Jaguar Land Rover V8 diesel to be axed soon

Land Rover will kill-off its V8 diesel-powered Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models in a matter of months, suggests a new report.

According to Autocar, the British brand's flagship diesel engine will be replaced by not one but two 3.0-litre turbocharged mild-hybrid inline-six-cylinder diesel engines – one with 220kW or 300hp (badged D300) and another with 257kW or 350hp (D350).

Like the Jaguar Land Rover four-cylinder engines that power the most recent Evoque, the new inline-six combines an integrated starter-generator that boosts engine performance and claws back energy to deliver engine-off coasting on the highway.

When the new engines arrive, Jaguar Land Rover will end its relationship with Ford, which has been supplying the Mexican-built 4.4-litre V8 for more than a decade.

The outgoing engine won fans for its refinement, producing a healthy 250kW and 740Nm of torque.

A leaked report suggests the new downsized six, to be introduced on efficiency grounds, will muster 700Nm -- enough to shrug off the Range Rover Sport's 2.2-tonne kerb weight and hurtle it to 100km/h in just 6.5 seconds.

Crucially, the new engine enables the Range Rover Sport to average 8.0L/100km while emitting 210g/km of CO2 under the tougher fuel consumption testing – an improvement of 0.4L/100km and 9g/km.

The larger Range Rover, meanwhile, will reportedly hit 100km/h in a brisk 7.1sec and emit 225g/km of CO2 with the same D350 engine fitted.

Officially, Jaguar Land Rover has not confirmed the arrival of the new six-cylinder diesel engine, but when it arrives both the Jaguar F-PACE and XF are also set to switch to the new unit.

JLR has already announced it will phase out its Ford-sourced petrol V8, production of which will end at the Blue Oval's Bridgend plant in Wales.

Mirroring the diesel V8 swap, the thirsty petrol eight has already been replaced indirectly with the the car-maker's mild-hybrid Ingenium six-cylinder.