BMW and Jaguar Land Rover are two European manufacturers that seem to have quite the affinity for the V8 engine. Both produce cars that rival each other in most of the price points and segments.
A report from Automobile Magazine, however, states that the two rival companies are now about to become partners of sorts. Due to the cost involved in manufacturing and designing V8 engines and Jaguar’s business focus narrowing onto its Ingenium line of smaller petrol and diesel powerplants, they are looking for a third-party supplier to provide engines for their high-performance models.
BMW, on the other hand, is more inclined to keep producing V8s but must now find a business case to keep the run going other than just a handful of M-division vehicles and large SUVs or saloons – making them a shoe-in to form a mutually-beneficial tie-up with Jaguar.
The number of automakers that continue to produce V8 engines are dwindling, and the ones that do are high-performance (and expensive) by nature or tend to only be offered it in the most of expensive of variants. Either way, they only reach roads in small numbers.
It’s understandable, especially for brand new cars, and the fuel and often tax penalty paid for the charismatic but thirsty and dirty breathing engines is often not worth the performance benefit as downsized engines, though the aid of forced induction, have all but plugged that gulf in power and torque while offering improved fuel economy and emissions figures.
Currently, JLR’s V8 offering consists of a 5.0-litre V8 lump (AJ-V8), supercharged up to 429kW in the Jaguar F-Type SVR. Aside from finding a home there, the Land Rover uses the engine in the Range Rover. That particular engine has been around since 2009, but remains one of the most-loved in ongoing production.
BMW, on the other hand, uses a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine such as the one found in the current M5, M6, and X5M/X6M where it produces between 335kW and 447kW. The Munich-based automaker is reportedly well into development of a more powerful 4.0-litre V8 which, if the deal happens, will be the one that’s likely to find its way into the next-generation of JLR vehicles.
This would free up Jaguar and Land Rover to concentrate on further developing their Ingenium range of four-cylinder engines, likely spawning three-cylinder and six-cylinder versions in the near future.
While we do mourn the loss of the Jaguar V8, this outsourcing trend isn’t at all new. Pagani, famously, has been using V12s from Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division from the start while Aston Martin is soon to source engines sourced from AMG as well.
For more on Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
