Coventry engineering company JE Motorworks is offering a Ford 2.3 Ecoboost engine conversion for the original Land Rover Defender, promising enhanced performance with lowered emissions.
The West Midlands company, which has produced reimagined versions of the Defender such as the V8-powered Zulu2, first revealed to Autocar that it was working on an Ecoboost conversion in June last year. The firm has now completed a shakedown with a development car and is taking orders from customers.
Meeting the man behind JE Motorworks
Ford’s 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit, which is used in various performance cars such as the Focus RS and Mustang, produces up to 305bhp and 319lb ft of torque in the Defender. JE has altered the motor so it runs in a way more suited to the iconic SUV.
The Ecoboost engine is significantly more potent than the Ford Transit-sourced 2.2 diesel used in the discontinued Defender (it came with 122bhp and 266lb ft). It is also claimed to be much cleaner — although no emissions figures have yet been released. The engine produces as little as 175g/km of CO2 in other cars, significantly undercutting the 266g/km output in the final Defender.
Land Rover Defender: buying advice
JE boss Jonathan Douglas told Autocar last year that “increasing rules and regulations restricting the use of diesel-engined vehicles in certain environments, particularly in cities” had spurred his company on to produce a more eco-friendly option. He expected “many Defender owners [to] see a modern, direct-injection petrol engine as a good, more environment-friendly solution”.
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Should have put an LS in it
A brand new crate LS is well under $10k. This is just silly.
Ancient article?
wasnt this story run months ago? I clearly remember the stupid sentence about the 175g co2 achieved by this engine in other cars being less than the defender’s emissions
Anyone else here getting bored?
...of these irrelevant non-stories about "tuners" doing stuff with obsolete JLR product? Does anyone really give a s**t?
There must be far more newsworthy stories to cover. Come on, Autocar - you are capable of so much more than this!
XLR8 wrote:
Indeed, pile of crap made slightly better by addition of leather seats and an engine capable of pulling actual skin off an actual rice pudding shock.
Much prefer those snow prepped Hilux pickups!
Maybe getting the world ready for the massive let down that the new Defender is going to be. Too much hype and the wrong product mix. Single cab pickup for heaven's sake is not premiumyness Gerry McPremium!
Yes, Why only JLR-based kit cars?
There’s a whole world of blokes in garages fitting inappropriate bits of one car to another. Why only Autocar features on Defenders and Minis? Maybe that’s what makes the best clickbait?