re: I wish I had taken pictures of the dirty throttle body I cleaned

Considering that no fuel flows thru the throttle body, just filtered air plus PCV vented vapors of oil fumes, that would not have too much to do with type of petrol used. If throttle body is dirty, PCV system will need service also in most cases.

 

Thanks for mentioning the PCV system. I need to check that. I figured the dirty throttle body was due to a combination of high mileage and low quality/ low octane fuel being used.

 

Excellent point. Hopefully I will head off the problems before they become an issue.

 

I have 180,000 miles on my 2000 Disco II and I do a lot of cross-country driving. I generally run cheap gas on those trips and I don't notice a difference in my generally-crappy gas milage. I did not buy my Rover for it's gas economy. What I have noticed is that after about six tanks of crappy gas my "check engine" light will come on. Changing back to premium gas gets the light back off after running through an entire tank of the "good stuff". The person who quoted that it only takes about five dollars more to just fill up with premium in the first place CLEARLY has not done a lot of cross-country driving. I Just got done moving all of my worldly possessions from the East coast of NC to San Marcos, TX. It took four round-trips to get it done. Premium gas was as much as 90 cents per gallon higher than regular unleaded along the I-95/I-20/I-85/I-65/I-10 corridor. These trips were done in February and early March 2013.

I change my oil regularly, keep all my fluids full, and my car does not blow any smoke or hardly use any oil. 180,000 miles and still going strong.

Chuck

 

When I first bought my Disco with 130,000 miles I immediately put 87 octane gas instead of premium without knowing the requirement. The engine began idling very rough. 2 oxygen sensors and the MAF sensor suddenly failed. Related? I replaced the sensors and when I switched to premium noticed a huge difference. I'd rather have the engine hum smoothly myself.

 

I doubt regular will foul an O2 sensor.
I think at 130,000 those were ready anyway..
I replaced an O2 at 98,000 that was coding.

 

I will chime in here too. Unfortunately for me..every single one of the last 10 vehicles I owned with the exception of (09 Maxda CX9) required premium. But, I knew that going in. They all get the good stuff. During the hurricane last year though, it took you hours to find any fuel, and premium was nowhere to be found. I had to run regular for close to a month in the Disco. No reduction in performance or MPG that I saw, noticed or felt. With that said though, as soon as premium was back on the shelf it was back in the truck. I didn't drive my Audi, but our Acura MDX there was a noticeable reduction in power (to me at least) during that time. But, that is a higher revving 300HP V6...so I would expect that.

 

I own i 2000 range rover, 4.0 same thing as 4.6 just dirffent crank and pistons. anyways. i only use chevron premium,, one night i was driving and got so low in gas, and i was looking for a chevron and didnt fine one so i decided to pump Arco premium gas, but my rover started to run like crap, the good news is that i just pumped a few gallons, so i found a chevron a filled my tank and the problem went away, so stay away from cheap gas,, Like daveo3s said if you that broke, you should sell it, and get one with high mpg, rovers are a pain to keep

 

My Harley noticed the difference between Chevron Premium and Most other fuels. My Rover does not seem to notice a difference, at least that I can feel.

 

I have run regular in my d2 every fill up. I have never noticed any difference at all. My now retired to offroad only d1, I have always ran 87. I don't think it makes a difference and it does not seem to ruin engines. I purchased my D1 with 90k miles and seven years later I am @ 296k miles. My D1 has had the head gaskets changed right before I got it and they are still holding. I drive my rovers very hard and they just seem to hold up better with abuse.