Rover KV6

The underrated V6 development of the K-Series which shared its name but little else.

- Paul Wager 

Much has been written about the Rover K-Series engine over the years and despite its detractors, it remains a high point of Rover’s all too brief golden era. Far less fuss however has been made of its six-cylinder sibling, known as the KV6 which first appeared in the late-model Rover 800 and in modified form went on to power the Rover 75.

The story of the KV6 starts with the Rover-Honda collaboration which began with the Acclaim and brought us world-class cars like the ‘R8’ 400 and the 800-Series. As most readers will be aware, the range topping 800-series models had been powered from the beginning by Honda supplied V6 engines, in first 2.5 and then 2.7-litre flavours and very impressive they were too. In fact, Honda had kept the 2.7litre V6 in production for Rover even after it had ceased using it in its own cars, but with BMW’s acquisition of Rover Group in 1994, the association with Honda ended rather abruptly. This meant supplies of the V6 engine were destined to end and Rover needed to find a replacement for the latter years of 800 production.

New owner BMW was no stranger to six-cylinder engines of course, but its preferred format was a straight-six and there was no way any of the Bavarian firm’s engines would fit under the shallow 800 nose.

The solution then was to develop a new engine from scratch, with an eye to using it in future Rover models. Enter the KV6. Although generally referred to as a K-Series engine, it shares very little with the four-cylinder.