Series III S R6
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- Category: Stage 1
- Last Updated on Thursday, 28 July 2011 17:08
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Series IIIS - R6 2.6 litre Petrol, 3.8 litre Diesel and 2.24 litre Petrol.
In 1980 the South African Land Rover Series III S was introduced, distinguished from ordinary locally built Series III vehicles by having the flush front grille of the Stage 1 V8, a model which was never sold in South Africa. Only two body types were available from the factory, one being a 109 inch pick-up, on which all three engine options were available, and the other was a 12 seater station wagon which only came with the new 2.6 litre six-cylinder petrol engine (known as the R6) and the new diesel.
The new diesel was a locally-built 3.8 litre 4 cylinder known as the Atlantis or ADE4 and provided a useful 73bhp (55kW) @ 2800rpm and 179 lb./ft (243Nm) torque at just 1400rpm. The R6 engine had been developed from the E6 six-cylinder, itself derived from the overhead-camshaft four cylinder BMC/Leyland E-series engine.
In Britain that was as far as the E6 went, but the design was re-used by Leyland Australia who developed a long-stroke 2623cc version for conventional installation in the Australian Marina and the P76 saloon. It was this engine which was picked up by Leyland South Africa at the end of the 1970’s and redeveloped as the R6 for the local Marina, Rover SD1 and Land Rover. For South Africa it had an up-rated cooling system, lower noise levels and a new camshaft.
Both saloon and Land Rover versions for the 2.6 litre six cylinder had twin SU HIF6 carburettors and the same 110bhp (82kW) @ 2800rpm and 148 lb./ft (202Nm) of torque at 2200rpm. In the Land Rover, the engine came with an oil cooler as standard. Like the diesel, it drove through a four speed Santana all-synchromesh gearbox, which had slightly different first, third and reverse ratios from the British-designed models fitted to four cylinder petrol models.
Both the R6 and 2.24 litre petrol engines came with Salisbury axles incorporating the familiar 4.7:1 gearing, but the diesel had Salisbury axles with a final drive of 3.54:1, exactly like the Solihull-built Stage 1 V8.
On the road the Series III S in four cylinder petrol form performed very much like any 2.25 litre petrol Series III. The six cylinder model was a very different case, however. The station wagon had a maximum cruising speed of about 130 km/h (81mph).
Somewhere about 5000 examples were built before production stopped in 1985. By then the first locally assembled 110 V8 vehicles had become available and the last of the Series III S models lingered in dealers’ showrooms until 1986.
Land Rover Series III S R6
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