Jaguar Land Rover Has Potent Four-Cylinders and a New Auto Transmission Coming in 2017

2.0-Liter Ingenium Engine (Credit: © Jaguar Land Rover)

Jaguar Land Rover has steadily been working toward ridding itself of its past image issues. So far, it’s been fairly successful in improving reliability—it’s still not great, though—and developing more potent and fuel efficient powertrains. Today, JLR revealed the details on three new engines and one new transmission that will help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The three new engines will part of the Ingenium line, so they all are based on a 500cc-per-cylinder blueprint. All three will be 2.0-liter four-cylinder units and will feature a turbocharger to boost power without major repercussions in fuel economy.

The base 2.0-liter engine uses a single-scroll turbocharger, and it cranks out a respectable 197 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 269 pound-feet of torque between 1,200 and 4,500 revs. The next engine in the line uses a twin-scroll turbo to crank the power to 247 horsepower, but the torque remains unchanged at 269 pound-feet.

The top-of-the-line engine adds in a more-advanced turbo with ceramic ball bearings, and its reduced compression (10.5-to-1 compared to 9.5-to-1) implies additional boost. This added psi pushes the 2.0-liter engine to 296 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 295 pound-feet of torque from 1,500 to 4,500 rpm.

While JLR hasn’t mentioned where these engines will fall in its lineup, it does mention that they will reduce fuel consumption by up to 15 percent when compared to the engines they replace.

Transcend Eight-Speed Transmission (Credit: © Jaguar Land Rover)

In addition to these new engines, Jag has revealed its new Transcend transmission. This advanced eight-speed transmission has an ultra-wide ratio spread of 20-to-1, doubling the ratio spread of most eight-speed units. In addition to its added range, this transmission is about 44 pounds lighter than most other eight-speed units. What’s more, this transmission can easily integrate a low-range gearbox, and dual-clutch and hybrid tech, making it very scalable. Jaguar Land Rover expects this transmission to decrease fuel consumption by 10 percent and improve off-road capabilities.

JLR has yet to announce where these engines fit within the Jag and Land Rover lineups, but it did mention that they will arrive in 2017. Stay tuned for updates.