[Serg]

My owners manual for my 19995 Classic LWB says to use Premium Unleaded only... well that's fine and dandy for my M3.. heck it even gets 21 MPG when I romp on it.. However for my Rover (which gets a whopping 11-15mpg so far) I would like to use mid range or even regular unleaded..

Question is, will this hurt it?? I really can't see how since it is not a high performance engine... I just don't want to save a few bucks if it means engine problems down the line.

Serg

 

[Rangie Mark]

use permium

Bottom line is they run better that way and fuel economy is not a reason to buy a rangie

 

[Rangie Mark]

Forgot to menton throw a can of your favorite gas additive in about every 3K

Otherwise you will get carbon build up on the valves .......$$$$$

 

[Disco Mike]

Gas

Otherwise you will get carbon build up on the valves .......$$$$$

I agree with Mark, bad idea you run low octane gas, it will carbon up the engine big time and yes the MPG will fall off.
It hurts, but do it. In a short while you will find a cheap gas station, like Arco, that sells good gas cheaper.
Mike J.

 

[Serg]

No bigie... I use Chevron only anyhow, I was just wondering if the thing really needs to have Super Unleaded. No prob, thanks for the info guys!


Serg

 

[azpaquin]

Are you concerned about long term cost or mileage per gallon?

FWIW, if you are looking to up your MPG, Change every oil in your car to synthetic and I mean everything. Lube your U's and CVs and get synthetic in the diffs. Less friciton is good. Do it yourself and save some cashish.

Get very good wires and plugs, 9.5mm or better. Do not go cheap.

I put in a Jacobs Ignition kit, that added 2 mi per gal and gives better burn to your plugs.

Then run the good gas.. long term it will be good for the fuel system.

I have 300k mi on my white elephant 1988 RRC and I have been getting over 15 mi per gall all day on the highway.

 

[OkieRover]

Last night's fill-up calculated at 15.5 mpg. My engine has 147,000 on it. I use Castrol 20w50 year around, changed every 3000 miles. I get the cheapest gas I can and use 87 octane. I try to remember to run a bottle or two of injection cleaner through it on every third oil change, just for fun.

 

[azpaquin]

Which engine is in that?

Last night's fill-up calculated at 15.5 mpg. My engine has 147,000 on it. I use Castrol 20w50 year around, changed every 3000 miles. I get the cheapest gas I can and use 87 octane. I try to remember to run a bottle or two of injection cleaner through it on every third oil change, just for fun.

That's awesome 15.5 gal. What is in that Rover, the 4.2? Isn't that the higher compression engine?

 

[OkieRover]

To say I am blessed with this engine would be an understatement.
It's the 4.2. Not sure about the compression.
Other than me overheating it once or twice due to a clogged radiator I have tried to be good to it. My Rangie had 86,000 when I bought it in 2000.
The worst mileage I have gotten was 13.9 the best was 19. That 19mpg was a highway trip in October 4 years ago. I drive a mix of city and highway with highway being 50 miles of my daily trips.
I wish I could afford a 300Tdi.

 

[lrmaniac]

Hi

oakie, you said "I wish I could afford a 300Tdi."? Why?
Are they a lot more expensive there in the US? Or is Diesel fuel more expensive hen petrol?

 

[azpaquin]

To say I am blessed with this engine would be an understatement.
It's the 4.2. Not sure about the compression.
Other than me overheating it once or twice due to a clogged radiator I have tried to be good to it. My Rangie had 86,000 when I bought it in 2000.
The worst mileage I have gotten was 13.9 the best was 19. That 19mpg was a highway trip in October 4 years ago. I drive a mix of city and highway with highway being 50 miles of my daily trips.
I wish I could afford a 300Tdi.

huh. maybe you could get more MPG out of it with some mods. I am doing some more mods as we speak and I will know the outcome after a long drive I will be doing in the next coming weeks.

 

[OkieRover]

oakie, you said "I wish I could afford a 300Tdi."? Why?
Are they a lot more expensive there in the US? Or is Diesel fuel more expensive hen petrol?

Yes. A 300Tdi will set me back a minimum of $9000(US). I know a fellow here doing a conversion and he is laying out something like $13,500(US) I believe. Diesel fuel right now is 10cents less than petrol. Today in Oklahoma it's $1.68(US) for 87 octane petrol.
I don't know why they are so expensive but they are.

 

[OkieRover]

huh. maybe you could get more MPG out of it with some mods. I am doing some more mods as we speak and I will know the outcome after a long drive I will be doing in the next coming weeks.

Let me know what mods you do and if they work. If I got 17 or 18 I would be in heaven.

 

[Serg]

Let me know what mods you do and if they work. If I got 17 or 18 I would be in heaven.

Sheesh..I'd be happy with just for an average 15mpg!!

Serg

 

[Mr Tj]

The short-bore V8 aluminium block is pretty high compression, hence you'll pretty easily get the dreaded knocks with anything below premium gas.

Also, bear in mind that European petrol starts at 90 octane, and goes up to 98/99 octane at the pump, as opposed to US 'cheapo' gas that is lucky to get to 92/93.

 

[azpaquin]

FWIW, better mileage..

Let me know what mods you do and if they work. If I got 17 or 18 I would be in heaven.

Here is what I did to get me from 12 to 15, from an earlier post. .

FWIW, if you are looking to up your MPG, Change every oil in your car to synthetic and I mean everything. Lube your U's and CVs and get synthetic in the diffs. Less friciton is good. Do it yourself and save some cashish.

Get very good wires and plugs, 9.5mm or better. Do not go cheap.

I put in a Jacobs Ignition kit, that added 2 mi per gal and gives better burn to your plugs.

Also I just did a NRP exhaust (will not do that again, can build better 4 cheaper), modified the intake.. I am in the middle of a cooling upgrade which is not going so hot. I am getting lampoon blasted flamed on another BB for asking for help.

 

[Muttley]

FWIW, if you are looking to up your MPG, Change every oil in your car to synthetic and I mean everything. Lube your U's and CVs and get synthetic in the diffs. Less friciton is good. Do it yourself and save some cashish.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry I thought you mentioned the words Range Rover and fully synthetic oils in the same sentance there matey..... :confused .............ahhh You did.............oooerrrr. :dunno:


My experience with synthetic oil (read ultra thin) and landys is that the nice expensive synthetic stuff ends up all over your drive as it invarably pours out of every orifice on the motor................ :bawling:

Stick to the standard reccomended oils, they don't leak out half as fast I've found.



edited bitty

azpaquin, :dunno: sorry mate didn't realise that you had been flamed, lampooned elsewhere, I am not trying to be offensive and rubbish your suggestion, if your mechanicals are in top notch condition with good gaskets & seals all round then there will not be an issue with leaks. Call it the Scottish sense of humor.

I have never had a landy that didn't leak oil so the toughts of adding something even thinner filled me with dread, I had a friend who went with fully synthetic everything and ended up nearly getting divorced about the state of his drive when his wife saw it! :complain:.............weirdly enough the chassis of his Disco stopped rotting almost overnight as well.......... :confused ......could be coincidental of course...... :lol:

 

[Muttley]

My owners manual for my 19995 Classic LWB says to use Premium Unleaded only... well that's fine and dandy for my M3.. heck it even gets 21 MPG when I romp on it.. However for my Rover (which gets a whopping 11-15mpg so far) I would like to use mid range or even regular unleaded..

Question is, will this hurt it?? I really can't see how since it is not a high performance engine... I just don't want to save a few bucks if it means engine problems down the line.

Serg

Serg

Why don't you convert it to dual fuel petrol/lpg (or propane to you guys) fit underfloor sill tanks so you don't loose any boot (trunk???) space.

Negligable loss of performance, Propane is actually safer than petrol, your engine runs a LOT cleaner with the added benefit that LPG is a hell of a lot cheaper, well it is in the UK anyway.

Propane is considered a GREEN :bgreen: fuel (significantly reduces emissions) so there may be tax breaks / incentives for conversion. My wife's '89 3.5 EFi is converted and isn't running well at the moment but is still doing the equivilent of 28 - 30MPG (Yes you did read that right).

Note I said "equivilent of", LPG in the uk is £0.35/ltr ($0.62), petrol is £0.85/ltr ($1.52) and sky rocketing, you will get around 12 - 15 MPG from LPG as opposed to 15 - 18 MPG from petrol BUT when you calculate out the cost factor you end up with your equivilent running cost.

It will cost you around £1500 ($2688) in the UK to get your vehicle converted by an approved supplied BUT you could DIY (if allowed of course) for around £500 ($896) for the kit. :beer:

Does this help? :drive:

BTW "Petrol" is our word for "GAS" when we say GAS we actually mean something like propane. Confusing isn't it. :buttrock:

 

[troverman]

What I have read is the Rover (ex-Buick) V8 was designed from the start to run on very low-grade gas because it would be used throughout the world where "premium" grades of gas were unavailable. Thus the compression of the engine was reduced, and all versions of the engine (3.5, 3.9, 4.2, 4.0, 4.6) were able to run on low grade gas. However, the real reason for the need for premium in these engines is the emissions system, mainly the two catalytic converters. From experience, we have replaced the 2 cats (very$$$) which failed because the previous owner used regular. Regular may also, as mentioned, cause knocking although it would be very light and not detrimental. The O2 sensor (s) might also be affected. Premium is about 20c higher but will cause the engine to run a little cleaner and better, so it is worth it. As for synthetic oil, you might gain 1/2-1 mpg improvement in the engine, but since the engine design is from the 50's there is really no need. The key to longevity is frequent 3,000 mile oil changes or wear on the cam and pistons may result.

 

[SimonArmstrong]

Okie, how about importing a 300TDI engine and bellhousing etc from here (well, england) and fitting it yourself, or having it fitted? Im sure that, including carrige costs, it wouldnt cost $9000 fitted and all, never mind just for the engine!