Range Rover Sport: 2.7 TDV6, 3.0 TDV6 and 2.0 Si4

The 2.7 TDV6, built around the 267DT engine code, is the generation that put the Range Rover Sport on the map as a genuinely usable everyday vehicle in New Zealand. Two point seven litres, 2720 cc to be exact, with a bore of 81.0 mm, a stroke of 88.0 mm and a compression ratio of 18.0:1. Factory figures sit at 190 hp and 440 Nm of torque, which feels modest on paper but delivers the kind of low end pull that makes towing and motorway cruising feel effortless. The ECU is a Siemens/Continental SID201 or SID204 depending on the variant.

Here's the honest version though: this engine is old now, and the ones we see in our workshop carry the marks of that age. Timing chains and their tensioners are the first thing to check. Chain stretch and tensioner wear show up as a cold start rattle, and if that's been ignored across oil change intervals, you're looking at a more serious job. The EGR system gets heavily sooted over time, particularly on cars that have spent their lives doing short city runs rather than open road kilometres. That soot finds its way into the intake, causes smoke on throttle, and can push the vehicle into limp mode without warning.

The air suspension is the other headline. These Range Rovers were fitted with air bags and an air compressor, and both age. Sagging on one corner, slow self levelling and a compressor that runs constantly are all signs the system needs attention. We replace compressors and bags with genuine new components, not shortcuts.

Diagnostics on the 2.7 TDV6 require proper factory tooling. We use the Land Rover SDD and Pathfinder platforms with a genuine JLR interface. A generic scanner will read basic fault codes but won't communicate with the full module network or allow correct coding of replacement parts. That matters on a vehicle this complex.

The 3.0 TDV6 is what Land Rover built when they wanted more of everything the 2.7 offered. Displacement climbed to 2993 cc, bore opened to 84.0 mm, stroke extended to 90.0 mm, and compression stayed high at 16.1:1. The result was 258 hp and 600 Nm of torque from the factory. The ECU is a Bosch EDC17CP55, a far more capable unit than the Siemens setup in the 2.7, and the whole engine felt like a genuine step forward when it arrived.

And in many ways it was. But the 3.0 TDV6 didn't magically fix every problem, it just rearranged them. The timing chain arrangement is the one that catches owners off guard most often. On this V6, the chains sit at the rear of the block. On a front engined car, that means the engine effectively has to come out or be heavily displaced to access them. A timing chain rattle on cold start is never a cheap fix, but on the 3.0 TDV6 it's a particularly significant job. Listen very carefully on a cold morning before buying one of these.

The internal oil pump belt is the item we find most commonly overlooked. It lives inside the sump and drives the oil pump. There's no external indicator that it's wearing, and many owners have never heard of it. If it fails, the engine loses oil pressure and the damage is serious. We include this in our service interval checks and replace it on schedule.

The Bosch EDC17CP55 ECU is well supported by our factory diagnostic setup. SDD and Pathfinder read the full module network on these, including the air suspension ECU, the terrain response system, and all body modules. That matters for fault tracing on a vehicle where multiple systems talk to each other constantly.

The 2.0 Si4 is the most polarising Range Rover Sport of the three. It carries the PT204 Ingenium engine code, it's petrol not diesel, and it displaces just 1997 cc. Bore is 83.0 mm, stroke is 92.0 mm, compression is 10.5:1. The output is genuinely impressive: 300 hp and 400 Nm from a two litre four cylinder. If you'd said that in the era of the 2.7 TDV6, people would have laughed. The PT204 is modern, sophisticated engineering.

The trade off is that modern sophisticated engineering has its own failure modes. The timing chain on early Ingenium engines can stretch and produce a cold start rattle, an immediate concern flag on any inspection. Some Ingenium variants also run a wet timing belt in addition to the chain, and that requires its own service attention on a defined schedule. Don't skip it.

Carbon buildup on the intake valves is the other recurring theme we see in the workshop. Because the PT204 is a direct injection engine, fuel doesn't wash over the intake valves the way it does in a port injection setup. Oil vapour from the crankcase coats them instead, and over time the deposits restrict airflow, cause a rough idle and produce misfires. The fix is an intake decarbonising service, and we use proper equipment to do it properly.

The good news is that the Si4 responds well to attention. Diagnose it with the JLR Pathfinder platform, use genuine parts on the fixes, keep up with the service intervals, and it's a very capable engine.

This generation also brings a more complex electronic architecture than the earlier TDV6 models. The terrain response, air suspension, active rear locking and driver assistance systems all communicate across a broader module network, and reading any of it properly means using the factory Pathfinder setup with a genuine JLR interface, not a third party scanner that only scratches the surface.