Alright keepers of the Land Rover knowledge, I have a quick question that I can't find a definitive answer to with a search. I know what the book says about the 91 octane requirements for the 4.0 GEMS, and have always used it, but the last gas station in my area selling it, just went to 93 octane. Since it's still premimum fuel, will there be any long-term affects to using a higher octane rating with these engines than recommended?

 

I've had no probs running 93. PT Schram runs E85!
My truck did not like going from 93 to 87 when I accidently put Regular in. Ran like crap and threw a "Pending" CEL code.

 

It should run better on 93 than 91. Assuming you have good compression..

 

Interesting, what kinda mods are required to run E85 on these beasts? From what I understand e85 lacks 25% of the power of standard fuels...
not to mention its habit of eating rubber even worse than standard petrol

 

Up here in Minnesota, you have to look hard to find any gas with less than 10% ethanol in it. Makes the cars run terrible, drops MPG, the only plus side is the fuel lines don't freeze in winter.

They claim it is to help the corn farmers but the truth is, corn is the worst thing you can use to make ethanol. Sugar Cane is the best. But with the mindless news media propaganda poisoning peoples minds into believing it is a good thing, they get what they want.

The best we can get easily is 91 octane. Europe has a different rating system but their 'regular' grade is 92.

 

Higher octane wont hurt a thing, 91 is the minimum octane rating.
E-85 is 105 octane.

 

Hmmm interesting, 105 but as I said it is more corrosive, is there prep work needed to prevent it from eating already aged hoses?

 

It is higher octane but lower power so you will use more of it, you think your MPG is bad now...
I ran it in my '89 Camry which was not designed for it, the only problem I had was in the winter the car was hard to start after sitting all night.
I ran it in that car for almost a year before the fuel pump died.
It was the original fuel pump, 200,000 miles so I cant say what killed the pump, age or the E-85.
Yes the 85% alcohol will eat the rubber seals in your fuel system.

If it were a matter of walking or buying E-85, I'd go with the E-85 but I wouldn't make a habit of it in a non flex fuel car.

 

I have to admit that I ran e85 mixed about 50/50 with 87 octane. The rover seemed to like it. Anymore than 50/50 though and it ran rough. I noticed about a 1 mpg drop running the mix.

I also mixed 50/50 in my Saab 95 wagon turbo and it loved that **** like a fat kid loves cake. I noticed a 5 mpg drop for the first few tanks then no difference. I know the problem was me, the engine had more power running the mix and I was having a blast After awhile though I started driving normally again and didn't see any real difference in mileage.

 

I've ran 1/4 tank of e85 with 3/4 tank of premium in my D1 a couple of times back when the prices for e85 were a lot cheaper, to see how it worked. It seemed to run fine.