I am in the process of trading in my trusty 1998 r reg 1.8 XSi for a 2004 shape freelander.

So do I get the petrol or the TD4??? I have heard all the horror head gasket stories about the old k series 1.8, are they fixed on the 2004 1.8???

Anyone have a 1.8 2004 freelander.. any opinions??


Thanks,

Paul.

 

The headgasket problem was fixed sometime ago, and normally doesn't cause an issue except on high milage or highly abused cars, i.e. thrashed and not serviced. The factors should be the cost of everyday running, what fuel is easily available etc. and what sort of performance you want.

I favour diesel

 

good to know the hg is not a problem anymore. tomorrow will be looking at a 1.8 HSE 04 plate with 8k on the clock.

also i intend to try a couple of td4's

is the td4 much faster/slower than the 1.8? what about service costs?

to be honest i am not that interested in performance.

thanks for the reply!

Paul.

 

My finding with modern diesels are that they are actually quite quick, compared to what they were like before turbo's came along.

You will find that the driving style for the petrol is different from the diesel. again it is what you are use to. The diesel tends to be a much lazier style of drive, with a 70mph crusing speed only registering about 2500rpm, where as the petrol will be in the 3000rpm+
Also, if you plan to use it to tow a caravan or such like, the diesel tends to make a better job of that, as it produces are more torque.

You are doing the best thing, and that is test driving them, and finding out what you like, or don't like, both about the engines and also the Freelander itself.

 

well... i went for the 1.8 HSE in the end... and am very happy.

i did enjoy the td4, but the fact it was 3K more than the petrol helped me make up my mind.

maybe i will trade in for a diesel in a year or so. will see how it goes.


caravan towing is not my thing... I am in the tv industry so need the space for kit.

thanks for your help.

paul.

 

Hope you enjoy it, have fun.

 

the only diesel i have ever drove is my dad's 2000 F-250 Powerstroke. i'm not sure if there are many of those in UK or not, but i love the crap out of it. 7.3 Liters of pure American horsepower and torque. our's isn't exactly stock though. turbo upgrade here, computer upgrade there. the new ford powerstrokes are a 6 liter. but they are four valve compared to the 7.3's 2 valve. I wonder why the diesels aren't even offered on my side of the "pond". (isn't that what y'all call the atlantic?) diesel would be cool on a freelander.

 

They have offered the diesels, but they just don't sell yet over in the USA like they do over here.. The thing to remember is that in the UK the price of fuel is a lot higher than in the USA.. £3.65 per gallon at present.. which is about $6.90 oer gallon.. so driving a diesel landie here makes a lot of sense when you get in the region of 40mpg in the freelander diesel and maybe 28mpg in the V6 petrol (gas)

 

$6.90? that's crazy. its a $1.69 here in west texas, but we are in the middle of vast oil fields. i though y'all used liters (or litres as it says in my owner's manual) for fuel anyway. a good thing about diesels is that while gasoline engines only burn 70% of their fuel, a diesel burns ninety. eventually, all is burned with new technology such as the EGR (exhuast gas return) valve on most modern vehicles. does everything in America cost a fourth of what it cost y'all?


if y'all wanna see what it looks like in my part of texas, i suggest you rent the movie, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, most of the movie was filmed here in midland and odessa, a town 20 (42 km) miles or so from midland. i really don't know if that movie is available in UK, but if so, y'all should see it.

 

No the costs are not four times more expensive, generally, just fuel as it is heavily taxed by the government here as they are trying to discourage people from using their cars for environmental reasons. (and also it is a good way for the government to raise money)

Soon we will see Bio-diesel on the market, (already have a 5% mix of Bio with mineral diesel available) this bio diesel will be cheaper, than the mineral to buy. The UK government is now working towards the UK not been dependant on mineral oils anymore, a factory is now producing plastics made from Vegtable oil.