Petrol or Diesel defender?

[khudooma]

I am thinking to buy a Defender (Used) , I noticed that there are two types one with Diesel engine and the other with Petrol Engine ( I think Japanese specification?) in the UAE web sites for sale, which is the best do you think?

[bmwdoc]

depends on what you want the defender for, if for desert only then the petrol has slightly more power but drinks fuel like crazy, most of the petrol ones you will find will be the old 3.5 V8, you could change it but it will cost. if i was going to buy a defender i would look for one with a Puma engine, these are the best of both worlds but hard to find

[khudooma]

I am planning to use the defender in Mountain and desert condition (Oman and UAE), due to work I go only in weekends. I think maybe I will need to wait to get defender after 2006 which is with puma (ford) engin. When you say change the engine, you mean get a puma engin and put it in older model? when you say drinks fuel like crazy will it be the same as nissan patrol or less, if you have experience.

Thanks

[welly911]

I've also been looking for a Defender, short or long. Not many on the market, especially Dubizzle. Any more advice where to continue my search.... many thanks

[bmwdoc]

Morning Khudooma,

the 3.5 V8 will use around the same amount of fuel as the older patrol, (change the engine) i would change a 3.5 V8 with either a 3.9 from Disco 1 or 4.6 from Classic Range rover, more power and torque. the Puma engine from the Ford transit is the best but hard to find, to make it great it has to be chipped but not expensive to do and parts available on the net. if you are only going to use in the Middle east then the Petrol is nice but for reliability the diesel wins + you can take it anywhere in the world, the petrol for example would cost too much to run in most other countries.

have fun and keep looking, from time to time a good one comes up in the market, if in a rush look at importing one from Europe.

if your looking for a great desert and moutain ready car for just under 40K give me a shout as i may have to sell my modified 2003 discovery 2 due to a move coming up, its not a defender but it will go everywhere and alot more comfortable than a defender would ever be. + much cheaper if your saw it you would buy it.

[khudooma]

Thanks Doc. I like to get a defender its a dream which could take time to come true. Diesel is more expensive than petrol in UAE. I need to balance my choices and chances.

[walther75]

I just got my 2nd 2006 Defender diesel for exactly the same purpose. The diesel is a quite reliable engine, I would say more then the petrol. Then again, the diesel is not really made to play in the dunes, but you can be sure to be able to get thrue any desert with it. It just doesn't really like the higher dunes. But this is in a way the same for the petrol. The car itself is quite heavy itself and just not build for playing on the dunes. Keeping this in mind, you can enjoy the standard TD5 and TD4 in the almost same way. Chipped, both reach easily 400-450Nm torque and do an amazing job. Talking about rocks and mountains, the Defender is quite outstanding I would say. Robust and really going everywhere and a bit more easy to drive than a petrol engine. Going steep with the diesel in low gear is unbelievable great and easy for both.

My personal opinion: The petrol Defenders are difficult to find, especially in a good condition, they are quite old. Fitting a petrol engine into a newer one is not worth the money. The TD5 is best to tune (change the turbo and you get up to 220hp), the TD4 is more smooth, but still quite expensive. From the costs, diesel is double the price and not always easy to get (you need to get a diesel card for Abu Dhabi, stations don't always sell diesel etc.). But still, I do love the diesel since the engine is just running great and reliable, even more when thinking to go really off road and away from civilization.

Cheers,

Manuel

[khudooma]

I hope to get 2006 or later year defender. If you want to sell your defender let me know please. I am still searching. Not sure what do you mean by diesel card for abu dhabi?, in which conidition you say diesel is more reliable is its injection to engine or other causes?, Diesel is not environmentally good because its couse polution more than petrol as it do not burn completely in the engine, but there is a price for every thing and side effect. how much do you pay to fill up a complete diesel tank in the defender in UAE?

Cheers,

khudooma

[walther75]

Hi!

There is quite a big difference between 2006 and 2007. The ride up from 2007 is much smoother and the newer engine has a bit more torque, comes close to the petrol. But then again it has more electronics. For the use in Dubai it's all fine since there are always roads around and service is easy. If you want to bring it to other continents like Australia or Africa I would go for the TD5, it can be serviced almost everywhere. Back to the topic. I had a few more chats with petrol heads over the weekend and desert drive (where the diesel performed quite well in area 52) and I heard that the petrol catches fire quite easily. A diesel fill is around 200 AED (hurts a bit). And of course I won't sell mine

[welly911]

Good evening Walther75.

Thanks for the post all info is greatly appreciated! Just wondering where you bought your wagon? I've been looking for a few months now and haven't seen anything inspiring. Have started looking into importing one from farther afield. Any information is greatly received. Thanks again.