Thread: New Landrover Engines

I assume from the following comment in that article that they are not thinking about a replacement for my Defender or my Series III.

"The good thing is that Jaguar and Land Rover are positioned at the high end of the market, so we can afford those technologies," Ziebart said. "Others who have to work in cost-constrained markets don't have that freedom."

Although the concept of a 2 or 3 cylinder engine may sound improbable to many 4wd enthusiasts, Suzuki had a 2 cylinder 2 stroke, years ago. A mate had one, in the territory, towed a small boat, went wherever he wanted to go. the key being the light weight of the vehicle. Could be why Land Rover is going to the aluminium chassis for the new Defender, apparently, Bob

Reminds me of the design philosophy of earlier LR engines, such as the early 2.25 Petrol/Diesel and the development of the common parts Td4/5/6 engine of which only the Td5 survived. The way things seem to evolve with LR, I'm assuming the 1.5litre 3 cylinder will be for the next Defender. That said, with sequential variable turbos the diesels now drive better than the petrol engines and use less fuel.

Originally Posted by vnx205

"The good thing is that Jaguar and Land Rover are positioned at the high end of the market, so we can afford those technologies," Ziebart said. "Others who have to work in cost-constrained markets don't have that freedom."

Yeah, that lesson was well learned when Landrover were struggling financially back in the mid 90's and launched the Freelander 1 with the 1.8 litre petrol engine that was famous for slipping cylinder liners and blowing head gaskets.

Originally Posted by Ausfree

[/B]
Yeah, that lesson was well learned when Landrover were struggling financially back in the mid 90's and launched the Freelander 1 with the 1.8 litre petrol engine that was famous for slipping cylinder liners and blowing head gaskets.

That motor was a bought in one, it wasnt built by Land Rover. I remember a service manager (not on AULRO) saying he wouldnt sell one to his worst enemy.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

That motor was a bought in one, it wasnt built by Land Rover. I remember a service manager (not on AULRO) saying he wouldnt sell one to his worst enemy.

Sorry, should have been more explicit. The K-series engines were built by Powertrain Ltd a sister company of Rover. They were placed in administration in 2005, and after building disasters like the K series 1.8 litre petrol engine I can see why. Although they did also build the L-Series diesel engine which enjoyed a better reputation.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powertrain_Ltd"]Powertrain Ltd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Now that LandRover is more cashed up thanks to Tata Motors they seem to be speaking with more confidence about designing new engines.

The "L" series rectified the problems of the "K" series motors, a bit like in the 60's with GMH's Holden "HD" = "Horribly Designed" and the "HR"="Hurriedly Rectified"

cheers