Land Rover has a lot of plans for the new Range Rover Sport, but many of them are uncharacteristically not very sporty. We knew the car is going to get a hybrid variant with a diesel engine, and that’s fair enough. But now sources are talking about four-cylinder engine. Will this car even move with a four-banger?

The firm’s engineers argue that because the new Sport has lost over 400 kg of weight over its predecessor, it can live with a small economical engine. That’s true, but the 2014 RR Sport is still a pretty sizable thing. It is still a very heavy car, which means you are going to have to rev the hell out of that four-cylinder all the time to go anywhere, and that kind of spoils the point of having a small engine to save fuel.

The diesel-hybrid prospect sounds more reasonable. Land Rover has been working on this system for a long time and will introduce it for both the Sport and the Vogue, and maybe even the Evoque. It consists of a V6 diesel engine and an electric motor. Both of those units are quite torquey which makes them perfect for a SUV. The batteries and other extra parts for the hybrid system will be located under the floor, so it won’t have a negative effect on the car’s cargo space of its seven-seat configuration.

via Carsales AU