I remember the days when a Range Rover only came with one engine, and the only choice a customer made was manual or auto pretty much.

The V8s back then would only pump out 185bhp maximum, how times have changed. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

I don't

I think you might find the carb V8s didnt produce 185bhp though .............

Sign of the times, I still find it ironic how people feel that some thing as acrid and carcongenic as diseasal is the future .....

But the manufactures are driven by C02 targets, and so that is what is driving current powertrain designs.....

Maybe I shouldn't wait for 15MY after all! The SDV8 is an amazing engine.

I wouldn't describe it as an amazing engine. It is well behind the competition in terms of performance, economy and emissions. It's a lot better to drive than the V6 for sure but that too is behind the game.

V6 hybrid is a lot more expensive, no way that will be a replacement for the SDV8. Some sort of AdBlue system would be my guess, like the competition use on the engines that aren't compliant.

Wouldn't surprise me if they don't increase the price of the 5.0 and V6 for MY15 and leave the hybrid the same. Also introduce the V6 petrol to European markets as well and you have most bases for most markets covered without the V8 diesel.

The V6 diesel is too feeble and they wouldn't have engineered the new Sport to take the SDV8 for a single model year.

A more powerful diesel is essential - the hybrid and V6 supercharged petrol aren't alternatives.

Well they engineered the normally aspirated V8 for the US market for the first year of production before dropping it and replacing it with the V6 S/C so anything is possible in the bizarre world of LR product development.

The hybrid has near identical performance to the V8 diesel so no probs there.

Not much engineering there - it's just the supercharged V8 without the supercharger. Hybrid is £98.5k - over twenty grand more than an SDV8 Vogue, just not a viable alternative even if you didn't mind lugging around a load of batteries.

The hybrid price is based on AB trim level so the price difference when compared to a 4.4 AB is less than 4 grand which is negligible at this level. The hybrid will eventually be available in all trim levels so this is not a factor that would prevent it from replacing the V8.

Regarding the engineering the new FF and sport are the same from a drive train perspective so the work had already been done for the v8 diesel. Adding to the sport for a short space of time would make little difference in terms of effort

I can't believe the hybrid could be considered a replacement - these sort of hybrids are going to remain at best niche. Remember the current V6 diesel also doesn't meet Euro 6 regs. AdBlue will be the change.

So, just to clarify what I know.

V8 petrols (for some markets) will make way for SC V6 petrol, you'll see the engine in Jags first.

The current S/TDV8 is done, I am not sure when it will be dropped from the options, but it won't have a direct replacement. I would expect that the next evo/gen of xDV6 will be used in the powertrain refresh.

Also JLR have invested in an all new engine/powertrain facility and this will be the birth place of the new 'hotfire' engines.

L405 was designed to be ?'hybridised'?

As for AdBlue, I see no reason why that wouldn't be used unless technology can make it redundant, it has been used in wagons for a while. But ultimately diseasal is a dirty fuel, and you can only do so much to clean it up before it becomes an excersize in futility.

So it really looks like buying a brand new V8 petrol Range Rover is going to become a thing of the past? Not a happy bunny, have not yet become rich enough to buy new. Guess I had better get on with it before 2015. Sad sad news if this is to become true!

The sooner we tell medaling Brussles to 'do one' the better! They already seem to think I should not be riding a motorbike!

Not going to become a thing of the past just yet, all I am saying is that hybrid wise, a reasonably solid product is available for the current RR, albeit at a bit of premium.

But I can say that the v8 diseasals are on there way out, will be replaced with the 'next gen' xDV6 engines.

Petrol wise it seems that the S/C V6 units are doing OK, looking at the American forums most say that the power is acceptable the 'gas mileage' is good.

I would expect that s time progresses and the tech gets better to package, hybrids will be more prominant. It seems that in simple performance terms the current Hybrid is just as quick of the mark as the current "5-oh" and delivers more usable torque. Indeed on the Autoexpress review of the silk trail, the driver said the overtaking "punch" was impressive.

However, if you can afford a "5-oh", why wouldn't you?

The hybrid looks to have similar performance to the SDV8.

Smaller turbocharged engines are where things are heading across the industry, the VAG V8 diesel is also on the way out apparently.