convince me....Disco or 80 cruiser

[tennismark]

Crap!!!! I'm stuck in my thinking between a disco diesel or Yota 80 series. It will be as a daily driver/tourer/weekend fun machine. My budjet is $20g, so it needs to be moded tyres33's,lift to suit, some bar work,radio and little recovery gear.
Not too sure which disco is best best, the 80 it doesn't really matter what year. Whats the relability of the disco/cruiser, strenght and things needed to the disco to match the 80?
Any help would be great, as you guy's are in the know!!!!!!

[oildripa]

didn't you get the email you could have the best of all worlds

Go for the Toyota

[tennismark]

i know, i was very impressed with the rangie...Im actually oversea's working thats why i can't move on a car at the moment. Wont be home till end of the year.....sorry, I wish i could but not practical at the present

[red90]

Apples and Oranges. An 80 series cruiser is much larger.

[stinger]

Well I can probably offer a balanced opinion, I have both, 2003 TD5 Disco and 94 80 Series.

But they are worlds apart to some degree.

Disco - Auto, F/R Air lockers, Bullbar, Spoties, ARB sliders, custom rear bar and swing away wheel carrier, Custom Drawers and fridge, Factory Air Bag Rear Suspension, remapped computer

80 Series, Poverty Pac, Aftermarket Hairdryer, F/R Air Lockers, 35" tyres, Bull Bar, Spoties, High Mount winch & plasma rope, custom sliders, Kaymar Rear Bar and swing away tyre, 6" suspension lift, no sway bars, custom drawers, Subaro Liberty front bucket seats

The Disco is a great touring vehicle, base model has cruiser control, duel climate control, good stereo, nice and quite can drive for hours no problems. They are very capable off road and only suffer from lack of clearance (espically in comparison to the cruiser ). I have no hesitation of taking this vehicle to cape or any other location in Australia.

The Cruiser is obviously a play vehicle and as such does not have a single panel without some rock of vegetation modification. The great thing about the Cruiser is they are easy to turn from tourer to competition vehicle, lift the suspension, throw in some big tyres, throw away the sway bars and may be drop in some lockers. But then it floats on the road so is not such a good touring vehicle, but is still my daily driver.

The question is what do you want to do with the vehicle??? Disco's great touring, 80 Series great play car.

[tennismark]

thanks stinger, u just opened up another 1000 questions Im asking myself. Im like lots of other people who might be scared of the disco's reliabilty issues. is it true or just crap!!! Every car has issues i know, whats your experiences on this

[garrycol]

[quote="tennismark"]thanks stinger, u just opened up another 1000 questions Im asking myself. Im like lots of other people who might be scared of the disco's reliabilty issues. is it true or just crap!!! Every car has issues i know, whats your experiences on this[/quote]

It is crap and just the figment of jealous toyota drivers. I have had 2 discos and never had a 80 series - however my brother had a TD 80 series to whole time I had my discos. Both are great cars in their own ways. Compared to the Disco, the 80 is like driving an aircraft carrier - it is so big and wide and you sit low - however it can carry more gear. A standard 80 with standard tyres has about the same clearance as a standard disco and you can do similar things to both vehicles but it is easier to put bigger tyres on the 80 noting they have bigger wheels as standard. The disco being smaller and having better vision (but it does have a low top to the windscreen) is easier to place when driving offroad and the suspension while similar in design is a little more compliant in the disco.

As far as reliability is concerned I never had any major issues in the 10 years I had the discos and generally the same applied to the 80 though there was problems with Toyo dealers not doing work properly. I no longer have the disco but drive another landrover and my brother now has a 100 series - neither car is currently used as an offroad vehicle.

The 80 series stopped being made some time ago so they are getting a bit long in the tooth where the D2 continued on until a couple of years ago. used disco is cheaper than the toyo and discos get slammed because of this but remember a TD Toyo was a far more expensive vehicle when new.

Either car would be great - if you need the room, get a Toyo. If price and drivability is an issue buy the disco. In completely standard form the disco would be a little ahead offroad but most vehicles will be modified by now so buy a car with the most gear you can get. The toyo has the spare under the rear so clearance is a little reduced there and an aftermarket wheel carrier would be a must.

If it were me - I would take each for a drive and buy what I preferred but don't believe the propaganda about landy reliability - it is crap.

[stinger]

In terms of reliability issues I have had a couple, but nothing Landrover has not fixed with a little jumping up and down. There were two main things, heat insulation on the engine wiring loom deterioritating and crumbling and excessive wear on front drive shaft (from AC drain pipe dripping over top of said tail shaft).

My biggest gripe was Southside Landrover, they were absolutely useless so I would steer clear of any vehicle serviced by them. But you can get that with any service centre. Now we have moved away from Southside, things are much better and car is serviced by MR Automotive in Redcliff, QLD.

The cruiser because of its age has most issues sorted out, except the one I cause. I service it myself so I cannot complain there.

Garrylcol, comments are right on about size, hence the reason I bought a Disco, I wanted a cabable midsize 4WD, and liked the Disco because it came with everything that opened and shut, had solid beam axles (and the wife side of family has them so I scored brownie points).

The Cruiser was bought, because I am a cruiser man and wanted an easily modifible vehicle for series comp style 4WD work.

I do not find the D2 limiting in space (for two anyhow) we have roof top tent, drawers and frigde in back and even when away for four weeks still had room to spare.

[Utemad]

so it needs to be moded tyres33's,lift to suit, some bar work,radio and little recovery gear.

Why do you immediately want 33in tyres?

33s on an 80 series isn't much bigger than standard but 33s on a Disco is huge.

Going by the club trips I go on I would follow any 33in tyred Cruiser or Patrol in my Disco running monster 29s
Disco pumpkins don't hang so low to begin with.

[tennismark]

Im trying to compare costs of mods between the disco and 80. say 2-3 inch lift and 33's. how difficult is it to mod the disco in this format. So far by the sounds of things, things are looking up for the disco. i like the size,comfort and being not as common. with a lif and larget tyres I'm thinking i could have a beast!! Love the advice guy's, its true, landy owners are smarter.
Which series would be best, remeber wanting to stay under $20 total, including mods

[muddydigger]

When your comparing prices and stuff and what you can and cant do Ie fitting 33s, most late model Discos have Airbags and so cant have a body lift fitted in most states. so you will be restricted to coil lift only. I duno about 80 series having airbags but if they do then same applies.

Discos are a great car but it all comes down to prefrences. buy what you feel comforable with. Yes the relaibilty stories with Discos are crap.

[tennismark]

i guess the year model disco would be around the 98-2000 range. looking on the net they seems to be the models I'd look at, and also price range. I don't know how difficult it is to but taller springs and bigger tyres on it. Alos heard about the centre diff lock not being the best thing for them, but I'mm sure theres a way around it

[Utemad]

i guess the year model disco would be around the 98-2000 range.

That covers two different models.
Disco1 update 94-99
Disco2 99-??

[awright]

The D2s should get 32 inch tyres on with only a 2 inch lift which isnt that far away from 33 anyway.

Do some research on them as some models dont have a centre diff lock at all (reliant only on traction control) which is bad. Whereas others can implement it with an aftermarket kit and others come out as std. There were a couple of years where they decided they didnt need it and you really do.

[disco-damo]

Ive had both, an 80, 4l petrol auto which I loved, had a 2" susp lift and 33's and it went everywhere I wanted to go but it got written off so I bought the landy.

The 80 series are heavy and awkward in tight areas and I did find visability a problem, the mrs took a flare off on a gate and I nearly took the other side off on a tree.

the Disco has 2" susp lift and 235 85 16's (close to 32") and it goes everywhere I want to go and some places I dont think I would be able to.

The best Disco in my opinion is 300TDI auto D1 non airbag so you can do what ever you want to it.

Plenty of low, medium and high cost mods you can do to them as far as power improvment and flex and travel as well as strengthening drivetrain and susp components much the same as the Tojo and there is so much more info on what you can do to a Landie on the forums that is acurate and legal than for the Tojo.

Also Landy owners generally become fanatics (much like Jeep owners but dont tell any on I said that) and they pull everything apart to find the cheapest way to do things, where most Jap owners just bolt lots of high priced (yet High quality) stuff on.

Get what ever you like, but for my 2 cents a 300TDI D1 has nearly everything a D2 has minus the TD5 expence/ loom and airbags, but with that comes a few niggles like no traction control which also means no computers.

Good luck

[Suspension Stuff]

My Turbo Diesel 80 series was a real money gobbler. I spent $20 Grand in 6 months and I could have spent another 20 so I sold the bugger.

I do agree that it doesn't drive very nice on road once you put a couple of inches and 33's under it. So it made for a bad tourer in my opinion but an awesome tow vehicle. It could tow semi trailer I reckon. It seems a bit heavy for off road and you need 33's to get it up a steep climb where the brother inlaws Hilux would do the same if not better on 31's. Bottom line is, I think 31's on a Disco would perform as good as 33's on a Cruiser.

I have also owned SWB & LWB GQ Patrols and an 89 Rangie.

I decided on a 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it drives much nicer. It has the leather seats etc and is quite cheap at $10,000. The only reason I didn't go for the Disco is because the high roof annoys me. The newer Rangies were more expensive and heavier. The older Rangies are getting a bit dated but I came very close to getting one with air bag suspension but a decent one is hard to find.

Shane

[tennismark]

Yeah I hear you, what I'm looking for is what most people are after. A truck that will be used daily, and then come weekend time go out to play and come home without breakages, well too many breakages. Touring and weekend/club stuff is what I'd be doing. Trying to find a good disco diesel, without oo high a price tag is the thing. I'm not in a hurry so i keep checking all the sites. Is there someone here in this forum that would do a vehicle check for me if I found one thats worth checking out. Happy to pay$$$$ for your time.

[TheQuickster]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

[Utemad]

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Which Disco are you looking at?
Tdi or Td5?

There is a guy around the corner from me with a Tdi and a twin axle Kedron caravan. Not a light weight van.

The Tdi is renowned for its fuel economy of sub 10L/100km when not towing.

I don't have one though so someone else will be along shortly

[TheQuickster]

Whats the differece. Is one the Turbo Diesel (tdi) and the other the petrol (td5)?

I would be looking at the Turbo Diesel as I hate petrol (lpg person myself) and want to find out if the diesel's are better.

[TheQuickster]

Also, what is better

up to 1998 or 1999 onwards?

[Utemad]

They are both 2.5L intercooled turbo diesels.

The Disco 1 finished in 1999 and had the Tdi

The Disco 2 which was 1999 to 2004 was a Td5

The Tdi has no computers and the Td5 has lots of electronics.

Td5 has more power but since they are not in the same vehicle there is more reasons to choose one over the other than just the engine. My opinion anyway.

I love V8s

Although I'd love the diesel economy

[muddydigger]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

Personally I recon the 3.9 v8s economy would be on par with the big cruise diesels and definatly better than the petrols. If grunt is what your after have a look into a v8. Allthough im told the td5 has good power too. There is also the option of having the td5 rechipped by Graham Coopers in Sydney to gain evenmore power from it.
There are alot of diffrences to D1 and D2 do more homework.

[cloughy]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

Personally I recon the 3.9 v8s economy would be on par with the big cruise diesels and definatly better than the petrols. If grunt is what your after have a look into a v8. Allthough im told the td5 has good power too. There is also the option of having the td5 rechipped by Graham Coopers in Sydney to gain evenmore power from it.
There are alot of diffrences to D1 and D2 do more homework.

Your recommending a V8 even though you haven't driven a TD5

[muddydigger]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

Personally I recon the 3.9 v8s economy would be on par with the big cruise diesels and definatly better than the petrols. If grunt is what your after have a look into a v8. Allthough im told the td5 has good power too. There is also the option of having the td5 rechipped by Graham Coopers in Sydney to gain evenmore power from it.
There are alot of diffrences to D1 and D2 do more homework.

Your recommending a V8 even though you haven't driven a TD5

Are you saying the td5 has the same power as a V8?. Judging by the post , he wants to pull a camper so then yes I would recomend a V8 for pulling it whats wrong with that? Are you saying that a the v8 cant pull it or that a TD5 could do it better?. Also the fact that V8s are cheaper to buy than a TD5 would also go in its favour, and I was comparing it to a cruisers econmony not a TD5s. I havent said either is better than the other, mearly to have a look at a V8 and widen the options .
No I havent driven a TD5 but I do know alot of people with them to have point of view.
I havent driven a Hyundia Excel, either but with media compareos and public knolledge and what I see, I can still make an informed decition not to buy one.

[cloughy]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

Personally I recon the 3.9 v8s economy would be on par with the big cruise diesels and definatly better than the petrols. If grunt is what your after have a look into a v8. Allthough im told the td5 has good power too. There is also the option of having the td5 rechipped by Graham Coopers in Sydney to gain evenmore power from it.
There are alot of diffrences to D1 and D2 do more homework.

Your recommending a V8 even though you haven't driven a TD5

Are you saying the td5 has the same power as a V8?. Judging by the post , he wants to pull a camper so then yes I would recomend a V8 for pulling it whats wrong with that? Are you saying that a the v8 cant pull it or that a TD5 could do it better?. Also the fact that V8s are cheaper to buy than a TD5 would also go in its favour, and I was comparing it to a cruisers econmony not a TD5s. I havent said either is better than the other, mearly to have a look at a V8 and widen the options .
No I havent driven a TD5 but I do know alot of people with them to have point of view.
I havent driven a Hyundia Excel, either but with media compareos and public knolledge and what I see, I can still make an informed decition not to buy one.

Nice spelling

Driven a chipped TD5? I guess opinions are like arse ho....

Towing a camper? 1st preference (cough) Tojo, 2nd preference...Td5

3rd, .......Well don't bother

[muddydigger]

Ok. Strangly enough, I'm looking at the same problem. I like the Cursers but the Disco's interest me.

I tow a camper trailer so the big diesel would really help out there so how does it compare with the little 2.5td in the disco?

Is the Disco cheaper to run because it has a smaller engine or would it make no difference once loaded up?

Can anyone convince me to go the Discovery?

Thanks

Personally I recon the 3.9 v8s economy would be on par with the big cruise diesels and definatly better than the petrols. If grunt is what your after have a look into a v8. Allthough im told the td5 has good power too. There is also the option of having the td5 rechipped by Graham Coopers in Sydney to gain evenmore power from it.
There are alot of diffrences to D1 and D2 do more homework.

Your recommending a V8 even though you haven't driven a TD5

Are you saying the td5 has the same power as a V8?. Judging by the post , he wants to pull a camper so then yes I would recomend a V8 for pulling it whats wrong with that? Are you saying that a the v8 cant pull it or that a TD5 could do it better?. Also the fact that V8s are cheaper to buy than a TD5 would also go in its favour, and I was comparing it to a cruisers econmony not a TD5s. I havent said either is better than the other, mearly to have a look at a V8 and widen the options .
No I havent driven a TD5 but I do know alot of people with them to have point of view.
I havent driven a Hyundia Excel, either but with media compareos and public knolledge and what I see, I can still make an informed decition not to buy one.

Nice spelling

Driven a chipped TD5? I guess opinions are like arse ho....

Towing a camper? 1st preference (cough) Tojo, 2nd preference...Td5

3rd, .......Well don't bother

Well excuse me, I didn’t realise we were back at school where every thing written had to be grammatically correct! Spelling Nazis!

But like you say ‘opinions are like... .’
Just because mine doesn't coincide with yours doesn’t make mine wrong either.
If I haven’t driven a TD5 then what do you think the chances of me driving a chipped on is?

[MJP]

My two cents.

I had an S1 disco and it was the greatest piece of crap i have ever owned. Admittedly, as said here, it was easy to drive offroad due to its size and visibility and was very comfortable. If it wasn't always breaking down i would have kept it but it didn't make it between services without having to go back to the mechanic.
There was always something wrong with it and i owned it for nearly 4 years. Electrical problems (elec. windows, cruise control, sunroof...), oil leaks ( i don't think there was a time when it didn't leak!), mechanical (gearbox and T/case rebuilds, water pump, wheel bearings, brakes). I ended up joining the LR club to try to get more info so i could fix it myself!

The 3.9 V8 was thirsty (about 22-24 litres p/100km).

The wheel arches only fit 29" tyres. So if you want 33's you will definately need your tin snips and the balls to use them!

The suspension was good but not any better than a Cruiser or Patrol.

As such, my decision was to sell it and buy a GU Patrol 4.2TD. It was the best thing i have done. Have had the Patrol for 2 years and love it. Been through the Simpson and central Oz ( which i would never have done in the disco). The Patrol comes with 32's and i now run 33's or 36's. It returns 14L/100km all the time, even fully loaded and driving through the Simmo.

Yes, it has more room than the disco but that just means you take more crap! It is a great tourer on 33's and a great play toy on 36's.

Hope that helps.

[lariens]

I thought my D1 was below spec when performing off road in the high country until I put on some Mungrel tyres. No cutting yet, no lift. Found the bump stops front and back and had a litlle tyre srape here and a little tyre scrape there however all in all I kept up with the big boys in their 4" lift Patrols with 35's.
Completed 480ks on 1 tank of diesel, with the big 6 diesel Patrol using its main and sub + a little jiggle here from a doner.
One thing I found with the little TDI auto, it wont accelerate and change up gears on realy steep hills, even in low range D.

If you dont need heaps of storage, go the Landrover, otherwise go with the Cruiser if you take the kitchen sink!

[amshaw]

My two cents.

I had an S1 disco and it was the greatest piece of crap i have ever owned. Admittedly, as said here, it was easy to drive offroad due to its size and visibility and was very comfortable. If it wasn't always breaking down i would have kept it but it didn't make it between services without having to go back to the mechanic.
There was always something wrong with it and i owned it for nearly 4 years. Electrical problems (elec. windows, cruise control, sunroof...), oil leaks ( i don't think there was a time when it didn't leak!), mechanical (gearbox and T/case rebuilds, water pump, wheel bearings, brakes). I ended up joining the LR club to try to get more info so i could fix it myself!

I hear you bud, but there is a big differance between the very first D1 and the D1a (95-99). My father-in-law had a D1 200TDi manual, had big probs with gearbox, and a heap more issue's.....So I bought a 98 D1a TDi 300, we are very very happy with it.

im affraid because of the probs with the first D1 the shit has stuck and most people who hang shit on them ie like a member in our club is a plain dickhead and has no idea what the differance is between the two.....much easier to hang shit than to admit he knows nothing and cant bring himself to addmit it and ask quistions about the Disco so he might be better informed.......Getting off soupbox now