have decided to buy a Land-Rover for commercial and private
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
use. Could you tell me the advantages and disadvantages of petrol engine against a diesel engine in terms of economy, maintenance, costs and so on ? Also which is best: short or long wheel-base model—assuming that I shall be using it almost exclusively on road surfaces?
A This is very much a swings and round
abouts subject. Generally speaking, the high initial cost of the diesel is offset against better fuel consumption. A diesel generally requires less maintenance but is more costly when it is needed because maintenance has to be done professionally. The main sources of trouble are the pump and injectors which are complex and therefore expensive when they do go wrong--one injector would be about £30 for example.
The diesel engine will last much longer than the petrol engine and provided you keep the vehicle long enough, say 120.000 miles, the diesel should work out cheaper to run and maintain.
The arguments for and against short and long wheelbase are mainly of ride and load carrying capacity. The long-wheelbase vehicle will give a better ride and carry a greater volume of load possibly at the expense of manoeuvrability.