Jaguar Land Rover confirms new inline six-cylinder engine

One of the automotive industry's worst-kept secrets has been officially confirmed – Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will roll out a range of inline six-cylinder petrol engines under the 'Ingenium' banner.

The first vehicle to get the new 2996cc inline six, producing 294kW and 550Nm, will be the Range Rover Sport HST, with Jaguar models to follow in 2020.

Designed, developed and manufactured in-house at its Wolverhampton engine plant in the UK, JLR reckons its Ingenium engines "are amongst the cleanest in the world and meet the new regulated laboratory and real world tests (WLTP and RDE)".

In a similar move to Mercedes-Benz, which is progressively ditching its V6 engines in favour of inline sixes, Jaguar will first deploy a pair of 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol engines making use of 48-volt mild-hybrid technology to reduce emission regulations.

Land Rover has previously stated it will offer an electrified option on all new models from 2020 onwards, and will shortly introduce 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium hybrid engines in models such as the new Range Rover Evoque.

As European emissions regulations become stricter, more car companies are having to rethink their powertrain strategies.

JLR says the new six-cylinder Ingenium engines are EU6-compliant and can be driven in London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) without penalty, which applies from April 2019.

According to JLR, the new Ingenium engines will improve fuel efficiency by 20 per cent, compared to its current V6 engine family, while particulate emissions will drop by up to 75 per cent.

The engines are fitted with a gasoline particulate filter to help in this respect and JLR reckons the new engines are more refined, more responsive and better balanced than the current V6 engines.

Available in two states of tune, with either 265kW/495Nm or 294kW/550Nm, the new engine features a twin-scroll turbocharger that is boosted by the addition of an electric supercharger.

The electric supercharger can be fully spooled for maximum boost in just half a second, at up to 120,000rpm. JLR says the "new technology virtually eliminates turbo lag."

Unlike traditional turbocharged systems, this setup doesn't have to wait for the build-up of exhaust gases to spin the turbo to optimum revolutions. It's not dissimilar to the triple-turbo setup of the diesel V8 in vehicles like the Audi SQ7.

The six-cylinder engines follow the 2015 introduction of the four-cylinder petrol and diesel Ingenium engines.

"This second wave of engines, with a mild hybrid 48V system and performance-boosting technologies, is engineered to be cleaner and more efficient than ever before," said Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover's product engineering boss.

"In-line six-cylinder engines are inherently better balanced than V6 designs and our all-new Ingenium unit builds on that promise to optimise efficiency in all operating conditions."

Priced from £81,250, roughly converting to $A150,000, the Range Rover Sport HST is the first vehicle in the JLR line-up to get the new 3.0-litre high-performance engine.

According to Land Rover the new model will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 6.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 225km/h.

Fuel consumption is claimed to be 9.3L/100km with CO2 emissions of 213g/km, based on NEDC equivalent combined testing.

Some of the cosmetic and luxury features found on the Range Rover Sport HST include red-coloured brake calipers and carbon-fibre trimmed side vents, bonnet, front grille and tailgate.

Two alloy wheel options are available, along with five colour choices: Santorini Black, Fuji White, Indus Silver, Firenze Red and Carpathian Grey.

Interior equipment is headlined by 16-way electrically-adjustable 'Dynamic' front seats with unique patterning, suede/cloth accents on the steering wheel and gear lever plus satin chrome gear shift paddles.