Range Rover gets a Jaguar heart

Buying in proprietary engines would have been annoying for Land Rover with such a huge talent pool at its finger tips.

Range Rover is the latest model to start keeping things in the family by swapping engines from German-made BMW to British-made Jaguar which is also owned by Ford.

But it only applies to the petrol V8, BMW continues as supplier of the six cylinder diesel engine in the short term.

There's a turbo diesel V8 under development that will eventually filter through to the Range Rover.

The engine change is all good as it provides a supercharged option that gives the 2.6 tonne Range Rover considerably more get up and go.

The engine, also available in non supercharged form, is lifted from potent Jaguar models like the XKR, XJR and the S-Type R.

These are super high performance vehicles which the Range Rover is not, so the focus in Rangey is on refinement, fuel efficiency and low to mid-range response.

A number of internal changes have been made to optimise this 4.2-litre, 32-valve engine for Range Rover.

With it comes a six speed automatic transmission from European manufacturer ZF. The previous auto was a five speeder which is retained on the diesel six cylinder.

The Rangey lineup has been culled to just three models all in Vogue spec' – diesel, V8 and supercharged V8. That covers the high end of the spectrum and means HSE and S variants are gone.

The model rationalisation is to make room for Range Rover Sport due before the end of the year and which uses the same supercharged V8 as the new Rangey in a smaller package built on a Land Rover Discovery platform.

Maximum output from the supercharged engine is 291kW/560Nm while the naturally aspirated version is good for 225kW/440kW. The supercharged V8 is significantly stronger than the previous 4.4-litre engine with predictable results to performance figures.

At a preview drive of the new Rangey in the US last week, I can report the new engine is every bit as refined as the BMW 4.4-litre with appreciably more under the right foot. The six speed transmission also helps harness engine output more effectively while contributing to reduced fuel consumption.

A sequential manual selection mode is available as well as Sport mode which alters gear change points in D.

As these vehicles are pretty well at the top of the 4WD tree, you can expect utmost competence in all environments and that is what they deliver though off road ability was not really explored during the preview.

The air suspension with adjustable ride height and brakes are upgraded and dual range is retained. Terrain Response from Discovery didn't make it across.

But grip and ride quality is at a high level thanks to years of expertise put into practice. The vehicle contains bountiful luxury including an audio system that would rate with the best and a CCTV rear view system.

Optional equipment is extensive.

In Rangey tradition, drive is constant 4WD.

A mild body freshen marks the arrival of the Jag engines but you'd be hard pressed to notice. It affects exterior body hardware, the grille and headlights and bumpers.

Other goodies include adaptive bixenon headlights and new 19in alloy wheels. Pricing is not yet available but will be a step up on the current range. On sale date is July.