Right on schedule, production has begun for the 2009 Porsche Cayenne Diesel. The vehicle’s three-litre turbodiesel V6 comes from the Volkswagen group, and is produced by Audi.

The 240 horsepower (176 kW) engine makes this the most environmentally friendly of all Cayennes, but it is still pretty dirty. Spewing out 244 grams of CO2 per 100km, the Cayenne Diesel is about as dirty as the Land Rover LC4 with a 3.0 liter diesel, and the Mercedes Benz M-Class ML 280 and 320. Burning 9.3 liters per 100km (25 mpg), it is significantly cleaner than the Porsche Cayenne’s 3.6 liter petrol engine.

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Edmiston, a luxury yacht brokerage and sales company has joined forces with Land Rover to create a program that will see top yacht designers crafting one-off-a-kind Range Rovers inspired from the world of luxury yachts. The two companies will kick off the program with the “Superyacht Range Rover Design Competition” in which seven top yacht designers took part, including Bannenberg, Tim Heywood, Andrew Winch, Terrence Disdale, Ken Freivokh, Redman Whiteley Dixon and Martin Francis. The winning design will be unveiled during the Monaco Yacht Show in late September. Edmiston states that visitors to the show will be able to place their orders for any of the exclusive Range Rover designs that even include a two-door cabriolet version. Delivery time will be between three and six months with prices ranging from €200,000 to € 800,000 or about or $300,000 to $1.2 million.

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Land Rover’s luxury mud-plugging image isn’t fairing well in an era of high gas prices and eco concerns, so its rolled out two new technologies at the London Motor Show to prove that the automaker has its eye on a sustainable future.

Two LR2 prototypes are on hand featuring a parallel hybrid system mated to a turbo diesel engine. Testing is currently underway and so far, LR has seen a reduction in CO2 emissions by up to 20 percent. The Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD), originally shown on the LRX concept, can deliver power to all four wheels through a 288-volt electric motor producing around 150 lb.-ft. of torque. When complete, the system is expected to proliferate across the Land Rover line-up, along with a new lightweight architecture and a refined start-stop system, under the banner of e_Terrain Technologies.

The second development is the Crankshaft Integrated Starter Generator (CISG), which incorporates an electric motor into a dual clutch transmission, giving a boost in torque and starting the diesel mill.

Both systems aren’t going to be ready for primetime for a few more years, but Land Rover’s start-stop technology should find its way to production sometime next year. Continued

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In response to a ratcheting body-count in Iraq and Afghanistan, the UK Ministry of Defence has ordered a fleet of 157 Ridgback armored vehicles. The Ridgback, made in the United States, was unveiled last week at a military vehicles exhibition in Millbrook, Bedfordshire in the UK.

Pictured in the illustration above, the Ridgback offers increased protection for personnel against mines and roadside bombs and will replace the Land Rover Defenders which the British Army currently has deployed in the field. The order is part of a larger £150 million contract to upgrade the army’s motor pool in the Middle East. The vehicles will be equipped with weapons and communications systems as well as beefed-up armor. It is capable of carrying 12 people and is equipped with run-flat tires allowing it to travel at speeds of up to 55 mph on punctured rolling stock.

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Britain’s Autocar says that Land Rover will follow up the introduction of the production 3-door LRX with a more practical 5-door edition as well. We loved the compact and sporty LRX concept, and we’re glad Land Rover is going to produce a 3-door that should closely mimic its appearance. That said, the word that it’ll also be joined by a 5-door is completely unsurprising, as the additional entrances make the LRX a more appealing suburban recon vehicle. After all, it’s a lot easier to haul the kids to ballet class and Little League when they have doors of their own to clamber in and out of. Autocar’s sources also told the pub that a hybrid drivetrain — a key element of the concept car — is also expected to find its way into the mix, given current concerns regarding fuel economy and vehicle emissions. Look for the LRX to debut in 2011. If the production car winds up being anywhere near as good-looking as the concept, there should be no shorta

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Jaguar and Land Rover are looking to offer hybrid vehicles for sale within the next five years. It seems reasonable to conclude that they will parlay the experience gained from the government-sponsored testing that they recently were awarded into real production systems. According to reports, Jaguar is considering using a system similar to the one that Mercedes-Benz is working on for its flagship S-Class hybrid. The S-Class is expected to pair a 3.5 liter V6 engine to the ZF transmission, while Jaguar is said to be considering both a 3.0 liter diesel engine and a 5.0 liter gasoline direct injected V8.

Land Rover, on the other hand, seems ready to create its own home-grown hybrid system using something it calls the “Electric Rear Axle Drive.” One thing that seems certain is that Tata Motors has plans to keep its two new luxury marques on the top of the technology curve, which could mean good things for the two ailing brands.

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Land Rover LR2

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