Designing a car is about performance: producing the greatest possible horsepower to move the vehicle’s mass. A lighter car means less mass, better acceleration and more power.
When the first Series I rolled off the line in 1948, it sported a 1.6-litre petrol engine built of cast iron. It was heavy, cheap to make and basically indestructible – perfect for the job at hand.
Steel shortages at the time meant that the bodywork, which would usually be steel, was aluminium or Birmabright alloy. This lightened the load a little.
Despite much lighter aluminium engines being used effectively in a Karl Benz race car as early as 1901, it was not used in mainstream car manufacturing until the 1960s.
Why was the Rover V8 made of aluminium?
The Land Rover V8 engine borrowed its design from the Buick 215, an incredibly lightweight all-aluminium overhead valve engine. The Buick engine weighed in at only 318lbs but delivered up to 155 horsepower, exactly what Rover needed.
Built on the back of the Buick, the Land Rover version of the V8 engine was introduced in 1967. It was built of sand-cast aluminium with cast iron cylinder liners to prevent wear.
It was a revelation for Land Rover’s weight-to-power ratio, providing a far more efficient power and increased horsepower of up to 160 bhp in the first iterations.
What are the advantages of aluminium engines?
The most obvious advantage of the aluminium engine over cast iron is the weight. A lighter engine is more efficient for combustion engines, and they get better miles per gallon.
Vehicles made of aluminium with aluminium-based engine blocks can also tow more and carry more load due to the weight-to-power ratio.
Aluminium is very durable, because they are lighter parts the friction and therefore wear is less than heavier materials. This gives it a longer lifespan.
The alloy is more resistant to corrosion and rust than iron-based alloys. It doesn’t require a protective coating like steel parts would.
Aluminium parts are easier to recycle than their cast-iron counterparts. In manufacturing, this means that there is less waste in production and when the car reaches the end of its lifespan.
When did Land Rover stop using cast-iron engines?
Despite the advantages of aluminium, Land Rover continued to use cast-iron engines in Defenders, particularly diesel models, for years after.
A full change to aluminium modular engines came with the Ingenium engines in 2014. Used on Defender, Discover and Range Rover models, they provided superior efficiency and were much lighter than the previous generations.