Land Rover to Drop V-8 in U.S.

Land Rover will discontinue it 5.0-liter V-8 engine and substitute a 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 when 2014 versions of its base- and HSE-level Ranger Rover SUVs debut in the U.S. this autumn, according to Oval News.

The enthusiast blog cites a Land Rover marketing bulletin from Jaguar Land Rover North America. The document says Range Rover is making the change to help meet fuel economy and emission standards.

The current 5.0-liter V-8-powered Range Rover has a city/high fuel economy rating of 16 mpg/22 mpg from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The supercharged V-6, which will be coupled with an automatic stop-start system, is expected to improve both fuel economy numbers by 2 mpg.

But the new engine also will make 35 less horsepower and 43 less lb-ft of torque than the discontinued 375 hp, 375 lb-ft V-8, according to the document. The bulletin says Range Rovers with the new engine will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 7.1 second, or 0.6 seconds longer than the V-8 requires.