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Engines
THE ROVER V8
The Rover V8 began life as the Buick 215, an all-aluminium engine introduced for the 1961 model year. The compact engine was lightweight, and capable of high power outputs: the most powerful Buick version of this engine rated 200 hp. The aluminium engine was relatively expensive to produce, however, and it suffered problems with oil and coolant sealing, as well as with radiator clogging from use of antifreeze incompatible with aluminium. As a result, GM ceased production of the all-aluminium engine after 1963.
In January 1964 Rover gave American operations head J. Bruce McWilliams permission to investigate the possible purchase of an American V8 engine for Rover cars. McWilliams realised that the lightweight Buick V8 would be ideal for smaller British cars. It weighed less than many straight-4 engines it would replace. McWilliams tried to convince GM to sell the tooling, which they finally agreed to do in January 1965.
The Rover version of the engine had a displacement of 3528 cc. It used a sand-cast (rather than pressure die-cast) block, pressed-in iron cylinder liners, and a new intake manifold with two SU carburettors. The Rover engine was heavier but stronger than the Buick engine. It was a good well tried engine to use in the new SD1.
THE SIX CYLINDER ENGINES
At the beginning of 1973 it was decided that the Rover SD1 could easily be fitted with a smaller engine. This also meant the block could be made longer allowing the engineers to dispense with the ‘V’ configuration of the cylinder bores. It also meant the crankshaft bearings could be widened but it was now a unique and shared no components with other BL engines. The 2350cc & 2598cc engines only differed by length of stroke.
It was now 1974 and the World was now affected by the fuel crisis and fuel economy was now a priority. The 2600 engine was reliably producing around 150 bhp net so it was felt that toning down the valve timing by using the same camshaft in both the 2300 and 2600 fuel economy would be improved as well as the saving from using a shared component.
The new engines reached production in 1977 and were fitted to the Rover 2600. The smaller 2300 model was made available 6 months later.
The engine was supposed to be built at a rate of up to 1,600 a week at the Canley plant & although supposed to be fitted to other cars, they were only ever fitted to the Rover SD1 2300/2600 and ceased production during May, 1986.
THE 2400 SD TURBO DIESEL ENGINE
The Rover 2400 SD Turbo evolved as an engineering collaboration between Rover and Italian company VM. The cars were built in Cowley, close to Oxford, where the engines came from the VM factory in Cento, Ferrara Italy.
This extraordinary car didn't
go unnoticed by the public. Everyone that had anticipated the Rover diesel
was rewarded greater than their expectations. Space, luxury that was the
same as on the 2600 S and reliability fully met Rover standards.
This same can be said for the vehicle in general. The decision for a diesel
engine was no pretext that a large elegant limousine can drive cheaper
as well. The 2400 SD Turbo is now generally seen as the most modern diesel
of its time, a real alternative for a petrol engine car instead of a sorry
excuse for it.
The choice for the VM-engine combined with the aero dynamical and well built car leads to good performance, not only in the field of fuel consumption. 6 Litres of diesel suffice for driving 65 miles at a constant speed of 60 mph. Moreover the car performed very well on the field of speed and acceleration. With its top speed of 165 km/h it was the fastest diesel of its time and it could drive a kilometre from standing still in 37.7 seconds.
Over the 1982-85 period, Rover managed to sell 10,081 of these 2400 SD's mostly in LHD form.
THE O-SERIES ENGINE
Introduced by BL in 1978 on the Series 2 Morris Marina and the smaller engined versions of the Leyland Princess, it was intended to replace the 1.8 litre B-Series unit. The main advance over the B-Series was that the new unit was of belt driven overhead camshaft configuration, with an aluminium cylinder head.
Despite the engine being offered in the unusual capacity of 1.7 litres, it proved to be a reliable engine for BL, and was later bored out in 1982 to 2.0 litres for the Rover SD1
1982 was the year when SD1 buyers could
finally opt for a four-cylinder engine, since the two-litre BL O-Series
engine of the Morris Ital was offered. It was definitely not a "shoehorn"
job: the engine looked almost as if it could get lost in the huge engine
bay designed to accept the V8. The engine was particularly aimed at company-car
fleets where its size enabled it to beat a taxation threshold.
