As announced at the beginning of this year at the Detroit Auto Show, Land Rover will introduce its first diesel engines to the US this year.
The 3.0-liter Td6 V6 diesel will be offered on the 2016 Range Rover and 2016 Range Rover Sport and will go on sale in October, costing about $1,500 more than the gasoline V6 models.
The 2016 Range Rover Sport Td6 will start at $67,445 and the larger Range Rover Td6 at $87,445, including shipping.
Land Rover expects its first US diesel models will make up 20 percent of total sales for the 2016 Range Rover and 2016 Range Rover Sport. While the automaker does not expect the diesels to cannibalize gasoline-engine sales, diesel models are likely to attract new customers to the brand.
Land Rover decided to offer a cleaner diesel for the US because of increased demand for such engines. Since 2009, the US diesel market has grown 26 percent and last year 4.6 percent of all US light vehicles sold were diesel-powered.
Land Rover says the V6 diesel has driving characteristics similar to the 5.0-liter V8 supercharged gasoline engine, while being 32 percent more fuel efficient than the gasoline V6. Combined fuel economy for both Range Rovers is an estimated 25 mpg (9,4 l/100 km).
Actually, Land Rover conducted blind tests with potential buyers in Los Angeles, Denver and New York and says that none of the testers could accurately identify the vehicles as a diesel.
The 3.0-liter diesel engine delivers 254hp and 440lb-ft (596Nm) of torque at 1,750 rpm, allowing the Range Rover Sport to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds (7.4 seconds for the Range Rover). That’s nearly the same as gasoline V6 models.
Story references: AutoNews
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