Engines used by the British company Land Rover in its 4×4 vehicles have included four-cylinder petrol engines, and four- and five-cylinder diesel engines. Straight-six cylinder engines have been used for Land Rover vehicles built under licence. Land Rover has also used various four-cylinder, V8, and V6 engines developed by other companies, but this article deals only with engines developed specifically for Land Rover vehicles.
Initially, the engines used were modified versions of standard Rover car petrol engines, but the need for dedicated in-house units was quickly realised. The first engine in the series was the 1.6-litre petrol of 1948, and this design was improved. A brand-new Petrol engine of 2286cc was introduced in 1958. This basic engine existed in both petrol and diesel form, and was steadily modified over the years to become the 200Tdi diesel. A substantial redesign resulted in the 300Tdi of 1994, which ceased production in 2006. Over 1.2 million engines in the series have been built.[1]
From 1998, the Td5 engine was fitted to Land Rover products. This five-cylinder turbodiesel was unrelated in any way to the four-cylinder designs and was originally intended for use in both Rover cars and Land Rover 4×4s, but it only reached production in its Land Rover form.[2] It was produced between 1998 and 2007, with 310,000 built.[3]
Production of these engines originally took place at Rover's satellite factory (and ex-Bristol Hercules engine plant) at Acocks Green in Birmingham: vehicle assembly took place at the main Rover works at Solihull. After Land Rover was created as a distinct division of British Leyland in 1979, production of Rover cars at Solihull ceased in 1982. A new engine assembly line was built in the space vacated by the car lines, and engine production started at Solihull in 1983.[4] The engine line at Solihull closed in 2007 when Land Rover began using Ford and Jaguar engines built at Dagenham (diesel engines) and Bridgend (petrol engines).
Some Land Rover engines have also been used in cars, vans, and boats.
This article only covers engines developed and produced specifically for Land Rover vehicles. It does not cover engines developed outside the company but used in its products, such as the Rover V8, the Rover IOE petrol engines or the current range of Ford/Jaguar-derived engines. The engines are listed below in the chronological order of their introduction.