MAX POWER ENGINES
“There is a subculture of L-series fans who love tuning this lump”
There are also other versions of the K-series that may interest the more adventurous, such as the VVT engines from the MG-F or the 1.8 Turbo as seen in some Rover 75s. Such an engine swap involves a change of ECU and associated systems, but could yield power greater than a 4.0 V8.
Freelander 1 diesels
The 2.0 diesel fitted to early Freelander 1s was the venerable old Rover L-series engine. There is a whole subculture of L-series fans who love tuning this lump and power figures of up to 180 bhp, with substantial mods, have been claimed.
A chip tune with more boost and a free-flow intake can take the output to 125 bhp. If you want more, try a bigger intercooler, free-flow exhaust and a hybrid turbo for outputs up to 150 bhp. Going further needs some serious head work and custom cams, plus a bigger turbo such as a Garrett T25.
The diesel engine fitted in later Freelander 1s was the BMW M47 2.0 turbo, with full electronic control and common rail fuel injection. To tune this we need to mess with the software and an ECU tune can yield up to 150 bhp with a good air filter. A slightly cheaper option is to fit a device that adjusts the signal from the MAF sensor and fools the ECU into firing in more fuel.
Freelander 2 engines
The Freelander 2 petrol option became the Volvo SI6. Modest improvements can be made with an ECU tune and in its basic form is good for 250 bhp with a free-flowing intake and exhaust. To go much further needs surgery and it might be more prudent to swap it for the 3.0 turbo engine from a Volvo, which as standard can be up to 300 bhp and have more tuning potential.
The Freelander 2 diesel was the joint Ford/peugeot HDI engine; a chip tune could take this from 147 bhp up to 235 bhp and transforms the performance – but it does need a good intake system and exhaust.
Engine swaps
If you have the know-how, you can put almost any engine in any car. Swapping between engines from similar Land Rovers is mostly a matter of getting the right brackets and ancillaries and is a well-trodden path with lots of advice available from people who have done it before.
Other options include so-called crate engines which are available with a full set of ancillaries and ECU ready to run; all you have to do is make it fit the gearbox and make engine mounts. You could use a Chevy LS series V8, with outputs from 250 bhp right up to over 800 bhp; prices for crate engines vary accordingly from a few thousand up to the tens of thousands.
Personally I like staying in the JLR stable and the Jaguar AJ V8 fits in a RRC or Defender engine bay quite snugly – the 4.2 supercharged being rather tempting. The AJ-V8 engines are some of my all-time favourites, and can be very durable even at high power levels if treated properly. The 4.2 was available in naturally-aspirated and supercharged form and the 4.4 just in NA.
Treating these cars to a performance exhaust and intake system is the first step, then a remap can boost performance significantly, both NA engines can gain about 30 bhp. The supercharged engine gains up to 40 bhp but if you fit a smaller pulley to the supercharger to speed it up you could gain as much as 60 bhp.
Things to consider when thinking of any engine swap include the immobiliser; if your car has one then the engine ECU needs to work with the security system. You also need to consider the exhaust manifolds and system, fuel supply, cooling (if you double the power you need to double the cooling), electrical system and supply current, heat transfer into other bits in the engine bay, gearbox and engine mounts.