Every carmaker has already had at least one special model. Like that first movie which finally gives worldwide attention to a particular actor, cars like Beetle, Mustang and Sonata were responsible, each one at its time, not only for taking their brands out of the ostracism but also giving them fame attached to some special factor – the three examples above would be durability, performance and style. Land Rover, on the other hand, achieved fame with the best combination of luxury and off-road performance ever seen.
We can say that Range Rover’s fame came not only for two reasons, but two opposite reasons. The specialized press has already repeated a lot of times that he was the forerunner of the current trend of urbanizing the SUVs, applying refinements until then restricted to the sedans at a car class which main vocation were the heavy duties. This car has always specialized itself at the art of being a typical off-road vehicle in the outside, with robust construction and lots of technology to overcome the worst obstacles, while the interior reveals a paradise of sophistication and high quality – in nowadays there are many luxury rivals and many brave rivals, but any of them join this duality with this English’s mastery. However, the curious part comes with the fact that Range Rover’s excellent reception ended turning the revolutionary into traditional. All those years saw this car evolve a lot at the technical part and receive many special series and versions, but it’s really interesting to notice how, besides its main proposal, its design remained intact: with generations lasting about ten years each, the fourth one that arrives now takes this fascinating paradox to a whole new level.
Range Rover was transformed into a very well-tasted reinterpretation of the original 1970s style: all the straight lines were smoothened, and the line that has always circled the entire car is now the same detail which limits head and tail lights, both using LEDs but with the last ones inspired at the subversive brother Evoque. The high front end contrasts with the aerodynamic help of the rear spoiler, while the very inclinated rear windshield disguises the age by using the optional roof painting entirely in black. But to make this complete dive into modernity requires to mention that this car now uses a whole new platform, built in high-resistance aluminum. There were so many improvements that some of its versions have lost 926 pounds (420 kg) comparing to the previous generation, and this brings much better numbers at fuel consumption and emissions. Under the hood, we already know that it’ll use the 3.0 TDV6 and 4.4 SDV8 with diesel, and the 5.0 V8 with gasoline, always with the ZF automatic eight-speed transmission whose debut was made a few months ago. The off-road facet shows its strength with the air suspension, which was completely reprojected, and the new generation of the famous Terrain Response system. Through an easy button adjustment at the console, you can change a big series of driving parameters to suit each and every running condition.
The interior pictures could easily have come from some sort of limousine without many problems. There were added five inches to the wheelbase to increase the rear seats’s space, and the much modern project received a much better soundproofing. Range Rover will have multizone air-conditioner, bi-xenon headlights, LCD screen to the dashboard, leather electric seats and s entertainment system at any version, but Vogue adds bigger wheels, heated steering wheel, Camera Surround system with 360° vision, keyless door opening and TV receptor. But the state-of-the-art is held by Autobiography, which brings panoramic sunroof, 21” alloy wheels, heated seats, leather roof and Meridian Premium sound system, with 825 W. According to Land Rover, the 3.0 will come with Vogue and HSE, with 258 hp, 7s9 at the 0-60 mph (96 km/h), top speed of 130 mph and 7,7 L/100km. The 4.4 will equip Vogue and Autobiography, but with the respective numbers of 6s9, 136 mph and 9,1 L/100km, while the 5.0 comes with Supercharged Vogue and Supercharged Autobiography, improving the performance to 5s4, 140 mph and 14,3 L/100km. The prices will float between 98.500 and 145.600 euros, according to each market.
