First of all congradulations, and welcome to the family. Please dont take this as mean but..

From a rover owner with decent knowlage, you should be putting ATLEST 91 (i put 93 in mine). The clynders run hotter in rovers and need the extra boost for some reason i cant explain. you can run 87, but you shouldent run it long (ie a full tank every few mounths). You mostlikley wont feel the effects of it now, but in about 20k miles you will start having problems (leaking head gaskets, engine knocking), then after 50-70k you can see large problems costing in the $1000's. YOU HAVE TO PUT ATLEST 91 OCTANE, CHANGE YOUR OIL EVERY 3,000 MILES!!!! i know land rover recomends 7.5k but thats the minnimum, you CAN NOT do the minimun with these trucks if you want them to last over 50k. WHEN LAND ROVER SAYS SOMTHING, THEY MEAN IT, AND DO BETTER THEN WHAT THEY SAY, that just how it goes.

when people start "cutting corners" like this, you get the "LAND ROVER SUCKS, NO RELIABITLY" rant reviewsgoing. a few extra $15 or free oil changes will help save you, there IS reliability in these trucks, you just have to do better them the recomndations change oil2 times every time they say 1, and USE 91-93 OCTANE NO MATTER WHAT!

sincerly

All persons buying a used Land Rover.

 

Actually, my dealer told me to run the lower octane The LR2 has a Volvo S80 I6 Engine, which no other Rover currently uses. I have about 13k on my truck and get over 20 mpg in the neighborhood (suburban and hilly). I get about 26 on the highway. It's not a bad idea to run a tank of 91 once in a while but the dealer sells the car advising to use 87. When in doubt call your service department. Also, since the LR2 uses synthetic oil,every 6 months or 6k was the recommendation from the dealer and on the LR2, the oil changesare free for the first 4 years or 50K. Since I live in what's considered extreme climate I never go more than6 months or 6K. I changed it at 3K when it was new just becuase of the break in period. It cost me $86. Apparently the only other car that sizethey had seen that takes that much oild was a Benz. The whole 3 months/3,000 miles was a big oil industry campaign.

 

umm.. no. did you read what i said? better then recommended? the dealers will tell you anything to make a sale. sure you can run 87 octane, your car isn't going to explode when u put it in the first time. but over time it will start losing reliability if you don't fully take care of it. 87 octane and oil changes every 6k is like living on minimun wage, it can be done but its not a good quality. it dosent really matter if its a volvo motor, they are delicate motors as well.

living in colorado is the same climate as northern wisconsin, drastic changes from 70 degreese to 20 in a day, thurnderstorms to blizzards. when you put 94,000 miles on your LR2, come tell me how fine you were with 6,000 mile changes, and 87 octane.

 

im mixed... with the si6 i highly recomend changing the oil every 3000 miles, you do not want to create any, even a very small amount, of sludging with this engine... in the end, then engine is unproven, came out in volvos about 4 months before it was slapped into the lr2 a year ago. the cps, cam profile switching system, has incredibly small oil passages and i promiss as soon as thick oil or sludge is introduced it will cause major issues, if you want to know more about this system ill explain,but just know it needs oil and it needs to be able to flow well. as to the fuel, split the diff. yes, 87 is ok to put in the tank, but spend the extra few bucks each fill up and put 89 in it, youll thank yourself when you go out of warranty. and in the end, its about an extra couple cents a mile you drive

 

At first I was told LR2 uses synthetic oil, and later I was told it uses REGULAR OIL, and the guy that told me synthetic is not there anymore.
So last service I brought my own synthetic oil.

Anyone can confirm/deny if LR2 uses synthetic or not?

Thank you.

PS

I do use premium gas-I felt decrease in both acceleration and gas mileage when used regular once or twice...

 

over in europe its synthetic, here its regular, due to our 7.5k service intervals, they still have 15k... that said, if i had one, i would do what you are doing, bring your own. or just get it changed twiceas often

 

I NEVER drive a newcar off warranty but thanks for the advise. When this baby hits 4 years old it's traded or sold. And I only drive it about 9000 miles a year. Work from home so I don't have to commute. It's a business write off for me anyway. And our octane choices are 85, 87 or 91. No 89 here. 87 is our Mid Grade fuel. Then from November to February they add MTBE to all the gas which is crap anyway. But if I ever do keep a Rover longer than the warranty period I'll be sure to heed your advice. I learned my lesson pouring money into my sons stupid Jetta, which is now mine and sits in the garage. And it was under warranty when i bought it for him. Even though the Jetta was well maintained it has cost a lot to fix all the stuff that breaks.

 

Well stated! I concur.

 

On the gas cap it reads "Premium Fuel Recommended" in the owners manual on page 129 it says:

"Mid or regular grade gasoline with a CLC or AKI
octane rating not lower than 87 should be
used.
For optimum performance use fuel with a
minimum octane rating of 91 (CLC or AKI). The
vehicle will run on lower grade fuel, but doing
so may cause engine knock or pinking."

I follow it to the letter and run 87 or 91 depending on how expensive it is at the time. At 9500mi I have no issues and am getting 16.5-17 in town and 20-22 on the highway. (I have the ski rack installed, so that probably hurts a little). At my first service I asked the dealer if the oil was synthetic, the answer was NO.



I don't disagree with what the OP said, but if I have engine problems at 20k I won't keep it outside warranty..

 

sincerly

All persons buying a used Land Rover.

^ *points* respect the person that your selling it to, do the max. thats what im getting at.