Thread: Land Rover Disco or Range Rover...That is the question.

G’day folks,

I’ve been searching for a 4x4, in my price bracket, for a couple of months now and being a Rover nut from way back, I decided the TD Disco was the way to go.
We need something that is economical to run, is easy to drive around on shopping trips and can also be used to get up into the golden triangle for a bit of camping and metal detecting and also fishing trips to those out of the way place where you can’t get in driving a Fairlane. :?
I posted a lot of questions on another 4x4 forum and everyone there said I was making the right decision based on my needs. Anyway after finding three TD Discos, 1994-1997 all in NSW, that I wanted to buy, I contacted the sellers, they gave me their top price, I made them a close offer, they said they would think it over and contact me on a certain day, after that day had passed and they had not contacted me, I contacted them…only to find that they had sold the vehicle to someone in their home state for the same price as I had offered them! They reckoned as I would have to travel up to NSW to check on and collect the vehicle, they were not sure that I would have done that, (it only cost about $100 to fly up) so anyway I have missed-out on three TD Discos.
So now I am also looking at V8 Range Rovers (1986 – 1993) V8 Discos and TD Discos (1994-1997) as I feel either vehicle will suit our needs.
Here in Geelong, petrol costs $1.36.9 cents per litre and diesel costs between $1.42.4c per litre to $1.46.9c per litre and as I won’t be making any real long distance trips I should be okay with a V8 RR or Disco.
Almost finished folks, can anyone tell me what size fuel tank is standard in the 1984 to 1992 Range Rover V8 and what size fuel tank is standard in the 1994 to 1997 Disco, both TD and V8 petrol?
I know there are pro’s and con’s for each vehicle but can someone who has owned both a RR V8, and a Disco either V8 or TD give me their honest opinion on which vehicle they thought was best and why? I would also be interested in fuel figures for the RR and the Disco, if anyone can tell me.
One online mate (I have no reason to doubt him as he has always given me his honest opinion on Discos) has told me the V8 disco will use about 26L/100Km while the TD disco will use about 9-11L/100Km, we have never discussed Range Rovers.

Thanking you in advance for your opinions.

Bill from Corio

G'day Glen, Stevesub and David,

Thanks for you views on the Disco and Range Rover, your advice is much aprecated mates
When I posted the question on RR V Discos, I had a feeling you would see it and share your honest opinion with me...again! Glen me old mate :wink: I posted the question here on the form, partly to help others in my position and partly because I was beginning to feel I was taking-up quite a bit of your time with all the emails I had sent you seeking advice Glen...I know you told me, don't hesatate to ask questions on anything but I don't want to be taking-up all your free time on answering my queries mate. :wink:
As to: Glad ya finally made it.

I never posted anything before but I joined and I've been hanging out around here ever since you put me onto the forum Glen

***Does that post mean the white one is gone too?***

Looks like it Glen mate! As you know, after getting your advice with those figures, I was prepaired to pay the seller the full asking price if they did not accept my Fairlane in PE, No argument from me! From your email advice Glen, I reckoned I was getting a real bargain with all the extras on the TD Disco! Anyway, I waited in all day for the call, was prepaired to fly up today to check and pick-up the vehicle, I waited up to 12.30am but the seller never called me as promised and from past expierences, I doubt that they will and this time... I don't have a contact number for this seller!

Anyway Glen, I decided to include V8 Discos and Range Rovers in my search for a suitable vehicle, RRs for some reason are selling for more money than Discos and just about all RR are V8s! 3.5s or 3.8s!
Over the years I have owned a few Rovers, from a Rover 90 back in the late 50s to a 1984 Rover 3.500 Vanden Plas, two years ago, some dirty scumbag stole that beautifull car then burnt it!
I have also owned four Jags over the years, I guess I like pomy cars as I believe every one of my Rovers and Jags were better cars than my Ford Fairlane Ghia...which by the way is a beaut car...just not as good as the Rovers or the Jags...in my opinion

Now folks, as Glen already knows, I did plan on running the TD Disco on Bio-Diesel, Glen points out in his help reply to this post:

***You cant make biopetrol...............lol***

***If ya have to settle for a V8 look for one with a gas conversion, as I reckon it would be the best option apart from the TDi, but once again you cant brew your own.***

Glen mate, you have given me some great honest advice, which I truely apprecate mate, but I can tell you, you're wrong about making my own biopetrol! I do have the knowledge to make my own fuel for either a Diesel or a Petrol driven vehicle and...it's easier to make biopetrol than it is to make biodiesel :wink:

But! Before buying a petrol vehicle of any kind and making my own biopetrol, I "need" to know a couple of verry "important" things about the fuel system! What do I "need" to know :?:

I need to know if the fuel system is MPFI (Multi Point Fuel Injection) If the Fuel System "is" MPFI, I then need to know if the Ohms are High, Medium or Low.
(High Impedance: 14-16 OHM, Medium Impedance: 12 OHM, Low Impedance: 2.2-2.4 OHM)
I also need to know which injector Connector Type is used, the Bosch EV1, Bosch EV6, Delphi, NipponDenso or NH1 Connectors.

I have two petrol driven cars, both are fuel injected. my old 84 SAAB 900GLi is direct fuel injected, so I can't use it with biopetrol. My Fairlane is MPFI with Bosch injectors, so I can use it for biopetrol but before using biopetrol in the Ford, I need to fit a converter, the converter is similar to a petrol/LPG converter but only a ten minute job to fit under the hood but... it's important to get the right converter! If I get the wrong one, it wont work, in-fact it could destroy the engine! ops:
Also if I sell the vehicle I can remove the converter and put in on another vehicle...with the same fuel system setup :wink:

So there ya have Glen...I can make my own biopetrol and...with the right fuel injection system... run my car on it :wink:

Now I'm just waiting on replies comming back about fuel systems on a few RRs and V8 Discos before making a final decission...problem there is the RRs range from 1986 to 1993 and most of the owners haven't a clue about the fuel system, injectors or conectors...from one reply I got from a bloke in Melbourne...it's all double Dutch to them

Thanks a lot for all your much apprecated advice folks.

Bill in Corio 8)