Not quite a hypothetical question, but ...

Having had a 300 Tdi for 6+ years and loving it, I now want to try a V8. Not interested in Defender etc, want a Disco as I like the off-road ability, but still need to tow long distances, carry wife and kids and use it as a 'general car'.

So the question, which V8 is best?

To qualify that, I know little to nothing about V8's, I've heard to steer clear of the 3.9, that the 4.0 has slipped liner issues and other horror stories. Is there anywhere that I can get a 'true' rundown of the Disco V8's, sort of a comparison site maybe?

There's also the possibility that we keep the Tdi and build the V8 into an off-road 'thing', or vice-versa.

Cheers.

well the 3.9 is more widely avaible cos it went in everything.My tip would be get a lpg kit if your gonna use it as a daily runner

Early V8's for the disco had carburettors the 3.5, then there's the 3.9 efi and then there's the 3.9 fitted to the series 2 disco so called 4.0 to say it was a different engine by Land Rover.
Then for the Rangies there is the 4.2 and 4.6 these are the one's that seem to have the most problems with slipped liners.
So if you were told to steer clear of the 3.9's your only left with the 3.5 which when fitted to the RRC was carb or efi.

Dint they only do the v8 for a year then it became the v8i?A rare beast,

some V8 go on for years.Its the luck o the draw.I have a rebuilt 4.0l thats at about 150 000 with no issues.its on gas and is ace.

The D1 was sold in the UK with the 3.5 in non cat and cat equipped versions.Either is easily the most reliable and generally easiest to live with long term.As long as the engine is not fitted with an LPG system that causes backfires it is also extremely tolerant of crap LPG systems,loss of coolant etc.
Not that common,but worth looking for if you want a v8.

eightinavee said:

The D1 was sold in the UK with the 3.5 in non cat and cat equipped versions.Either is easily the most reliable and generally easiest to live with long term.As long as the engine is not fitted with an LPG system that causes backfires it is also extremely tolerant of crap LPG systems,loss of coolant etc.
Not that common,but worth looking for if you want a v8.

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That sounds like what I want ... especially if, as Discool said earlier, the 3.5 comes with carbs 'cos I understand carbs more than I understand efi etc.

We just want something simple that sounds niiiice ... and acc. to the wife it'd be better as an offroader anyway, so again, simple and sweet is better. As she's decided it's going to be an off-roader then LPG won't matter anyway. We've got a budget of around £3k but that's for everything, basic vehicle, then repairs/upgrades etc etc, unless we find something that's already done for the price.

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated.

for off roading you won't want carbs, unless you only off road on the flat. ]

I had nothing but issues with carbs off road, always cutting out on steep hills etc.

Just get an EFI with LPG conversion, there is nothing to understand, valve opens, gas goes in, goes bang, comes out the exhaust, and is half the price.

when im off road i dont have no trouble with carbs at all.maybee your floats were ****ed.

Beast o Bodmin said:

when im off road i dont have no trouble with carbs at all.maybee you can't drive for ****

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Thats a bit strong

OK Paul get yourself a low mileage disco 3.9 in a 300 series disco introduced in 1994 with the 95 model year. its still simple to understand even though it's a efi engine, every one understands them, every one who are into Rover V8's that is, you will get a bit more power and generally a better engine as petrol engines always have been.

And as you have had a 300 you know what to look for, so you are half way there

Makes a lot of sense, Discool, and we hadn't considered it from that point of view.

I already do everything to keep this Disco going and the only real difference would be the engine, so ready spares availability etc etc I'd guess an injection system is only, after all, just another system to work out.

Admittedly, the biggest job I've done is swap out the rear diff, and swap a complete front axle, but I am (supposedly) an Engineer (Mechanical & Production) so should be able to figure out what's what.

Appreciate the comments.

Hi mate i own a 96 disco1 3.9efi thats been converted to run on LPG, ive fitted it with a performance air filter and stainless exhaust and let me tell you it sounds BLOODY LOVELY! i always get people commenting on the sound and asking me what ive got under the bonnet. i absolutely love it,

Its done 130,000 so far and sounds perfect, i keep regular checks on all the fluids and so far everything has been absolutely fine, i did have my water pump go about 6 months ago (about £60 quid from paddocks and 3 hours of my life) and replaced the serpentine belt at the same time.

When i 1st got the disco about a year ago it was in quite a sorry state (i only paid £1700 for it so it was to be expected), it stalled occasionally whilst idling, run a little lumpy on petrol and sounded pretty rough in general - especially on LPG. I tightened up the accelerator cable, put performance HT leads on it, gave it a nice dose of injector cleaner, cleaned and wd40,d any connections, dizzy cap etc (gonna change plugs soon) and relaced the knackered exhaust, This has completely transformed the disco.

The "Rover V8" engine i think was designed like in the 50s or something and is very tried and tested and so im told is practically bullet proof if its been well looked after but you could have problems with ones that have been abused, same as anything i suppose.

Now i dont want to drive anything other than a V8 i love em!
However i have been told that V8s are not as good as the 300tdi's when they get wet offroading, and dont forget theres twice as many cylinders, spark plugs, leads etc that can go wrong. On the plus side more power and 1/2 price fuel! the LPG system is very simple mine turns the injectors off and feeds gas vapour into the air intake just before the plenum chamber, in fact a lot simpler than the fuel pump, injectors etc, and in fact when the car was running rough it was really easy to find the source of the problems by changing from LPG to petrol and seeing if the symptoms persisted - hence me figuring out that the injectors where blocking. Also if you ever have problems with 1 fuel whilst far from home you can always switch it to the other fuel and hopefully get back -mine was playing up on LPG once - thank god its duel fuel.

Sorry to go on and on but my opinion is get a V8 efi you'll love it, but choose wisely! hope this helps