I wouldn't worry about the performance of the diesel, if you need to beef it up a remap will get you similar figures to that of the std petrol cars id expect. We have ordered an SD4 and were lucky enough to get one out on the unleashed event for just under an hour and it felt pretty quick for what it is and I'm used to our Supercharged RRS and a Supercharged FFRR.
For me residual value is an important factor to bear in mind personally i wouldn't buy an entry level model and spec it up, irrespective of what motoring magazines are saying, i expect you will struggle to get back the cost of these extras once demand has reached its peak and starting to diminish. Back when LR released the RRS, demand was very high and people were paying way over list for physical cars which in turn ensured the high residuals seen for the first 3 years or so. The RRE isn't in the same market as the RRS, although i do not dispute the fact that prices will remain high for the first 12-18 months due to demand, there are less people in this new RRE market willing to pay over list which will see more basic models suffering first. Coupled with the fact that the factory is much better than it was in the early days of the RRS i expect we will seen much greater production volumes than that of the RRS.
My advice.... Buy a SD4 Dynamic in Grey, White or Silver or Black and you won't go wrong, Spec a Pure with 6/7k of extras and be prepared for a higher loss than others are seeing. Id also think with the way the world & the car market is moving at the moment the petrol models will suffer first in terms of a price falls.
The above is simply my thought process of course don't buy a car just based on whats its going to be worth, you have to enjoy it after all. I hope some of that info helped slightly if not feel free to complete ignore all my comments.
(14-09-2011 02:16am)mark_n Wrote: (13-09-2011 09:28pm)XFullFatTim Wrote: 3 seater bench in the Dynamic plus looks better than the two seat option with the strange additional bolstering for the shoulders.
Your opinion Tim, not mine. To my eyes, the individual rear seats enhances the cabin look and complements the coupe styling. As always, each to his own.
I do kinda agree I think it suits the car with the upgraded front seats, however not my cup of tea with 2 kids