So currently on the hunt for a good 16/17 car, a deployable towbar would be great, and I know the SDV8 will clearly be superior, however I tow a light race car and trailer -S1 Exige (with 450bhp and a sequential gearbox) which weighs only 750kg and a trailer that’s a similar weight.

Our current ML350cdi copes just fine with a V6 3.0 diesel and circa 400ft/lb, never shifts out of 7th on the motorway etc.

Does anyone do towing with their 3.0 and find it wanting (other than the obvious more power and torque always being nice)

Thanks

We use our L405 TDV6 for towing a horse trailer with one or two horses on a regular basis and have always found it more than adequate.

Used a V6 to tow our rib to the Med and had no issues. Weight of the boat and trailer around 2.5t and cruised nicely at 75-80mph but on the hills it slowed a bit. My current 4.4 V8 diesel is far superior but for the weight you're towing a V6 will be a perfect tow car.

Did a fair amount of towing with the SDV6 in both D4’s and they were perfect for towing. But, if you’re concerned, why not have the SDV8? Driven at V6 speeds, there’s little difference in running costs (and I’m doing 35,000 miles a year at my own expense, so have a fair idea!).

I have only driven the sdv8 and loved it, proper torque and a great place to be, it was just that the towing is probably only a few times a year as the car is often taken to and from events, so it’s not like I am towing every weekend.

That’s and it would be the wife’s daily and we only do about 6-7000 miles per annum.

If that all the mileage that you’re doing, then it’s even more reason to live with the minor difference in running costs

I’ve got a similar V6 diesel in the Disco 5 that I’ve been using as a loaner for the last couple of days. It’s a nice enough engine, but it’s not the same and it’s improved my economy by only about 3mpg (indicated 29 vs indicated 32). Both will tow perfectly well, but it’ll increase your fuel costs by no more than around £150 a year. Why bother with such a marginal saving in the overall scheme of things?

For that mileage, I’d even consider a V8 petrol. Even by just considering one, it’ll make the SDV8 seem positively sensible!

If you need some more sensible reasons to choose the V8, the 6 piston Brembo brakes, that are a V8 only fitment, are superb, the car will corner a lot flatter and it’s insanely easy to drive very smoothly, particularly at slow speeds. It’s also immune to the crank failures that can very occasionally affect the V6’s.

Yeah, who needs an excuse, for the wife’s point of view it’s irrelevant, although more power is always nice I doubt she would
even notice. For all the increase in cost by 2 yrs old the V8 diesel almost seems comparable in cost interestingly.