I'm a big diesel person, also just a big person. Have owned dozens of tdi's. We have two F350 Super duty dually diesel trucks. Have had Isuzu,Perkins, Toyota, Ford, etc diesel defenders through here. Like the gas engines there is a point where you cross from great all around to street rod. Breaking all four tires loose with the blip of the throttle is cool but imo you have rendered the truck useless off road. To me its more about the sweet spot for a defender. There will always be higher output engines both gas and diesel. Both common rail and single wire have their arguments. Many single wire diesels had sorry crankcase ventilation so the damn engines leak everywhere, mercs included. Modern diesels ? Oh hell no ! Lots of armchair web experts with data sheets. I'm more a scratched up forearms, stained hands, been there done that, ruined a t shirt doing it kind of expert. After decades of dealing with both, its hard to pick a bone with current generation common rail. Minimal vibration, instant acceleration, minimal to no turbo lag, antistall when off road crawling through bolders, better economy, engine life, minimal smoke. Some even have ecu controlled turbo's where if the engine needs more boost the vane pitch is changed. Most know I hated a damn computer diesel and the potential issues one might present, thing is they really dont. When I first saw the R2.8 @ the Cummins booth @ Expo East @ the Biltmore three years ago I thought it was neat but wasnt hooked.
The engine was not yet available @ that point, even in Beta form.
I started talking to a young guy there and had a candid (we had taken a bottle of Red Breast to expo and had been tippling with all the friends we ran into) conversation about my trepidations with retro fitting a common rail into defenders. Turns out the young guy I was talking to was Stephen Sanders the engineer in charge of the R2.8 crate engine program. He spent nearly an hour with me that afternoon during a busy tradeshow, he showed me the video of the Jeep running underwater in a pond for 15 mins with an 12 foot snorkle and exhaust. I was very impressed that a computer controlled engine with stock loom etc had zero difficult fully submerged for that length of time.
He put me on his 25 engine Beta program list, and thats the story of how I got hooked.
To me, and I'm sure others will disagree, around 300 ft lbs of torque seems to be the sweet spot in a defender. The truck will pull mountain grades without downshifting but doesnt overpower the rest of the drivetrain and suspension. The rover v8's leave you wanting- lots of shifting on grades etc, for lack of torque, where the v8's make their rated torque is way up in the rpm range, a place most dont use their engines. I offroad a lot, more than most here. For me, that rules out LS power. An LS conversion is great for what 98% of owners are going to use their trucks for. Many lower their trucks to safely use what they have installed. I have wheeled with highly modified rigs with 1 ton axles and LS power and they are airborne over the stuff I just drive over. My truck is worth a whole lot more than theirs and tearing it up isnt enjoyment for me. There is a sweet spot with every platform.
Not blowing the 2.8 horn just saying modern vs ancient and more vs sweet spot should be thought process. Drive a truck like yours with the engine you are considering would be my suggestion.
For those not intimately aware presently DOT is very agressively going after light trucks, right now. I only became aware of this last week. Check Sinister diesel etc for the de-cat, egr delete etc kits that were readily available just months ago.
They are removed from the market.
Shops are being phone shopped by the feds with calls like
"hey if I bring you my truck and this egr delete kit will you install it?"
They snagged a shop in Eastern Nc recently, fined them $400k which of course shut the shop down.
This is a current initiative, like when Customs cracked down on Defenders in 2012 but have now moved on to scruitinizing other things, this is just sending a message. Cool thing is I dont have a worry in the world with what we are doing. Point is just that you don't want a sooty diesel right now.
Watching the video JT linked, while awesome sound-especially since it was filmed from a classic in front of the truck, the kid is rolling coal. That will get you pulled over by the feds today.
Kid also said he'd blown up two PUMA 2.2 diesels. Seeing how he's driving it and what he's trying to get out of his truck, a puny 2.2 was never going to meet his needs. Ea of us uses their trucks differently. I dont think there is a single engine that could sate all defender owners.