by bradr » Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:30 pm
G'day Tim,
WARNING: Longish post.
As an owner of a MY06 auto 3.0R-SpecB, here are my thoughts on it (I have said some of this recently in another thread but it is probably worth repeating here):
Firstly, turbo or 3.0 - there is bugger-all in it. Have a look at the 0-100 times and it really is neck-and-neck. Sit yourself in one and then sit yourself in the other and I seriously doubt you would notice the difference (although there is this "little boy" gene that exists in all men that is saying to you, "Yes, the turbo is faster, it has to be, it's a turbo - get the turbo, go on, you know you want one....").
The 3.0 has torque available over a wider range which gives it some advantage in certain situations. It does, however, use more fuel although it is also accepting of lower-octane fuel whereas the turbo will complain if you try it on with it.
Insurance can be an issue although I have heard of some members on here who have found insurance premiums comparable between the two - I'm guessing the conditions of that insurance were also comparable so shop around and see what you get.
Lastly, I understand that servicing can be a greater issue with the turbo over the 3.0 - do your research on this as I'm not certain about it.
Secondly - manual or auto. Seriously, the auto on these things is awful. It can never seem to make up its mind what it wants to do; this is especially apparent on winding roads. Putting it into semi-auto is helpful but even then it can sometimes take a while to make up its mind by which time a new set of circumstances have presented themselves requiring a change of gear. You can play with the gears yourself if you want although up and down is, for me, the wrong way around - I would have thought that to go from, say, 2nd to 3rd would require me to pull down on the gear stick but, instead, I have to push it forwards - I get it wrong every time. My wife, however, thinks it is perfectly sensible (she is missing the "little boy gene", too). Given the choice, I would choose a manual over an auto (so would my wife which, I guess shows that there is a little boy in all of us if we look).
Other issues. Having a 3.0R-SpecB is a real pain if you want to add any body parts - nothing seems to fit. If however, you have a turbo model, the list of parts is endless and considerably cheaper than the 3.0R-SpecB equivalent.
If you want a Liberty, then, for me, it was either/or - for the wife it was a 3.0 (she refuses to have anything to do with turbos). I really think they are both line ball.
cheers,
bj
, or something a bit more practical 
at least till I catch the bug and hook up a raptor sc 
