Land Rover launches new diesel V8 Sport, buffs ancient Defender
Newswheel staff :: 23 August 2006 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, SUV, Land Rover, Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Europe & UK, US
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Diesel go nearly as well the petrol models. BOOM! BOOM!
Land Rover has dropped Ford’s impressive new oil burning bent eight lump into Range Rover Sport to create the Sport TDV8. Compared with the existing TDV6 (which lives on) the new engine cranks out around 40 per cent more power and torque and still returns just about bearable fuel economy – 25.5mpg for the combined cycle. Meanwhile, the crusty but lovable Defender has once again received a minor makeover…
But back to the derv-drinking V8 Sport for a moment. The new 3.6-litre engine is of course the same lump that Land Rover fitted to the Range Rover back in May and a member of the family of diesel power plants which has already bequeathed the world with excellent V6 units in both Jaguar and Peugeot cars, as well as the aforementioned Sport TDV6.
Each cylinder bank is fed by a dedicated variable-geometry turbocharger via separate, high-capacity intercoolers. So, it’s a state of the art effort complete with headline outputs of 268bhp at 4,000rpm and 472lb/ft at just 2,000rpm. Land Rover also claims that even at idle the unit is as refined as many petrol V8 engines. We’ll look forward to holding them to that claim.
As for performance, since the Sport TDV8 tips the scales at a ridiculous 2,675kg, do not expect miracles. Still, 60mph in 8.6 seconds and an electronically limited all-out of 130mph will be enough for most.
Elsewhere, the TDV8, along with the rest of the Sport range, receives a number of detail tweaks including new alloys which are around 2.5kg lighter per corner, a new optional TV tuner which now supports digital broadcasts, massaged instrument graphics, an electric tailgate latch and a raft of further blink-and-you’ve-missed-‘em additions.
But what of the freshly buffed new Defender? Well, the car’s basic architecture remains. However, as we reported last week, the Defender has finally received a modern, integrated dashboard with instruments taken from the Discovery 3 along with improved seats and ventilation (cabin airflow is up by 50 per cent).
The other big news is the new 2.4-litre common rail diesel engine, good for 120bhp and 265lb/ft. A six-speed box delivers a much wider spread of ratios than before.
Land Rover has not released performance or fuel economy figures for the new Defender. Likewise, pricing for both the Defender and TDV8 Sport has yet to hit the deck.
Posted 14 January 2007, by Kevin
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