Hello All,
This is my first day joining this forum. I own a 2004 Land Rover Discovery. The question I am about to ask has probably been beatin' up a couple of times but I couldn't find any past postings on this issue.

The question I have is this: Land Rover recommends the use of Premium fuel for the discovery which I believe is 91 octane. Here in California there is also 89 octane which is also considered almost premium. Can I use 89 Octane without damaging my vehicle? I am assuming when land rover travels around the world like Africa etc., Premium fuels aren't always readily available.

The fuel cost is killing me Financially and I don't want to have to get rid of the Discovery. Your comments are much appreciated.

 

i'm not sure how good 89 will run in it, however, i do know that in my dad's 2003 mustang mach 1, if you don't run premium, it will not run right, or damn near as fast.

we used to have a 2001 ranger and it had the 3 liter ohv. when we would run 87 in it it would ping with the a/c compressor on. if we ran 89 or higher, no pinging.

one tank of 89 or 87 shouldn't hurt it if any at all. maybe they only say run 91 for a/c pinging purposes. but, i don't know. ask around a little more first.

 

i think most modern engines will compensate with the timing and such if you dont run premium. i would see how it runs with 89 or even 87, and see how it runs. of course you would have to have a bottle of octane booster on hand, just in case. or ask someone at the dealership, preferably one of the mechanics.

 

if your not getting any pining then you should be ok i would try to run the higher octane in the summer months, and get by with a lil lower octane in cooler months as long as there is no pining.

 

si, muy bueno

 

emunster,

The reason LR recommends premium fuel is because the earlier NAS V-8 engines had exhaust valve sticking issues. The additives in the premium fuels reduced this. Your 04 Disco has had the advantage of BMW engineering to resolve this issue. It has dual knock sensors so you can run economy all day long without risk of engine damage.