The problem with a diesel conversion is not a matter of money, or difficulty or time. The question is what do you hope to gain?

 

In terms of answering "what do you hope to gain?" I think your well put question has multiple points of response.

First - I would assume that an individual with a "broken" disco would be looking to get their machine back on the road and assumingly willing to pay something in order to accomplish this versus scrapping their ride and just purchasing something else. So it really becomes a discussion on the delta of fixing what is broken by doing A or B.

Secondly, and I apologize if you own/drive one, but driving a Diesel is an experience that you just have to... well - experience. My daily driver is a MB Diesel GL320 and I love the torque that comes out of this thing. I can drive my wife's Ford Expedition on the exact same trip through the mountains and the engine/transmission is all over the place trying to match the correct power with load/speed of the vehicle, and in fact is anoying. On the other hand, my Diesel rarely even changes its gears, just requireing a little more effort from the right foot to accend the same mountain roads... and at the same highway speeds.

Third - there is some advantage to the MPG that you may get that is meassured in more than just money. Take my MB which gets 24 MPG at 75-80 Mph vs the Expedition which is approx 14 MPG (on a good day) at the same speed. I can drive from the south side of Chicago Il to Albany NY on one tank of fuel where the Expedition takes at least one stop and probably two. Based on the cost of fuel this is not necessarily a $ based decision or advantage.

Fourth - Did I mention the torque? Towing anything with a Diesel is a completely different expierence with a D vs gasoline power.

Fifth - Some of us just want something different and are wiling to pay a price for it. The Diesel option in a Ford F250/350 is about $5,500 (my MB was less expensive that the gasoline version), guess what powers my truck. I could own a Glock like everyone else, but you guessed it … I don't, I'm a Walther guy. A little more $ but a lot of "uniqueness" at the range. Would I pay $15k for a DieselDisco? No, but I bet someone would. I'm in at the $7-8,000 range.

So I guess to sum it up the gain is to invest in something that the owner feels is of greater value than the market price and get it back on the road. Additionally the gain is to achieve some uniqueness along with traits that only come with an oil burner.

I hope that helps!

 

Yeah, mostly number 2...plus a lot of number 5.
800 miles between stops and 35 US mpg with the TD5 doesn't hurt either.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on all points actually, including the plastic gun.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Wow, very very good web page.

 

I'm as interested as you in a diesel conversion, however there are no benefits that make it worth my 10 large, which is what it will cost if you do the work yourself, unless you have some really good friends in the UK. It is not economically feasible to convert the disco II to diesel I have done the math it doesn't work bro.

 

the real reason we all want a diesel..never know when you might need to pull something around

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukpfTHz5t6c&NR=1

 

never know when you might need to pull something around

finally!