Premium Gasoline? Oopppse
Three Wheeling
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 58
Likes: 1
Real World Experience over 254,000 miles on the same Disco I
I'll start this with a disclosure that I now have a 2003 Disco II and I use Midgrade in it exclusively - based on a compromise from the discussions in this Forum and my previous experience as below. Before I joined this forum I guess I didn't "know better." Right now on my Disco II I am getting 15+ mgp on mixed driving and 16.5 to 17 mpg on the highway (at 70 to 75 mph) using Midgrade and I see that as about as good as anyone else is posting.
Here's some real world experience on a 1994 Disco I
Bought brand new in mid 1994 in Nashville, TN - I was the only owner until 2010.
After about the first 45,000 miles I put Bosc Platinum +4 plugs in. As an experiment I put in a tank of regular (87 Octane). I noticed no reduction in gas milage or performance at all. I keep very accuate records and was getting 12.5 to 13.5 in town and about 15.5 to 16.0 mpg on the highway at 70mph (all the way until I sold it). This was before on Premium and after on Regular. There was no pre-ignition and no noticable change at all in gas milage or performance.
Did I ruin my engine - YOU BE THE JUDGE! I put over 254,000 miles on this Disco I and never had to replace the head gasket - no major engine work at all. It never got hot until the electric fans failed once on a long trip and I put in two after market fans and had the radiator cleaned and that cleared that. It never used any oil (leaked some until I fixed the oil pressure sending unit). I even towed over 5000 pounds of load from Tennessee to South Carolina over hill-and-dale with over 250,000 miles on the car. It was getting a little "drab looking" for my wife and started running a little on the hot side sometimes at the end and I decided to get rid of it in 2010. I sold it for $1000 to a local guy. I saw it yesterday at a Lowes and the new owner said he took out the radiator and found several buckets of "bugs" between the A/C condensor and the radiator. He cleaned that out and the car now runs perfect with no overheating - about 260,000 miles now. He is pleased as a pig in a mud-puddle and I am a little sorry I ever got rid of it.
I don't dispute the advice from DISCO MIKE and others but I had to give the real world experience that I was able to accumulate in over 254,000 miles with 210,000 burning exclusively 87 Octane and 16 years of continuous ownership of the same Rover. I can't explain it but "them is the facts" - period.
Here's some real world experience on a 1994 Disco I
Bought brand new in mid 1994 in Nashville, TN - I was the only owner until 2010.
After about the first 45,000 miles I put Bosc Platinum +4 plugs in. As an experiment I put in a tank of regular (87 Octane). I noticed no reduction in gas milage or performance at all. I keep very accuate records and was getting 12.5 to 13.5 in town and about 15.5 to 16.0 mpg on the highway at 70mph (all the way until I sold it). This was before on Premium and after on Regular. There was no pre-ignition and no noticable change at all in gas milage or performance.
Did I ruin my engine - YOU BE THE JUDGE! I put over 254,000 miles on this Disco I and never had to replace the head gasket - no major engine work at all. It never got hot until the electric fans failed once on a long trip and I put in two after market fans and had the radiator cleaned and that cleared that. It never used any oil (leaked some until I fixed the oil pressure sending unit). I even towed over 5000 pounds of load from Tennessee to South Carolina over hill-and-dale with over 250,000 miles on the car. It was getting a little "drab looking" for my wife and started running a little on the hot side sometimes at the end and I decided to get rid of it in 2010. I sold it for $1000 to a local guy. I saw it yesterday at a Lowes and the new owner said he took out the radiator and found several buckets of "bugs" between the A/C condensor and the radiator. He cleaned that out and the car now runs perfect with no overheating - about 260,000 miles now. He is pleased as a pig in a mud-puddle and I am a little sorry I ever got rid of it.
I don't dispute the advice from DISCO MIKE and others but I had to give the real world experience that I was able to accumulate in over 254,000 miles with 210,000 burning exclusively 87 Octane and 16 years of continuous ownership of the same Rover. I can't explain it but "them is the facts" - period.
Last edited by smokey73; Mar 24, 2011 at 07:48 PM. Reason: edited for spelling
I'll start this with a disclosure that I now have a 2003 Disco II and I use Midgrade in it exclusively - based on a compromise from the discussions in this Forum and my previous experience as below. Before I joined this forum I guess I didn't "know better." Right now on my Disco II I am getting 15+ mgp on mixed driving and 16.5 to 17 mpg on the highway (at 70 to 75 mph) using Midgrade and I see that as about as good as anyone else is posting.
Here's some real world experience on a 1994 Disco I
Bought brand new in mid 1994 in Nashville, TN - I was the only owner until 2010.
After about the first 45,000 miles I put Bosc Platinum +4 plugs in. As an experiment I put in a tank of regular (87 Octane). I noticed no reduction in gas milage or performance at all. I keep very accuate records and was getting 12.5 to 13.5 in town and about 15.5 to 16.0 mpg on the highway at 70mph (all the way until I sold it). This was before on Premium and after on Regular. There was no pre-ignition and no noticable change at all in gas milage or performance.
Did I ruin my engine - YOU BE THE JUDGE! I put over 254,000 miles on this Disco I and never had to replace the head gasket - no major engine work at all. It never got hot until the electric fans failed once on a long trip and I put in two after market fans and had the radiator cleaned and that cleared that. It never used any oil (leaked some until I fixed the oil pressure sending unit). I even towed over 5000 pounds of load from Tennessee to South Carolina over hill-and-dale with over 250,000 miles on the car. It was getting a little "drab looking" for my wife and started running a little on the hot side sometimes at the end and I decided to get rid of it in 2010. I sold it for $1000 to a local guy. I saw it yesterday at a Lowes and the new owner said he took out the radiator and found several buckets of "bugs" between the A/C condensor and the radiator. He cleaned that out and the car now runs perfect with no overheating - about 260,000 miles now. He is pleased as a pig in a mud-puddle and I am a little sorry I ever got rid of it.
I don't dispute the advice from DISCO MIKE and others but I had to give the real world experience that I was able to accumulate in over 254,000 miles with 210,000 burning exclusively 87 Octane and 16 years of continuous ownership of the same Rover. I can't explain it but "them is the facts" - period.
Here's some real world experience on a 1994 Disco I
Bought brand new in mid 1994 in Nashville, TN - I was the only owner until 2010.
After about the first 45,000 miles I put Bosc Platinum +4 plugs in. As an experiment I put in a tank of regular (87 Octane). I noticed no reduction in gas milage or performance at all. I keep very accuate records and was getting 12.5 to 13.5 in town and about 15.5 to 16.0 mpg on the highway at 70mph (all the way until I sold it). This was before on Premium and after on Regular. There was no pre-ignition and no noticable change at all in gas milage or performance.
Did I ruin my engine - YOU BE THE JUDGE! I put over 254,000 miles on this Disco I and never had to replace the head gasket - no major engine work at all. It never got hot until the electric fans failed once on a long trip and I put in two after market fans and had the radiator cleaned and that cleared that. It never used any oil (leaked some until I fixed the oil pressure sending unit). I even towed over 5000 pounds of load from Tennessee to South Carolina over hill-and-dale with over 250,000 miles on the car. It was getting a little "drab looking" for my wife and started running a little on the hot side sometimes at the end and I decided to get rid of it in 2010. I sold it for $1000 to a local guy. I saw it yesterday at a Lowes and the new owner said he took out the radiator and found several buckets of "bugs" between the A/C condensor and the radiator. He cleaned that out and the car now runs perfect with no overheating - about 260,000 miles now. He is pleased as a pig in a mud-puddle and I am a little sorry I ever got rid of it.
I don't dispute the advice from DISCO MIKE and others but I had to give the real world experience that I was able to accumulate in over 254,000 miles with 210,000 burning exclusively 87 Octane and 16 years of continuous ownership of the same Rover. I can't explain it but "them is the facts" - period.
Now to punch a few holes in your awesome story, the '94 has a distributor, so you adjust the ignition timing whenever you do a tune up.
You would have adjusted the timing to compensate for the lower octane fuel and would not have even noticed.
Second, the '94 had a lower compression engine that only required 87 octane.
Some '95's had the same engine.
I am always happy to hear of such longevity stories, there are not enough of them as far as I'm concerned.
Three Wheeling
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 58
Likes: 1
Okay
Spike
Thanks for the clarification.
I was not aware that the 94 engine was lower compression. My manual still said use premium fuel only and I did for the first 45K. That alone probably explains the "unexplainable."
I never did adjust or change the timing though. Just went on my happy way with the regular. Maybe the timing was off a little to begin with so I just stumbled on the correct tune?
It sure was a durable beast - a few "fit and finish" issues like the dash that continually "pulled up" and the hokey fix they did with the strip that screwed down but all in all I can't complain about any vehicle that you can do so little work on an still get 254,000 miles. The only one that was in the same league for me was my 1982 Mercedes Benz 300TD (diesel wagon) that I got 245,000 miles on before some teenage girl managed to turn in front of me at an intersection and totalled the beauty.
I wish now I'd kept the 1994 but the 2003 seems to be performing well, better milage. Its got 145,000 miles and appears to have a lot left. Guess we'll see, but I only have $4k in it ($5k minus the $1K I got for the 94) so I've already got my money's worth out of it I figure. I did all of Mike's 60K service and replaced the front shaft parts with greasable units. I'll keep my finger's crossed.
Thanks for the insights.
Thanks for the clarification.
I was not aware that the 94 engine was lower compression. My manual still said use premium fuel only and I did for the first 45K. That alone probably explains the "unexplainable."
I never did adjust or change the timing though. Just went on my happy way with the regular. Maybe the timing was off a little to begin with so I just stumbled on the correct tune?
It sure was a durable beast - a few "fit and finish" issues like the dash that continually "pulled up" and the hokey fix they did with the strip that screwed down but all in all I can't complain about any vehicle that you can do so little work on an still get 254,000 miles. The only one that was in the same league for me was my 1982 Mercedes Benz 300TD (diesel wagon) that I got 245,000 miles on before some teenage girl managed to turn in front of me at an intersection and totalled the beauty.
I wish now I'd kept the 1994 but the 2003 seems to be performing well, better milage. Its got 145,000 miles and appears to have a lot left. Guess we'll see, but I only have $4k in it ($5k minus the $1K I got for the 94) so I've already got my money's worth out of it I figure. I did all of Mike's 60K service and replaced the front shaft parts with greasable units. I'll keep my finger's crossed.
Thanks for the insights.
Last edited by smokey73; Mar 24, 2011 at 11:15 PM. Reason: spelling
Chris... is the fuel there 10% ethanol , or have you guys been able to escape that so far ?
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