Land Rover Defender 90 2.0 petrol 1998

Hey Gents,

Got a question, saw an ad here in Holland about a 2.0 liter, 140HP, Originally fitted petrol engine in a 90, but i'm having a hard time finding anything about it. Any idea what type engine this might be? Looks like the cars might have been ex cops/army/something silimar.

Cheers

Ah italian cop cars. 2.0 liter rover T series. Underpowered for the Disco, but the 90 is much lighter. Anyone know more about this engine?

Koen said:

Ah italian cop cars. 2.0 liter rover T series. Underpowered for the Disco, but the 90 is much lighter. Anyone know more about this engine?

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easy to get 250BHP from this lump and plenty of low down torque, Turbocharged versions are immensely strong.

I've read that indeed but does it fit?

yes - its the same as the MPI lump.
Used to be one in a Series that was video'd drifting around the local roads.

The Mad Hat Man said:

easy to get 250BHP from this lump and plenty of low down torque, Turbocharged versions are immensely strong.

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Not strictly correct, early tickford had better rods and could be tuned to looney power

old link - but it has been done. https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/disco-mpi-engine-fitted-to-series-vehicle.31738/

Land Rover also fitted the Rover T16 engine to a special batch of Defenders built for the Italian Carabinieri, which operated an exclusively petrol-powered vehicle fleet.

The biggest problem with them was:-
1) oil leak from head gasket due to oil passage close to edge of head (easily fixed by sleeving the oilway thru head gasket.
2) max power is generated quite high up the rev band (circa 4k) which isnt ideal for moving 2 ton vehicles.

The ones i'm looking at are indeed the defender 90's from the Italian Carabinieri. The 90 "only" weigths 1600kg so its not as heavy at the disco's and i think 140HP is more then plenty. My old 110 had only a 2.5na in it Not lookting to put a turbo in though. I think it will be faster than i'm used to anyway, plus if i want to go fast, i'll jump onto one of my motorcycles

Meh, they were all sold

I've wondered if this would make a good conversion option. The Discovery MPi had a reputation for being underpowered, but in a lighter series or 90 I think it would be about right. With the exception of the exhaust (particularly if you fitted a turbocharged Rover engine) it should all bolt together?

yes - with few mods.