Fair do's for them sticking with Camchain technology but IMO that camchain design is going to be a PITA maybe even in the short term as its more likely the chain will wear thru before the guides and just think of the metallic debris over the extended services thats going to occur...

TBH i could only see that being in an FF if it was as part of a hybrid drivetrain as while the BHP figure is good its the torque we know and love from our engines that makes the biggest impact in an FF.

TBH its going to be more for the lower LR's and not go straight into the sport and such as i guess its still a heavy unit. FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

I'd put money on it ending up in the Sport in some guise.

They surely need a plug-in hybrid drivetrain too.

kingpleb wrote:

Fair do's for them sticking with Camchain technology but IMO that camchain design is going to be a PITA maybe even in the short term as its more likely the chain will wear thru before the guides and just think of the metallic debris over the extended services thats going to occur...

kingpleb wrote:

TBH i could only see that being in an FF if it was as part of a hybrid drivetrain as while the BHP figure is good its the torque we know and love from our engines that makes the biggest impact in an FF.

As for the camchain, there is a new design on the market, patented by a Dutch engineer that is being used by Mercedes. Reason I know is because my dad was heavily involved in the development and testing of the design as the engineer was a co-worker of him.

The chain design and the guides are a lot more quiet (problem with the "normal"chains) and the new design also makes the chain more durable (less fatigue).

It would also be ideal for motorbikes and any other chain driven things. Maybe JLR doesn't want to pay the patent fees (they should and no my dad won't benefit from it ).

I think it is very possible to make a small engine in a hybrid package as smooth as a big displacement engine. It needs quite some electronic wizadry but so do modern combustion engines anyway.

The amount of control that you have over e-motors is amazing. In the offshore industry we have been using e-motors more and more and in applications that require quite some control (pipelay tensioners, cranes, dp systems, winches etc. etc.). Most modern vessels are diesel electric, that means the diesel engines drive generators and the rest of the vessel runs on electricity (although some via hydraulics but that is getting less and less).

So I think that it will be a viable solution for a FFRR as well, already in the L405 in the next 4 to 5 years I would estimate. I'd love to have a look in their development kitchen but I don't think I will ever get the chance  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

What's a DP system?

Dynamic Positioning - a system of thrusters and engine control that holds the ship to a position with fine tolerance, thanks to GPS position guidance. I don't have much experience, but I think +\- 50cm is possible. Not bad for an 8,000t ship...

Hi all, I have had experiance of big 4x4's with 4pot engines, all I can say is the don't preform well under heavy load. In fact they normally explode! 6 or 8 cyclinders are better under stress ( towing 3.5 tons )
However a 250 hp 4 pot does look interesting if someone like Brabus get hold of it, and do like they did to the smart car? they fused two engines together..... 500 hp 8 pot now we're talking!

Will reserve judgment until we see what the engine is actually like on the road. Just know that every other manufacturer has failed to get the refinement of a '6 or bigger... ML250 and ML350 are like chalk and cheese in this respect.