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NEWS
FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: V8 and hybrid Range Rovers
Further spec details for turbo-diesel V8 and diesel/electric V6 hybrids debuting in Frankfurt next weekLand Rover is not letting the grass grow under its feet when it comes to the environment.
Not content with ripping out 400kg of mass from its latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, the company is now offering buyers a hybrid variant in each range, to eke out the last possible jot of efficiency from each litre of fuel.
The new models, to be unveiled at next week's Frankfurt motor show, start with a 250kW turbo-diesel V6. As we predicted back in May, the 3.0-litre powerplant drives through a 35kW motor/generator unit – in lieu of a torque converter – to the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.
And also as we reported, Land Rover has hit its target of 169g/km for CO2 emissions with the two new hybrids. That equates to combined-cycle fuel consumption of 6.4L/100km.
Arguably of greater relevance to the Australian market is the introduction of the SDV8 variants – powered by a 4.4-litre turbo-diesel V8. Like the hybrids, the diesel V8 develops 250kW, and is an upgrade of the engine available in the previous generation of Range Rover. For the new models it has been recalibrated and revised, with a new intake system offering twin intercoolers, a different sump, cast-alloy engine mounts. Adopting the lighter engine mounts has shaved 10kg off the weight of each vehicle.
With 700Nm to push the vehicle up to its top speed of 225km/h (when fitted with the Dynamic Pack), the Range Rover Sport SDV8 can also reach 100km/h from a standing start in 6.9 seconds.
Although tackling powertrain design from a different direction, the hybrid models come up with very similar results. Like the SDV8, the hybrids offer similar output (when combined with power and torque from the electric motor – 250kW and 700Nm), and will also knock over 0-100km/h in under seven seconds, Land Rover claims.
"The addition of the powerful and efficient SDV8 diesel to the Range Rover Sport line-up and yet more exciting new customer-focused technologies to both the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport for 2014, further underlines their position as two of the most desirable SUVs on the market today," said Land Rover Global Brand Director, John Edwards, as quoted in a press release issued by the manufacturer.
The "customer-focused technologies" to which the Land Rover exec refers are new systems such as Traffic Sign Recognition, Lane Departure Warning and what Rover calls 'Perpendicular Park' – a parking assistance facility for 90-degree angle parking.
The parking facility is an enhancement of Range Rover's existing 'Parallel Park' system and is also joined by other parking aids – including the optional Parking Exit system and 360 degree Park Distance Control. Parking Exit is an automated system to move the vehicle out of a parallel parking spot, and the 360 degree PDC "provides virtual object tracking along the sides of the car at speeds of up to 16km/h," according to Land Rover's press material.
We won't necessarily see Traffic Sign Recognition in Australia, since it has proved a challenge for at least one of the German prestige brands in the past. And there's no easy solution in sight we're told.
Land Rover will start taking orders from September 10, for retail deliveries in the second quarter of 2014.
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