Diesel talk 200 tdi or 300 tdi?
- Thread starter Funrover
- Start date
DiscoDavis
Explorer
all things being equal: 200tdi. It was overbuilt for the time and is very easy to run/service. Parts are getting scarcer like heads, not a terrible issue as it can technically use a 300 head. My personal preference is V belts so that's nice.
Realistically, 300tdi was more common and made for the longest period of time. Lots of military vehicles used it which will age out in the next few years like the wolf land rovers so supply is less of an issue. The cooling system is harder to bleed than the 200, but not terrible. There are internal differences, they are a bit quieter, same rough power as 200, same fuel economy.
Both are nice non computer engines.
Realistically, 300tdi was more common and made for the longest period of time. Lots of military vehicles used it which will age out in the next few years like the wolf land rovers so supply is less of an issue. The cooling system is harder to bleed than the 200, but not terrible. There are internal differences, they are a bit quieter, same rough power as 200, same fuel economy.
Both are nice non computer engines.
DiscoDavis
Explorer
getlost4x4
Expedition Leader
Having just bought one of each. The 200 TDi is definately slower that the 300 TDi.
I drove the 300 TDi in a defender station wagon with 33" tall tires, 400 miles across the UK from Great Yarmouth to Nottingham and then to Southampton and its very livable. Fuel mileage was pretty good 16-17 mpg. We filled it up twice, each time it had about half a tank left. So all in we used a little over a tank of diesel in it. We were going highway speeds and Motorway speeds with it.
The 200 TDi is fine. Its not going to win any speed records. We didn't drive it far enough to get any mileage out of it. It was definitely slower, but not horribly. I'm sure you could ad an intercooler and turn up the fuel and boost a bit to make it more powerful. It is a stupid simple engine to work on.
I drove the 300 TDi in a defender station wagon with 33" tall tires, 400 miles across the UK from Great Yarmouth to Nottingham and then to Southampton and its very livable. Fuel mileage was pretty good 16-17 mpg. We filled it up twice, each time it had about half a tank left. So all in we used a little over a tank of diesel in it. We were going highway speeds and Motorway speeds with it.
The 200 TDi is fine. Its not going to win any speed records. We didn't drive it far enough to get any mileage out of it. It was definitely slower, but not horribly. I'm sure you could ad an intercooler and turn up the fuel and boost a bit to make it more powerful. It is a stupid simple engine to work on.
DiscoDavis
Explorer
What Red says is correct. The post above that is really a tune difference, both engines can produce the same power. 16-17 mpg is pretty low btw...
getlost4x4
Expedition Leader
iTS CALLED A LED FOOT. HA HA HA. I don't like to overstate my fuel mileage. I hate guys who think they are getting 50+ mpg out of their cummins. I get 17 out of my cummins, but I have a lead foot and like going fast.
I didn't calculate anything on the one I bought, but I know it was awesome because we didn't use much fuel. Not like a 4.2 L V8 Range Rover classic. I used to have to fill mine up just driving back and forth to SLC from my house 30 minutes away.
getlost4x4
Expedition Leader
Good. Then that mujst be what I was getting.
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getlost4x4
Expedition Leader
I did get 41.5 mpg out of our rental car. A 2018 Kia Optima Estate. It was a 1.7 turbo diesel. We put 1300 miles on it in a week.
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rovercolorado
Member
My factory 200 Tdi 1991 Defender 110 3 door was getting me 25+ MPG US every time for 2 years straight. I really almost always got 28 MPG on both Bio B20 (summer) and regular diesel (winter) the whole time I owned the truck. The only time I got under that number was longer trips on the highway climbing mountain passes and then I still got around 25 MPG. I was able to keep up with traffic but never really drove it faster than 75 MPH. I was very comfortable with 65-70 MPH even at elevation. I live in Colorado Springs and we start at 6,000 ft and go up to 11,000 ft on trips in mountains. I used it as my primary transportation and drove at least 5 days a week. I never had an issue getting parts from the UK.
Doesn't matter how I drive, I almost always get 25-30mpg with my 200Tdi. Anyone who says they got 14mpg in a 200Tdi has a hole in their tank. I recently added some more pre-load on the "smoke screw" to help get the turbo spooled up a little bit faster down low, which I think has helped a little. I can run 70 all day long on the interstate.
(Ignore the oil pressure gauge, swapping out sensors)
(Ignore the oil pressure gauge, swapping out sensors)
Doesn't matter how I drive, I almost always get 25-30mpg with my 200Tdi. Anyone who says they got 14mpg in a 200Tdi has a hole in their tank. I recently added some more pre-load on the "smoke screw" to help get the turbo spooled up a little bit faster down low, which I think has helped a little. I can run 70 all day long on the interstate.
(Ignore the oil pressure gauge, swapping out sensors)
I spun the boost pin, and dropped the star wheel down a turn or so on my 200. went from zero smoke, but zero pull under 2000rpm (difficult for hill starts and towing) to v. respinsive with a small puff off boost. well worth doing!