For all the countless reasons Land Rover owners love their vehicles, gas mileage is certainly not one of them. These treasured transporters are plain HEAVY, and it takes a lot of effort to move their boxy structures around. Match the poor fuel efficiency with the ever-soaring gas prices, and it’s no surprise people are putting their Rovers in the garage in favor of a more economical “daily driver.”
In an attempt to relieve some of the suffering currently experienced by Rover owners, Atlantic British Ltd. has provided a few tips designed to attain maximum fuel mileage from your Rover. This is not to say you’ll be achieving MINI Cooper-esque fuel efficiency, but these tips may help identify problems that could be costing you money.
1.) Tire Pressure: Make sure to check your tires frequently! Check your owner’s manual for proper tire pressures for your Rover and monitor your tire pressure weekly when the tires are cold. Proper tire pressure improves your fuel economy and will extend tire life.
2.) Vehicle Alignment: If your tires are wearing unevenly or cupping, an alignment can help your fuel efficiency. A properly aligned vehicle will roll down the road with less resistance and use less fuel.
3.) Engine Optimization: Have you been neglecting a persistent check-engine light? Something as simple as a bad oxygen sensor or spark plug wire can trigger a check-engine error, and these ailments can cause your engine to run poorly and waste fuel. Diagnose the problem and get it fixed. Replace your spark plugs if they have been in service for 60k miles or more (30k or more for distributor ignition vehicles). If you have a distributor you should also replace the cap and rotor. Every little bit helps.
4.) Air Filters: Replace dirty air filters - Rover recommends a replacement every 30k miles, and even more frequently in dry/dusty climates.
5.) Vehicle Weight: Rovers are heavy enough; don’t add extra weight unless you need it. This means roof racks, brush guards, winches and other fun accessories should be removed if you are looking to achieve better MPG. Additional accessories increase drag and reduce fuel economy. Hey, we didn’t say this would be fun…
6.) Oil: This seems obvious, but make sure to stay current on your oil changes. Oil reduces friction on moving parts and removes harmful substances from the engine. Again, engine optimization equals better fuel efficiency.
7.) Trip Planning: Finally, plan your trips to maximize efficiency and avoid rapid starts and stops.
Hopefully these tips will prove useful and help Rover owners save a few dollars. It is important to note that there really is no “silver bullet” to increasing your Rover’s fuel efficiency. To achieve the best results it is best to insure that all of the aforementioned topics are monitored and addressed when appropriate.
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