hydraulic swaybar)
with rear coils (over airbags)

[Stage1V8]

The later models are the ones with the difflock control added back in again. The earlier ones dont have the control for it, but you can just add the lever and cables off a disco 1 and it gives you a centre diff lock again. Landrover never actually removed the centre diff lock, just the control for it. The traction control is actually very suprising. Not so good on some surfaces but quite good on others.

Actually, not true in New Zealand. Motorcorp, in their infinite stupidity, decided that the NZ market did not need a CDL on the 2004MY D2. Therefore the transfer case has none. To get a CDL you will need to replace the transfer case with one that has it. Their reasoning was that the traction control and hill descent control make up for it, and most cases they are right. It is in those 'other' situations that you need it and it isn't there. I think the real reason is that not having it installed from new meant they could cut their costs by about 9 grand per vehicle.

Td5's are fantastic motors. They go awesome when they are chipped. If you go the whole hog on them they turn right on. I would much rather have a chipped and intercooled one over a v8 one because as well as having power they will do 10l/100k easy.

Mine is a 2004MY, TD5 HSE, with face lifted lights. I have had it chipped and that has made a huge difference in performance and handling. It will cruise to the top of the Bombays in top, at just over 100 k's. Given mine also has 18" alloys the wheel diameter is a little larger so that makes it better.

They do have a fair share of problems though, some of the ones my dad has had are the head dowells (they are made of nylon) break and the head shifts slightly and so the headgasket has to be replaced. This is fixed with steel dowells.

Most of those issues were resolved before 2003. 2004 was the last year the TD5 featured in the Disco so at the end of their inclusion they have pretty much nailed it. Recurrent problems are electrical and hydraulic - ACE especially throws up errors but have yet to find what is causing them.

Though if you dont care about fuel economy, go the p38 rangies. Cheap, comfy and just overall fantastic wagons.

The V8's are cheap as chips and very reliable machines. Getting a TD5, expect to pay good money for them but that's cause they're worth it.

I've had mine 5 years now, from new. With the boat on the back the rig weighs in at about 6 tonnes, and pulls like a school boy.