What is it?
The last time Land Rover dropped a six-cylinder diesel engine into the Range Rover looking for better efficiency and a lower entry price, it was owned by BMW and the short-lived result was less than perfect. Even if Ford’s subsequent takeover (and the development of the cheaper Sport) hadn’t killed it, the paucity of performance - 60mph took a life-sapping 12.7 seconds - meant that the TDV6 was never likely to live for long as a luxury SUV offering.
That was not the engine’s fault. BMW’s 3.0-litre unit was an award-winning, oil-burning marvel in the right setting. It was simply overwhelmed by the heavyweight burden at hand. Now, with that load lightened by aluminum and significantly more power available from six cylinders, JLR has revived the bright idea in its comely new car.
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In 2012, a 3.0-litre V6 (already used in other guises across the road at Jaguar) delivers 255bhp and 442lb ft of torque from 2000rpm. Had Land Rover not ushered a single solitary gram from the latest Range Rover’s ample body it would still likely prove adequate, but the TDV6 version is its pound-for-pound champion - when it mentions a 420kg weight-saving, it’s this model it is referencing.
With a comparatively spartan 2160kg to shift, the car inevitably boasts other compelling figures. It is capable of a very un-Range-Rover-like combined figure of 37.7mpg and its CO2 emissions tumble to a highly credible 196g/km. Performance actually rivals the outgoing V8 model: it will get to 62mph in just 7.9 seconds and top out at 130mph.
That’s as well because there’s certainly no reduction in price for the loss of two cylinders at the entry-level. The new TDV6 in its lower Vogue trim lands in the UK at £71,295. Land Rover’s latest Adaptive Damping setup and ultra-clever automatic Terrain Response system are standard, but the transformative anti-roll Dynamic Response isn’t currently available with the smaller engine.
What is it like?
Curiously, in someways the TDV6 actually feels more like the Range Rover we’re all accustomed to than its siblings do. Likely this is because it mirrors the previous car’s performance and, shorn of the two-channel hydraulic counter-balancing underneath, it has a tendency to move around more. However, less, predictably, undeniably means more.
The smaller-engined, lightest model positively levitates over the road surface. Its dramatic weight loss has not hindered the sensation of piloting a substantial piece of engineering or lessened the cork-bob softness of its progress, but agility - spliced through a more direct electric steering rack - is noticeably healthier.
Lingering concerns that the TDV6 engine might not be man enough to adequately shoulder 2160kg are instantly dispelled. Despite not being endowed with the same syrupy overabundance of grunt that makes its bigger engine sibling so effortless, the six-cylinder motor thrusts its new shell along in generally fine style. It’s alert and dutiful off the mark, relishes overtaking and, critically, remains speechlessly hushed.
Because the TDV6 moves around in a manner slightly reminiscent of its predecessor, it has the same congenial slow-cruise style. This is useful, because driven thusly, the engine’s lower output is virtually undetectable, and it simultaneously begins to spew out the kind of mileage that will titillate driver’s of the current Range Rover.
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Only by choosing to ignore the contented status quo and attempt deeper dynamic thrills from the car does the engine’s eventual limitations reveal themselves. To suggest that the oil burner cannot deliver the push-on pace embraced by the Range Rover’s meaty, moneyed presence would be ridiculous, but there is the occasional impression (exacerbated by the appearance of broader body roll even before the tyres bite) that both you and it are working harder to hit the car’s self-assured G-spot than you would in the V8.
Should I buy one?
Perhaps the most critical thing about the TDV6 from Land Rover’s viewpoint is that, unlike its previous effort, the variant succeeds not just as a financial prospect, but also as a proper Range Rover with all of its high-grade glamour intact. Impressively, for much of the time, the imitation is certainly uncanny. Refinement and responsiveness are generally superb, it remains supremely capable off-road and tarmac-smoothing pleasure on it.
As well as the familiar attributes, it also does things which no other Range Rover has ever done. By extending the car’s range and lowering CO2 someway beneath the stratosphere, Land Rover has rendered its deluxe SUV a more compelling proposition for more people. That’s as it should be and obviously as the manufacturer intended. But this remains a £70,000-plus car and it is possible to pick holes in the model if you were so inclined.
Certainly for buyers sold on the idea of Range Rover as an all-terrain answer to Rolls-Royce there are shortcomings. The elimination of the Active Response system does subtract some of the model’s new-found handling finesse, and while generally more than satisfactory, the V6 engine simply does not have V8’s full-throated stockpile of latent torque. The majestic, free-flowing dominance of whatever backdrop passes beneath you is not cast in the same concrete guarantee.
Nevertheless, such concerns do seem a mite churlish. The TDV6 does almost everything you could ask of it, does it for longer, and does it for less. Only Range Rover’s most affluent and uncompromising fans could ask for more.
Range Rover 3.0 TDV6 Autobiography
Price £87,895; 0-62mph 7.9 seconds; Top speed 130mph; Economy 37.7mpg; CO2 196g/km; Kerb weight 2160kg; Engine type 2993cc, turbocharged six-cylinder, diesel; Installation Front, longitudinal; Power 255bhp at 4000rpm; Torque 442lb ft at 2000rpm; Gearbox Eight-speed automatic; Fuel tank 85 litres
