I owned a 2007 LR3 for fifteen years, putting almost 215,000 on it. (Loved the car. Big improvement from my previous 2003 Range Rover which I got ride of at 92,000 miles.) Finally, there were too many electrical issues and mechanical issues that my wife wouldn’t let me put more money into it. The engine and transmission remained strong, but the front suspension airbags finally gave out along with various other sensors including one/both in the fuel tank.

Two years later, after my Nissan Armada was trashed in a parking lot, I’ve been looking at cars. I found a relatively low mileage (71,000) 2016 LR4 HSE. My primary question is, can this be run on regular gas periodically? My old LR3 made it to 215,000 miles using primarily regular gas, though a sticker said “use 91 octane”. Never an issue, never a knock, and no sense of loss of power. The only thing maybe was about 1 mpg lower than with high test gas, but that may be debatable.

Thoughts and experiences with the V6 Supercharger and regular? Are there any issues that seem to crop up with this year. I had my share of expenses over the years, but they seemed to level off after about 120,000 miles until the fuel gauge crapped out and then things gradually escalated from there.

Thanks for your help. I need to pull the trigger in a couple of days. At the price, it won’t last.

 

V8 is more powerful and cheaper to work on. Besides that, same same

 

I can’t answer as I’m from a school (engineering) where your specs are followed.

 

I did not answer your gas question, I would only run 91 on the V6 supercharged. Direct injection motor. I’ve seen people get away with 89 on the AJV8(LR3, but not the GDI motors.

 

References like this are not uncommon:
https://enginecrux.com/best-gas-for-...nes-key-facts/

 

Generally you can only use the 89 for short periods, a tank or 2 at the most. Supercharged engines can be quite fuel fussy. I have added a can of octane booster to my in car kit for trips where 91 may not be available.

 

I would plan on sticking to the high test gas as recommended. Same question comes up on the Cadillac XT4 groups (wife's car) which has a Turbo V6. Lots of folks say they run 89 but most of us that have done so a time or 2 also noticed that the fuel Economy suffered a bit, so in the long run the difference in mpg and potential fouling/engine & turbo wear aren't worth it. And the Super Chargers are more finicky than the turbos. I run nothing but 93 in both of our vehicles.

 

I had a 2009 LR3 and it was great. Bought it at 40k miles, sold it at maybe 120k miles for like 8k less than I paid for it. Was a great car. Had the standard LR things: control arms, compressor, sunroof drains, wheel bearings and did have a heater core clog. But I was able to fix the heater core and compressor myself so maintenance cost was very low.

I then got a 2016 SCV6 with the 21' twist wheels with 40k miles. It had 6 months left on the manufacturer's warranty and I actually turned down the extended warranty to save a couple grand - because I had so few issues with my LR3.

The pros:

- It's definitely a great looking car and still get compliments on it today. The dealership said if they have <80k miles on them they get a pretty big premium because people like the classic design.
- The SCV6 has waaay more power than the Lr3 V8. It's legitimately quick when the supercharger kicks in.

The cons:

- it has all the standard maintenance issues of your LR3...plus plastic coolant pipe issues. These all start go around 75k miles.
- All those Jag/LR SCV6 and V8s used cheaper plastic pipes for the coolant system. They ALL fail over time. The biggest one is the front and rear "cross over pipes" under the supercharger. It's a $15 part but costs $3-4k to replace because you need to remove the whole supercharger to get to them.
- The supercharger bushing can wear and cause some noise. Most people replace that when replacing the cross over pipe because it's a $15 part and easy to swap when the supercharger is off.
- Then you have some other coolant parts that will go as well, but are much easier to replace or DIY: plastic thermostat housing, water pump, upper coolant hose plastic.
- I also had to replace a low pressure fuel pump in the tank...but I think thats because my wife runs the car low on gas
- then you have a rubber PCV valve that will give you a check engine, but thats a cheaper/easy fix.
- And the gear shift selectors that raise/lower will fail around 80k miles. You can replace those in 20 mins DIY but will cost a couple hundred bucks.

So the most important thing is to ensure all the coolant parts were replaced - and when. My cross overs went around 75k miles and my water pump was replaced at that time, then my thermostat housing went around 85k miles and I replaced that myself (pretty easy and $120 part), and now at 120k miles my upper radiator hose developed a crack and I will replace that myself as well (pretty easy and cheap).


So...they definitely have more issues than the LR3. I think that 2007-2009 range or LR3s were the best for reliability. I know the 2010-2013 were a mess. The 2015-2016 are definitely better than those and the engine is good besides those coolant issues. If I had to do over, I would replace the cross overs myself. Ive seen videos of people being able to get that supercharger off in <30 minutes if you know what you are doing.

As for your first question...ive always put premium in both my LR3 and Lr4. We have low octane in California and I do think I get some low rpm knocks on the LR4 even with our 91 octane.

 

I tried as an experiment only and performance was confirmed reduced. Most modern cars are tuned for a specific octance, and forced induction, supercharged and turbo charged, engines are even more sensitive to knock. Best stick with the manufacture requirement.