Test drive done and dusted! Now more confused than ever!

Many thanks to Hatfield LR in Hull for the 3 hour test drive this morning. Had the use of a mauritius blue 5dr with white panoramic roof Pure tech auto sd4.
Gotta say what a drive! Having been used to a 2l 170 Tdi A5 I couldn't believe how much car like the drive was and the pick up was excellent. Thought that the inside space was good too and the almond interior surprised me too.
Salesman was excellent and didn't push and offered to lend me a manual sometime in September when new demonstrators will be registered.
What surprised me was when I mentioned I was looking at a manual that he was pushing me towards the Td4 rather than Sd4? He said that I would find it very difficult to know the difference between the two unless I was towing something - I'm no boy racer but surely you can tell?
I'd made my mind up with sd4 but now I'm confused and so is it worth saving or more extras and going td4?
I know the 0-60 difference is just 0.8s but what are the mid range comparisons like. My wife had a X3 150 bhp and this was sluggish and tractor like!
I need help!!!

I tried both and went for the td4 in the end.really couldn't tell the difference myself as you say cheaper as well.but if you want twin exhausts sd4 is for you.

Thanks Barton Evoque I think I need to try them I guess. Not too bothered about single or twin exhausts I just don't want to have a drive like the X3!

Price difference is £1,050 between the two engines. Think how long you're going to keep the car, then your affordability. If you think it'll constantly nag at your thoughts that it might be underpowered, is it worth paying an extra £350 a year( if you kept the car for 3 yrs).
Good luck with your decision

(28-08-2012 09:42pm)Craig_d1 Wrote:  Price difference is £1,050 between the two engines. Think how long you're going to keep the car, then your affordability. If you think it'll constantly nag at your thoughts that it might be underpowered, is it worth paying an extra £350 a year( if you kept the car for 3 yrs).
Good luck with your decision

Know what you mean and sd4 is shouting buy me whereas td4 was always 2nd choice originally!

I drove both back to back on the same route. Could not tell the difference. Likewise my LR rep was suggesting Td4 over Sd4. I took the Td4 and don't regret it. As said before though, if you want twin exhausts, then pay the extra £1k. Personally I invested the money into things I would see and use. Happy decision making. It is each to their own

It really depends on what you have been used to. I opted for the SD4 and the mid range torque and acceleration really makes me feel more comfortable when pushing on.

If you like to pootle along then TD4 will be fine. As they used to say in an old TV programme - the choice is yours!

I had two Freelander TD4 and now I'm moving to thenEvoque it had to remain thebTD4 for me.

Although it would have been nice to have had the twin exhaust

Another thing you might want to consider is whether there will be more demand for SD4s than TD4s on the second hand market when you come to sell. I'm sure the difference won't be as much as the £1000 difference at new, but it effectively reduces that £350/yr over 3 years that Craig_d1 mentioned by quite a chunk.

I also went for TD4, reason you can't tell the difference is that while there is 40bhp difference, the torque figures are very similar, so uptil 60-70mph there is very little difference in real world conditions, also meant i had a a bit more to spend on luxuries.