Most Fuel-Efficient Land Rover Vehicles
Land Rover has always been a pioneer in the field of drivetrain technology, which is why the company enjoys the reputation it has when it comes to building excellent offroad vehicles. But these days, drivetrain tech goes beyond offering just offroad ability, and now you can have every bit of that offroad ability, but paired with excellent fuel economy too. Thanks to the extensive use of mild hybrid systems, and an influx of plug-in hybrids, vehicles in the Land Rover family are more fuel efficient than ever, without having to sacrifice any power or offroad ability in order to achieve it. Let’s have a look at some of the standouts.
Range Rover Plug-In Hybrids
The Range Rover brand is leading the charge when it comes to fuel-efficient offroaders. That’s because Range Rover is the first of the Land Rover brands to get a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. This is the P550e drivetrain, which can currently be found in the Range Rover and produces an impressive 543 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque and will propel the Range Rover Sport to 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds. Following the success of the plug-in hybrid Range Rover, the P460e drivetrain debuted in the Range Rover Sport, with 454 horsepower and 487 lb-ft of torque, enough for a 5.3-second 0-60 time. To go with this impressive performance is some impressive fuel economy, with both of these plug-in models delivering an identical 53 MPGe combined rating.
Defender
When you need the most offroad ability you can possibly get, the Defender is always the best choice. But one notable feature of the wilderness is that there aren’t any gas stations, so good fuel economy is a big help. There are three sizes for the Defender, the 90, the 110, and the 130. The difference between them in terms of fuel economy isn’t as big as you might think, but the smaller 90 is still the most fuel-efficient. The base engine is the P300, a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 296 horsepower. This delivers a very well-balanced 18 mpg city / 21 mpg highway / 19 mpg combined. The next drivetrain option is the P400, a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that makes 395 horsepower. Conventional logic would dictate that this isn’t as fuel-efficient as the smaller engine, but the P400 is mated to a mild hybrid system. So it doesn’t just produce more power, and it doesn’t just hit 60 mph a whole second faster than the P300 (that’s an impressive 5.7 seconds for the P400), but it delivers better fuel economy too, at 18 mpg city / 22 mpg highway / 20 combined.
Discovery
The Discovery and Discovery Sport offer an exciting mix of offroad ability, luxury, and yes, fuel economy. Although the Discovery is larger than the Discovery Sport, the two deliver pretty similar fuel economy numbers. The Discovery Sport is offered with only one drivetrain, the P250, which is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes 246 horsepower. This delivers impressive fuel economy, 19 mpg city / 23 mpg / 20 mpg combined. But it’s actually the larger Discovery that is a bit more efficient. The Discovery comes standard with the same P300 that you can get in the Defender, but thanks to the superior aerodynamics of the Discovery, here it returns 19 mpg city / 24 mpg highway / 21 mpg combined. The optional drivetrain for the Discovery is a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine, the P360, which makes 355 horsepower. This is another drivetrain that includes a mild hybrid system, and once again, that means it also delivers the best fuel economy, at 19 mpg city / 25 mpg highway / 22 mpg combined.
