Originally Posted by
Beetroot
If you use the LR Disco as an example, the newgen engines don't necessarily get better fuel economy but you get considerably more power for the same fuel consumption.
I thought I'd be a diehard old school diesel fan but I bought a Disco 3 with a 2.7L V6 paired with a 6 speed trans, the difference between that and previous gen vehicles is not even comparable.
Admittedly I think the transmission is one of the best improvements, the difference between the 6 speed ZF and 4 speed ZF is possibly the biggest upgrade in the vehicles drive train, especially when towing.
I'm not doubting that the older diesel are great in their simplicity ( although they still had EGR valve back in the mid 90s) but I think many common rail engines have proven to be reliable in the long term, with many doing very high kms.
Biggest issue IMO is the cost of parts is considerably higher in the modern engine, at least from what I've experienced.