I have a 4.2 which has been magnificent but it isnow on 152k (running beautifully no faults) but feel I need to get one a tad younger.
The options are a5.0 or a 4.4 diesel - I have never owned a diesel always had v8 so looking for a bit of advice really and will only spend up to 25k so what are the opinions please
I will keep the 4.2 and put it in the garden with the p38 and classic

I had a 4.2S/C and went to a 4.4TDV8. I had just got bored with the lack of range and amount of time I spent in petrol stations. I was very happy with the cahnge. The same sort of performance but delivered with a wave of lazy torque that rather suits the car. However, it would go litereally double the distance on a tank. Other than filling up at the horrid black-handled pump, there is little to remind you that you are in an oil burner - the NVH is almost on a par with the petrol.

However, I was buying nearly new. There are higher maintenance costs long-term with diesel that I knew I did not have to consider. For you, they will be more of a factor, I guess - but I haven't heard many horror stories on the engine.

To be fair I dont mind repair or running costs I just hate depreciation I have suffered at its hand many times and vowed never to buy new again I guess I need to go and drive the diesel and then also try the 4.4 - 405 as they are down to less than 40k maybe I am being a bit mean with 25k
Good info thank you

When I went from L322 to L405, I stayed with the diesel mainly for depreciation and range. The L405 has the 4.4SDV8 so I'm guessing that the supercharger will have fewer issues than a turbo.

That said, with diesel being painted as the devil's fuel, I'm thinking about a return to petrol. Perhaps the new PHEV or even the 5.0SC. I test drove a 5.0 and looked at the fuel consumption. Single digits on the (London) car I drove.

It is a bit of a quandary I do about 25 to 30k a year and it is the filling up that annoys mind you as I get older I am usually thankful of the break to have a stretch.

I think at 25-30k a year I would buy a diesel.

I do around 6,000 miles a year in mine so can stomach the rubbish range. For the moment at least!

cheers Alex

2018 Skoda Kodiaq vRS
2009 Caterham Supersport Race car
2007 M5 Touring
2005 Range Rover Vogue SE Supercharged
2004 SL55 AMG

With that mileage I would go for the diesel.

If you can stretch to a euro6 car even better, as that will get round some of the proposed Low emission zones which will slowly come into force across the country. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

The problem with big V8 petrol cars - I had a 6.2 litre V8 Monaro recently - is the incremental cost of each journey, when you're only getting 15 mpg or the like. You find yourself thinking "my 15 mile each way drive to play golf will cost me £11 in petrol, that's nearly the cost of the round of golf...." Even though you know the petrol doesn't have the long term costs of an equivalent diesel.

Also, big diesels and auto gearboxes suit a car like the RR rather well, I think. Lots of torque, low revs, good for motorway wafting. So it's the devil's fuel for me.

The thing is I am used to doing that mileage with my 4.2 s/c so that is not so much of an issue it is more the general feel and performance - also have to go into Central London maybe once a month for work
So guess I am leaning towards petrol

counter of beans wrote:

The problem with big V8 petrol cars - I had a 6.2 litre V8 Monaro recently - is the incremental cost of each journey, when you're only getting 15 mpg or the like. You find yourself thinking "my 15 mile each way drive to play golf will cost me £11 in petrol, that's nearly the cost of the round of golf...." Even though you know the petrol doesn't have the long term costs of an equivalent diesel.

Also, big diesels and auto gearboxes suit a car like the RR rather well, I think. Lots of torque, low revs, good for motorway wafting. So it's the devil's fuel for me.

and thats why there is a dilemma

Emperor Mong wrote:

When I went from L322 to L405, I stayed with the diesel mainly for depreciation and range. The L405 has the 4.4SDV8 so I'm guessing that the supercharger will have fewer issues than a turbo.

Superchargers in general take a great deal of engine power to run and put a substantial load on the engine. I don’t know the figures for the Range Rover, but when I was heavily in to supercharged MINI Cooper S’s, a 1.6 engine producing a peak power output of 170 bhp was reckoned to have already lost around 40-50 bhp simply to drive the supercharger, while the superchargers themselves were also vulnerable to lubrication failure.

I’m not for a minute saying that the RR will have supercharger lubrication issues, but I was just trying to say that superchargers and the engines that drive them, can have problems all of their own

PS: the SDV8 is a storming engine and a pleasure to drive; it suits the RR really well

Sandyt wrote:

The thing is I am used to doing that mileage with my 4.2 s/c so that is not so much of an issue it is more the general feel and performance...

We had a 4.2SC and changed to a 4.4TDV8 (both L322). The performance of the 4.4 diesel compared with 4.2 petrol felt very similar and yet the diesel was perhaps not so aggressive under acceleration. Both great cars to drive and enjoy.

£25k should secure a cracker of a 4.4 or 5.0 L322... or as you mention, there's always the L405

The 4.4 diesel fuel return, as EM says, was probably double that of the 4.2 petrol.

If you have not already done so, you might find it useful to read the item 'Petrol or Diesel' on the LR UK website. Your mileage would suggest diesel would be better.

Until my present car I would never have considered a diesel RR - they were so much slower than the petrol alternative and my mileage (about 12,000 a year) did not make petrol unrealistic. I have been happy with the engine performance of my 4.4TDV8, though I cannot compare with the 4.2 SC.

The 4.4TDV8 was developed for the RR and, as others have said, suits it well, with good torque and a relaxed, low revving character. With the 8 speed gearbox 60mph is not much over 1,000 revs. Tank range is quite good, though the Euro 6 cars with Adblue tanks have 85l diesel tanks rather than 100l. There is enough power for overtaking, particularly in the lighter 405. The downside for me is the complexity of the two turbos and Ablue set-up, I have an oil weep on my second turbo but no smoking as I am over 2,500 rpm often enough. I have never had DPF problems as I do hardly any town driving. There is of course now also the adverse political climate, but the LR article suggests the Euro 6 diesels are pretty clean. It would be useful to see the 'Real World' emissions test results, but I am not aware of LR having published them. As they will affect road tax on new cars from April 2018 they presumably will need to do so quite soon. I wonder about the emissions impact of the fuel burning heater, it produces visible smoke sometimes, not healthy for bystanders...

I would not personally buy a 3.0 TDV6 405 due to the engine seizure risk, though many on here report no problems. I'd also feel that if I was having diesel I might as well have the one with more power.

I have only limited experience of the 5.0SC. The power lives a bit higher up the rev range. On the one hand that is a good thing as it makes it quite manageable and not the handful one might expect from the 500 bhp, but there is not the low revving torque that makes driving more relaxing. It is maybe marginally smoother and it does seem a simpler set-up which might be less likely to cause problems, though I think earlier cars in particular have timing chain issues - you might search for that. The other challenge with the 5.0SC is that there are so few used ones to choose from. I slightly wonder how long one will be allowed engines like the 5.0SC, certainly the average CO2 emissions targets for manufacturers coming in 2020 I think make them less attractive for JLR. With the deal with Ford to build that engine coming to an end there may be a limited window of opportunity to get one.

What would I do? My heart says get a 5.0SC while it is still possible, my head that the diesel makes more sense. Maybe it will come down to finding the right car at the right time. Only Range Rovers since 1988

I am going to look for a petrol but as I dont really want black it is a narrow search so much so that I may well end up with a chip fat special - I will give myself until June