I have a 92 3.5 v8 manual, heavily modified, heavy aswell!
However my 350 mile weekend just gone averaged 11mpg, theirs 25 ish no doubt.
The MAIN DECIDING FACTOR is the cost. All the other reasons are just reasons but your wallet will not be told otherwise.
I just put £200 of fuel in my car and in jerry cans and used it all in a 2 day/350 mile laning weekend.
If you can't afford that sort of cash then avoid v8. There is the LPG option but IMO #### that **** it's not my scene.
If you don't use the car much like me and can justify the cost every once in a while then you have to consider the other options and decide what's best for you.
Petrol only runs on petrol out the pump. At pump prices.
Diesel runs on pump fuel, cherry, chip fat, engine oil, you name it itll burn it if you refine your fuels sufficiently. And that's VERY cheap motoring.
As a v8 lover my advice would be this.
And this is NOT GUESSWORK, this is advice from someone who has BEEN THERE.
Either get an early 94/95 low spec 300tdi diesel and forget about the v8 thing.
Or get a 90/91/92 disco 3.5 manual. You do not want a post 92 vehicle as then you have to have cats. You want an EFi disco not a carb motor.
on either vehicle you will need to sort out quite serious rust problems.
On the petrol, YOU THEN FIT MEGASQUIRT.
It's that simple. You will spend hours trying to get the stupid ####ing dizzy set up correctly, just get rid of it in the first place.
Trust me on this if I did it all again it would be my first mod.
The amount of money you save buying a v8 car in the first place pretty much covers the MS cost anyway.
And then you have the overall best setup with which to start your project on.
As long as you can afford the fuel![]()
I have a 92 3.5 v8 manual, heavily modified, heavy aswell!
Recently converted to Megasquirt, that's a god send, engine could do with a little bit more torque really considering the weight of the vehicle as it stands now (LOTS of off road kit, HD bumpers etc, spares and tools) but basically it does alright.
On a laning weekend with a load of diesels I find that I am noticeably slower than the diesels I I keep the revs low, mine makes no power to speak of under 2500rpm whereas theirs are running out at 2.5k
If I operate a gear lower than them then during the road section between lanes I am all over their arses and easily have the power to accelerate past, that's a 2.6 ton disco vs under 2 ton 90.
However my 350 mile weekend just gone averaged 11mpg, theirs 25 ish no doubt.
The v8 has lots of drama, lots of occasion, noise, power, drive ability, the want to be flat out, but it also has many worries, not once am I off the hook thinking is this going to explode, overheat, break down etc and that's running megadquirt, the dizzy engines are even more worrying, nevermind off road troubles with water which gets very annoying!
Needless to say the reliable (usually) diesel just plods, good power, solid tickover, never misfiring, nothing. The v8 might have a little slow tickover, a little fast, a little miss, a little flat spot, anything can happen, the diesel just put put puts forever and a day, rain, shine, wet, dry, hot, cold.
The thing that keeps me in v8 is that this is a play motor for me and diesel is not enough fun for play.
Diesel is for the everyday man (nobody can justify v8 everyday lets be honest!) or for the man who needs to be underwater, although mine is now waterproof running Megasquirt so it's not a problem anymore, whereas petrol is for the competition man who needs the power or the playtime guy who wants the noise and the drama.
The MAIN DECIDING FACTOR is the cost. All the other reasons are just reasons but your wallet will not be told otherwise.
I just put £200 of fuel in my car and in jerry cans and used it all in a 2 day/350 mile laning weekend.
If you can't afford that sort of cash then avoid v8. There is the LPG option but IMO #### that **** it's not my scene.
If you don't use the car much like me and can justify the cost every once in a while then you have to consider the other options and decide what's best for you.
Petrol only runs on petrol out the pump. At pump prices.
Diesel runs on pump fuel, cherry, chip fat, engine oil, you name it itll burn it if you refine your fuels sufficiently. And that's VERY cheap motoring.
As a v8 lover my advice would be this.
And this is NOT GUESSWORK, this is advice from someone who has BEEN THERE.
Either get an early 94/95 low spec 300tdi diesel and forget about the v8 thing.
Or get a 90/91/92 disco 3.5 manual. You do not want a post 92 vehicle as then you have to have cats. You want an EFi disco not a carb motor.
on either vehicle you will need to sort out quite serious rust problems.
On the petrol, YOU THEN FIT MEGASQUIRT.
It's that simple. You will spend hours trying to get the stupid ####ing dizzy set up correctly, just get rid of it in the first place.
Trust me on this if I did it all again it would be my first mod.
The amount of money you save buying a v8 car in the first place pretty much covers the MS cost anyway.
And then you have the overall best setup with which to start your project on.
As long as you can afford the fuel![]()
Did you fit your own Megasquirt or get someone to fit it? How much would I be looking at for a Megasquirt kit?
Not that I'm biased, but this is why I put up with the V8 downfalls:
Making it look easy at parkwood 4x4 in the V8 discovery - YouTube
That was pre-Megasquirt, post-Megasquirt you can wind up the timing top end and it really sings!
I would Land Rover ever sell a vehicle that only did 12mpg ??.
My light weight TVR only did 16mpg the same as my RRc.
As for Jaguar engines doing 25 to 38, my brothers 6 months old XF gets 22mpg only sometimes according the the dash display and a work colleagues 7 year old XK8 has the same mpg as my 15 year old disco 20mpg on a non stop run, so no different from the day it left the showroom.
And as for Td5 engines..... production didn't last long 5 years or so I wonder why. I'm now glad I didn't follow my temptations to go and buy one.
I'd say 98/99 to 06/07 for the TD5 engine, it was about for ages in the defender!
Only emissions regulation forces the change.
Plus, look at the challenge guys, they use v8 (rover but more common now Chevy LS3) or they use tuned TD5.
The v8 debate can be answers easily:
Do you want one?
If not get a diesel.
If you do, can you have one?
If not get a diesel.
If you can, enjoy the mpg!
Simples![]()
Mr Noisy is the man when it comes to common sense and V8's!
Well, ya know![]()
Also stumbled up on your YouTube channel and commented on a vid. That's a monster you've got there mate! Something I aspire towards myself in the future.
Also stumbled up on your YouTube channel and commented on a vid. That's a monster you've got there mate! Something I aspire towards myself in the future.
You got a link for that?