Lesson #3: get a diesel

A car update for those interested. I chose the petrol option for the Defender because it was cheaper (to buy and to run) and lighter, and because I thought diesels were so last century. Availability in remote areas used to be an issue but you can get petrol pretty much anywhere now (even if you need to add octane booster occasionally for your fussy engine). I made the wrong call.

I actually changed my mind after I ordered the car, but when I called the dealer to change to the diesel option prior to the build, I found out the car was already on a ship to Australia. To be fair, they offered to get the diesel option for me instead, but it meant going back in the queue. By then, given the change in configurations, the diesel wasn’t that much more expensive so I should have gone for it and just waited in the queue again. Why? Because diesels use SO much less fuel.

 

My previous Land Rover of similar weight was a diesel that averaged about 8L/100km without even trying. When I drive the Defender I can get just under 10L/100km when I try hard, and I averaged 11L/100km driving from Sydney to Orange on this trip – full loaded and with all the stuff on the roof and ascending 1,000m. I was happy with that, as it gave me an effective range of about 800km. Who needs a diesel, right?

 

Yesterday I averaged 13L/100km and today I averaged 14.5 – an effective range of about 600km. Which is enough, but is WAY worse than what I thought I would be getting. So what happened to the mileage? Maybe someone can tell me, but I think it was the higher speeds. I tried putting more air in the tyres and removing stuff from the roof racks – neither made any difference to the consumption: 14.5 it was. Then I tried driving at the speed I normally drive at: less than 100km/hr instead of 110-120 and the consumption went back to around 11. It is probably the little engine doing its best, but I reckon the 6 cylinder diesel would have done much better. In fact, the 6 cylinder petrol might have done better as well. Or it is the gearing? Sitting on 1,900-2,000RPM seems too high – it felt like it needed another gear (Michael or Neil can probably tell me).

 

Anyway, no big deal as the car still went up to 130 and overtook road trains easily, it just means I will be spending more on petrol than I thought. Still better than my old LandCruiser, which got 18L/100km on a good day. Good thing I brought the jerry cans. And who knows, my next Defender might be electric.