I have deep affinity for the Rover V8 lump.

Almost a decade driving V8 powered Ambulances with the solid 4speed autobox (i think a ZF box) showed me that the engine is reliable and flexible.

We never had any engines blow up. The very rarely needed topped up with oil and they sound fabulous.

Ours had carbs, right to the last ones that were 2001/X registered.

Not sure what availabilty of LPG is like in Africa. But it was fairly prevalent in Ghana.

I wouldn't change the engine or modify it to take LPG. You will find that most places it won't be available and then you'll just be carrying around the tank empty, also LPG burns catastrophically quickly.

I've had a large petrol engined 4x4 (LC 80 4.5) and they are cheaper to buy than a diesel counterpart because of the fuel consumption, I enjoyed it and I balanced the savings I made on buying it with the extra fuel burn, plus I preferred the petrol engine more than the diesel.

If fuel economy really is a concern and you have to do something then I'd suggest selling the Discovery and going down another route. Perhaps a Nissan Patrol 3.0Di?

Ford Bronco 5.8L V8
 

We have Ford Bronco 1991 with 5.8L V8 benzine (GAS) engine and automatic trans. On our last expedition in Central Asia made avg. 24,6 L / 100km total avg. on 25000km trip in 5 months on the route. But we have also LPG system so we almost all trip made on LPG (propan- butan). In Central Asia is it very cheap. For example in Kazachstan we put 1L for 0,13 eur :)

Full of water, benzine and gas and equipment we have 3,2 ton. So I think it is ok....

8.5L V6 air cooled diesel in an 9 ton Magirus Deutz
 

We have driven 15,000km around Denmark, Sweden and Morrocco (including back and forth)

Around 30L/100KM :helpsmilie:

After putting in some new diffs in we hope to expect to achieve 20-25L/100km though :thumbup1:

My FZJ80 '97 on 33" AT (285/75/16 BFG) roof rack with huge James Baroud Grand Raid XXL (lot of stuff on the RTT-mostly camping chairs, table etc), and 4 bikes behind burns 24l/100km combined lpg+gas (90-10%).
Without roof rack and bike rack packed can go under 20 (not much just few ml).

Now I'm testing different size tires 235/85/16 first impression 2-3l/100 less is needed

By te way 1fe fz engine is mostly used in fork lift where feeds wit lpg

You could also try 255/85/16 which will give you better ground clearance than the 235's but with less rolling resistance than the 285's but that is a reasonable fuel saving with the 235's

All the info you could possibly ever want on land rovers is at Australian Land Rover Owners - AULRO.com including td5 conversions. My diesel D2's worst ever economy was 17lt per hundred in low 4 in sand. I average 11.5 to 13 fully laden on trips. Diesel is the go :thumbup1:

Unfortunately 255/85 exist only as MT...

My 2 pennies worth is...
It costs in fuel what it costs...the main importance is the truck still gets me to where i want to go.
After 2 years travelling into a hopefully 5 year trip fuel consumption is low on my list of concerns..swings and roundabouts i think..some places its cheap other places expensive.
We have found you can do all the planning you like when sitting at home ready to go..but in reality things never go to plan. We never did any planning before we left. Each to their own i guess.
We met a couple who had been travelling for 3 years and the fridge discussion came up.. they said "The best fridge is the one which is still working at the end of the trip"...this way of thinking is what we have applied to most of our trip including fuel.

Ahh yes, I missed the bit about them being an AT tyre :)

in that case the 235/85/16's are the best option!

Suzuki Grand Vitara in Africa
 

46.000 kms in Africa with a Suzuki Grand Vitara Turbodiesel 2000 cc (model 2003) fully loaded with a Maggiolina rooftop tent, BFGoodrich All Terrain 235/70/16, MAD & KYB suspension kit, we scored 7.6 lt for every 100 km.

That was one of the benefits of travelling with a small vehicle ;-)

20.000kms in Africa with a VW T3 Syncro with a 1.9 Tdi engine (swaped). We made an average of 9ltr/100kms. It had a California interior and high roof and 235/75/16 tyres.


http://10fronterasfotofurgo.wordpress.com

Sprinter V6 3.0 4x4
Low 38 litres/100km
High 8.8 litres/100km
Average over 30000km 11.8 litres/100km

Two examples of 4 WD last year:
Isuzu Tropper (long version) 2.8l Turbo Diesel 10.000 km in West Afrika (50% offroad/sand) 7,5 l /100 km.
Suzuki Jimny Benzinmotor 3.500 km in Mongolia (90% offroad/sand) 6 l/100 km.
Last zwenty years all old Peugeots in Afrika about 5-6 l/100 km.

Anchorage to Halifax, Antwerp to Ulaanbaatar, >2000km on dirt, then back to Antwerp, Halifax and Anchorage with a detour to Venice. 40000km. Average about 25-28L/100km.
Weight about 12 metric tons. Speed up to 93kph.