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Home > My Range Rover > The Range Rover is Dead - Long Live the Range Rover!

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KurtVerbose

Member Since: 08 Aug 2010
Location: Les Arses
Posts: 5848

2007 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Stornoway Grey

The Range Rover is Dead - Long Live the Range Rover!

So I finally decided, well was forced to, replace my ancient TD6. It's become too rusty, too incontinent (oil drips from engine, turbo, gearbox and diff) and had too many small things going wrong with it (rear windscreen wiper motor, engine that would occasionally not start without easy start the most recent things).

It's been a great car over the last 7 1/2 years and 80k miles. It's towed huge quantities of things for me, sometimes across the continent. It took +80 tonnes of earth from my basement excavation to the dump.

I was hoping it would last until my house renovations were completed and then I could get a normal car, but there always seems to be a house project going on. Ultimately I decided I didn't want a normal car - I wanted to have a Range Rover.

So my buying policy has changed. Instead of running one into the ground, I buy approx 10 years old, so I can get a warrentee, and sell 2 years later. That way I don't have lots of depeciation, have a reasonably modern car and hopefully no big reliability issues.

Enter my TDV8.

Click image to enlarge

Already working for me.

Click image to enlarge

It's a 2007 Vogue. Done 138,000 km's. Not sure it was a great deal but I needed a newer one quickly. Think I squeezed as much as possible from the selling garage as I was about to get on my bike and ride away when one of them came running out and agreed the deal.

Things I dislike.

1. The seats aren't as good. Seem to be missing some thigh support?

2. It has blacked out windows. Imagine my delight when I found I could tear this krap off.

Click image to enlarge

No idea why people like blacked out windows. A friend of mine says it's good for kids in the back as it doesn't get hot and they can watch TV. Well I don't have kids and found it horrible both to look at and to see out of.

3. No tow bar, so I've had one fitted.

Click image to enlarge

4. No second set of winter wheels. I'll keep the 19's from my last car and have ordered some winter tyres for them.

5. For some reason the previous owner fitted 275/45/R20's to it. These are Altenzo's. Never heard of them? From Australia I understand, so let's hope I don't end up upside down. Seem ok but the ride is not as good as my TD6, but I don't know how much of this is caused by the tyres. I was surprised it passed its Swiss MOT with non-standard tyre sizes.

(You get the picture of the previous owner - blacked out windows, big but cheap non brand tyres. All that stuff 'yoofs' can get in Halfords for tarting up their hatchbacks he would love.)

6. Rear parcel shelf is missing. As it's the same interior colour as the TD6, I'll just use that.

7. You get a stupid message, that you have to agree to, from the sat nav every time you start the car. If you turn the engine off in traffic you get the same message when starting it again. Do LR have a legal obligation to do this? Same with all the other pointless Health and Safety messages, like the take care when reversing message overlayed on the reverse camera screen. How many accidents have they prevented with these messages? I think a negative number, as people crash while distracted pressing the button!

8. Throttle lag. Because the engine's so much more powerful, the build in boost is so much more noticeable.

9. Not too sure about the throttle blip on manual down changes. Nice for smooth changes, but sometimes going downhill you change into second and, a little frighteningly, initially surge forward. I guess just a case of getting used to it.

10. I don't know why I didn't notice when inspecting the car - but it stinks of smoke. I have a very poor sense of smell, which is normally useful as I'm lactose intolerant and have a fondness for cheese. Why don't they just make tabaco instantly fatal then we wouldn't have this problem? I'm now taking steps to get rid of this smell. I hear it can be done. Will open a thread when I've had a go.

Things I like.

1. It's exactly the same colours as the last one, so no one thinks I've bought a newer car.

2. Has a dog net.

3. Has a ski hatch.

Click image to enlarge

4.The handling is far better than the TD6, and actually having less roll makes it more comfortable in corners.

5. It's substantially quieter. It's still obviously a diesel, and just like the TD6, sometimes it seems quiet and other times it seems noisier. That quite tall 6th gear really makes a difference at motorway speeds where the RPM is 2000 rather than 2700. It's still not as quiet as I'd like though.

(Why do some people say 'RPM's', Revolutions Per Minutes?)

6. It's much quicker. Brisk even. The TD6 is really underpowered - 180bhp in a 2.6 ton car is almost truck power to weight ratio. I now don't yearn for more power. Towing isn't the noisy chore it used to be. With the better handling you can really throw it around and still maintain some dignity.

Actually, the quietness is partly because of the greater power. The engine just doesn't have to try so hard, and when the TDV8 is trying hard it sounds good, where as the TD6 sounds awful. Try going full power up a long hill with a 3.5 ton trailer and you'll soon get sick of the din and accept you have to slow down - sometimes to a really slow pace.

7.Comes with this fabulous optional extra.

Click image to enlarge

So my lists of dislikes is longer than my list of likes, but most of the dislikes I can fix or are minor. All in all - well chuffed with the new car!

The old one will be going on Swiss ebay soon. No idea what I'll get for it - probably not much, but then it's 15 years old and has done 150,000 miles, and in all that time I've not had to replace the gearbox (although the previous owner had to)!

31st Oct 2017 6:41pm

stan
Site Moderator

Member Since: 13 Jul 2010
Location: a moderate moderated moderator moderating moderately in moderation
Posts: 35271

great write up and a nice looking FF..

check them turbo hoses, they have a tendency to split.. ... - .- -.

Y. O. L. O.
.

31st Oct 2017 7:07pm

rar110

Member Since: 09 Aug 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1119

2008 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Atacama Sand

And check the MAP sensors. Two easy jobs.

Consider an EGR delete from BAS or another remap provider. And maybe an induction cleaner.

For the trans, look at getting a service ASAP if it hasn’t already been done. If you’re really keen, have the transfer case removed and output splines re-greased. The splines in mine were dry and wore away until no drive to ftransfer box.

Your right, the tyres are reasonably well known here in Oz. They have a good reputation I think. I haven’t read anything bad about them.

Congrats. They are a nice vehicle. ______________________________
Vogue tdv8 08MY poverty pack - wow

31st Oct 2017 8:14pm

rar110

Member Since: 09 Aug 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1119

And you could probably get rid of the annoying messages with an IID Tool. ______________________________
Vogue tdv8 08MY poverty pack - wow

31st Oct 2017 8:16pm

KurtVerbose

Member Since: 08 Aug 2010
Location: Les Arses
Posts: 5848

It had a gear box service recently.

Not setup my IID tool for it yet, but will do soon.

31st Oct 2017 8:50pm

babagee

Member Since: 15 Feb 2015
Location: Somewhere between St. Helens & Kazakhstan
Posts: 142

2009 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Stornoway Grey

Good luck with the new ride 😎 2009 Stornoway Grey Vogue TDV8

31st Oct 2017 9:30pm

finchi

Member Since: 25 May 2017
Location: Hampshire and Cheshire
Posts: 120

2017 Range Rover Autobiography 5.0 SC V8 Carpathian Grey

Quote:
9. Not too sure about the throttle blip on manual down changes. Nice for smooth changes, but sometimes going downhill you change into second and, a little frighteningly, initially surge forward. I guess just a case of getting used to it.

I have this effect going down steep mountain roads. It's worth getting into that lower gear as early as practicable.

1st Nov 2017 12:55pm

RR2008HSE

Member Since: 06 Jan 2013
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 2932

Very nice. Great colour choices. I hope you, the dog, and the supermodels enjoy it.

5th Nov 2017 10:39pm

KurtVerbose

Member Since: 08 Aug 2010
Location: Les Arses
Posts: 5848

What has surprised me is the lame things that are carried over.

E.g. the cruise control that you have to 'switch on' before you set it. And the rain sensing wipers that you have to turn off and then on again before they work.

Begining to wonder if these features are still on the L405?

6th Nov 2017 1:12pm

dolph34

Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Kildare
Posts: 1724

2015 Range Rover Autobiography SDV8 Corris Grey

The rain sensor not coming on without a on / off can be very practical if the wipers are frozen to the screen. I had a Merc CLS that dropped the window slightly when you shut the door , one winters morning the motors burnt out trying to drop the frozen glass. 2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

6th Nov 2017 1:46pm

XXXAngelXXX

Member Since: 25 Mar 2007
Location: Stuttgart
Posts: 4994

2013 Range Rover Vogue SE 5.0 SC V8 Havana

Congrats - nice car Kurt All my spelling errorz are belong to me!

2023 FFRR L460
2021 AM new Vantage

6th Nov 2017 1:48pm

DaveK

Member Since: 18 Oct 2013
Location: StHelens
Posts: 790

The front seats in the FFRR after the change from BMW to Jag/Ford are indeed different. The BMW where a lot more comfy and had more support options.

10th Nov 2017 7:32pm

Monkfish

Member Since: 11 Mar 2016
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 13

I have recently made the same change as you, from TD6 to TDV8, and agree with pretty much everything you have said! The seats are great in the younger car, but by having an earlier model first we've really been spoilt - for me, those BMW era seats are very difficult to beat.

Mine has been remapped - including the often troublesome EGRs being mapped out - and the difference is noticeable. In 'normal' driving it feels every bit as punchy as the several 4.2 SC models I test drove.

Good luck with it!

11th Nov 2017 8:54pm

Change Junkie

Member Since: 22 Sep 2017
Location: Buckinghamshire
Posts: 35

2010 Range Rover Autobiography 5.0 SC V8 Alaska White

Great write up Kurt..... nice motor! Current:
2010 RR Supercharged V8 40k miles
2004 TVR Sagaris Road Track Prototype - Insane
2002 TVR T350 Pre-Production Prototype - Viceral
Previously:
2003 RR HSE - Owned from new - sold with 246k miles - yes 246k miles
2003 TVR TuscanS - Did what it said on the can
2000 Defender SWB - Iconic
1969 Series 2A Air Portable - Almost Concourse - Took to Buck Palace to see the Queen

12th Nov 2017 7:05am

KurtVerbose

Member Since: 08 Aug 2010
Location: Les Arses
Posts: 5848

Re: The Range Rover is Dead - Long Live the Range Rover!

Well, yesterday I finally got round to installing my winter tyres. Today there was snow - how's that for timing.

Delay was caused by: -

1, I needed to get the 19's off my old car - but the battery had died and it was parked too close to the garage wall. Got a new battery, which I fitted to the new one, then fitted the new one's battery to the TD6. BTW, fitting a 110 amp hour battery to the TDV8 is a muh harder job than fitting one to the TD6.

2. My regular tyre guy is out of action.

3. When I got them changed I found about the nut issue and had to order some new nuts from Dan.

I was interested to find out how the car was, bearing in mind it came on 275/45/R20's, as below.

KurtVerbose wrote:
5. For some reason the previous owner fitted 275/45/R20's to it. These are Altenzo's. Never heard of them? From Australia I understand, so let's hope I don't end up upside down. Seem ok but the ride is not as good as my TD6, but I don't know how much of this is caused by the tyres. I was surprised it passed its Swiss MOT with non-standard tyre sizes.

The new winters are Vredestein Wintrac Extreme S's. 255/55/R19's.

Well, it's lost a little of the Porsche Cayenne feel around corners (only a little), but the ride is noticeably better and it is also a lot quieter. Given I didn't buy the RR for its cornering prowess this is a big improvement. I don't know if it was the quality of the tyre, 20's vs 19's, 275 vs 255, or the profile, but I did not like the 275/45/R20 Altenzo's.

Come spring I have to decide whether to: -

1. Get to like them.
2. Keep the Vreds on all year round.
3. Chuck 'em for more sensible rubber.

26th Nov 2017 3:37pm

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