This week, Land Rover added a new special edition to its U.K. lineup called the Range Rover Sport HST. The new model gets carbon-fiber accents on the hood, grille, side vents, and tailgate. Inside, there’s some HST-specific trim and HST badging. It sounds nice enough, but not actually all that special. The engine under its hood is, however. 
Land Rover chose the Range Rover Sport HST to be the first vehicle in its lineup to gets its brand new, turbocharged and electric-supercharged 3.0-liter inline-six. This engine will replace Jaguar Land Rover’s dated V-6 that was more or less a V-8 with two cylinders missing. In the HST, the new powerplant is good for 395 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque, which Land Rover says is enough to launch the Range Rover Sport from zero to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds. For comparison, the 380-hp HSE Sport hits 60 mph in a claimed 6.8 seconds. Eventually, a 355-hp version will be offered as well.
Like the four-cylinder Ingenium engine on which it’s based, the new inline-six uses a twin-scroll turbocharger. But it also gets an electric supercharger that needs only half of a second to provide maximum boost, a feature Land Rover says virtually eliminates turbo lag. To improve efficiency by about 20 percent, the engine has been paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.
“Inline six-cylinder engines are inherently better balanced than V-6 designs and our all-new Ingenium unit builds on that promise to optimize efficiency in all operating conditions,” said Nick Rogers, JLR’s head of product planning, in a release. “Advanced features, including an electric supercharger, ensure distinctive Range Rover Sport performance and responses, while the intelligent MHEV system harvests energy to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions.”
Land Rover has told us the HST will come to the U.S., though we’ll have to wait until next week for an official announcement.
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