How to get milage in a disco series I;
A ORIGIANAL Craigness Rant.
First things first. Tires play a serious role on these trucks when it comes to fuel economy. 205 85 r16 will give the best economy when they have 38 psi front and rear.
You also should have the original air dam installed. No roof bars installed.
The following tips when used together or fractions theof can result in up to a 40% inchrease in fuel economy. HOWEVER, your truck will look like a fucking Mazda MPV and wont be able to pass a Yugo on the highway so please pick and choose.
I used to blueprint engines in my past life. I know about squeezing horsies and saving fuel.
First off, get it right. Land Rovers are actually VERY fuel efficiant vehicles given what they are and more importainly, how they get power to the wheels.
The average Disco 1 bone stock gets about 13.5-15 MPG all around average (50/50 driving). Thats a medium capacity V8 with a shitty ignition system and margianl fuel injection system, single pushrod cam, timing chain, viscus fan, collective exhaust, poorly designed air plenum and intake transfers. And not to mention, it's in 4-Wheel drive all the time.
If you took a Nissan Pathfinder and drive it in 4 high all day you would average less than 9 mpg. It's a proven fact. And thats a 3.2 letre V6 with a much more refined intake and ignition system. Not to mention electric fan, belt driven overhead cams and variable timing systems. So the rover aint that bad.
I have done most of this stuff on various cars and i'll give you my FACT results.
Subject car is a 1996 Disco 1 5-speed. 2.5" lift, 235 85 R16 Goodyear MT/R's, full safty rack with 4 lights, steering guard, ARB with 8" lights and winch, Snorkel (ARB) and just about every other windage appendage you could think of.
BEFORE I fucked with the engine I got about 8 int he city and 12 on the highway. Now thats a good figure and the bulk of you with similar build can contest to those numbers.
I worked the motor a bit and did some tricks.
First off, have the heads ported to 12-14%. Have them made nice and shiny inside like mirrors. Do the same to the upper and lower plenum and the intake manifold. it should cost you no more thna $500 to have it done by a professional. I increased flow rate about 13% and reduced turbulance by 32-35% as the recipt says. they also look kicken.
Cut out the stock cats and install ones from a chevy V8 on EACH SIDE. The will offer about 40% better flow and still clear the frame and works. About $400 incouding cats from a muffler shop.
swap the flex tube between the mass flow and intake plenum for a polished pipe like they use in ghetto tuners. About $25-$60 and top it off with that K&N filter of the same lifestyle. Another $60.
Sell the fan and fan clutch on ebay for whatever you can get for it. Use 2 12" fans from a lincoln Town car wired to the iginition. $100 from a junkyard. - BIG IMPROVEMENT HERE.
If you have a dizzy, your in super-duper luck as you will be able to tune your NOX value easily. Find a auto shop that does emissions and give the guy a $20 or sop to let you sniff the smoke in sample mode while you tune the dizzy a bit. Make the NOX the lowest value at 2K RPM with the advance plugged off.
Get brand new O2 sensors and dont let them touch oil, silicone or your hands intill they are installed. Use Dielectric grease on the plugs only.
Make sure your alternator, idle pully and a/c compressor bearings are perfect.
add Slick 50 to everything.
Make sure the brake calipers are smooth and do not drag the wheels at all.
Change the exaust pipe after the muffler to a 3" pipe if you can. shitcan the resonator. I would even use a flowmaster up front. Make it fit.
make sure your tranny is perfect. Fluid must be spot on the mark when cold and running. Also pink. Rovers loos a lot in the tranny and t/c. Those should be mint.
Make sure you have a perfect alignment. Good steering componants.
use 93 or better if you can on octane.
These are cheap and easy ways to make horsepower and get better milage. After I did half of these (All the motor work also) to the truck i'm now getting 10 in the city and 17 on the highway. Thats with a full roof rack and all the offroad toys.
I do know of a guy in queen sthat worked the motor of a classic and did the fan, intake, nox and other stuff and he DOES GET 24 MPG on the highway. He swares by it. 385 miles to a tank average he says.
You can work the motor even more but at some point, just the horsepower goes up and then the fuel economy drops fast.
Good luck and feel free to add to this.
