Change is afoot under the hoods of Land Rover’s smallest crossover SUVs. Both the Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Range Rover Evoque will welcome Jaguar Land Rover’s new family of Ingenium inline-four engines under their stubby snouts for the 2018 model year. These replace a tired and laggy Ford-sourced turbo four currently occupying space under both vehicles’ hoods.
While Europeans have access to both gasoline- and diesel-burning Ingenium engines, we in the U.S. probably will be limited to a single, gas-sipping turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. It likely will be offered in two power grades, one rated at 240 horsepower and the other at 290. Those figures could change slightly after the engine is certified for our market. The same basic engine produces 247 horsepower in the 2018 Jaguar XE, XF, and F-Pace and 296 in the 2018 F-type.
Jaguar pairs the engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission; however, it wouldn’t surprise us if the need to mount the engine transversely in the Discovery Sport and the Evoque necessitates the use of the two models’ current nine-speed automatic. Regardless, the Ingenium four-pot incorporates direct fuel injection, a twin-scroll turbocharger, and an integrated exhaust manifold.
Other changes to the two compact crossovers include an available set of sport seats for the Evoque and the addition of racier exterior trim on Discovery Sports equipped with the more powerful of the two Ingenium engine opt...