MOTORING Top of the Range
The latest offering from Land Rover combines high-spec luxury with fuel effi ciency and unbeatable performance to produce a 4x4 like no other
WORDS NEIL LYNDON
that it could be repeated in adult con ver sa tion with a straight face. The car in the Land-Rover stable that was the best by far was always the Range Rover, and now the best has just got better: the new Range Rover takes all the qualities for which this sumptuous all-rounder has become justly renowned over the last 40 years and hugely enhances them. ‘Huge’ is the operative word. Seen under spotlights
R blazing (as it will be at many
premieres and fi rst nights) at the Paris Motor Show where it was fi rst unveiled in September, the new Range Rover looked as if it would dwarf one of those little principalities in the Gulf, where this car will certainly be prized. Gerry McGovern, head of design at Land-Rover, has thumbed his nose at the metropolitan lobby that jeers at Chelsea Tractors, making the new Range Rover even more in-your-face as a display of opulence than it has ever been. With its fl ighty, kicked-up tail line, its inte-
gra ted top-line spoiler, its thrusting block of a snout, its body-coloured bumpers and door handles, and its slashing vent blades, this Range Rover abandons any pretence of wanting to pass unnoticed in the crowd. It screams money (as it may be entitled to do, with a starting price of £71,295 for the Vogue version), and it will be about as inconspicuous at the point-to-point as a hoodie in a beanie with his cargo jeans slung below his buttocks. Despite these immodesties, this new fourth-
generation Range Rover is lighter, faster and more nimble than its predecessor, as well as far more economical with fuel and cleaner in emissions. The three-litre TDV6 diesel now avail- able in the Range Rover offers performance in the hot-hatch class (0-60mph acceleration in 7.4 seconds, and a top speed of 130mph) while returning fuel economy and C02 fi gures which are not far off some of the hybrids that fancy them- selves as saviours of the earth. No previous Range Rover
has approached the average of 37.7mpg which is claimed for this car, nor its 196g/km for CO2. The introduction for
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 139
emember that old slogan for Land-Rover: ‘The Best 4x4 By Far’? It was unusual among adverts for being so largely true
the fi rst time of stop/start technology is one of the explanations for these startling fi gures, as is the seamlessly effi cient eight-speed auto- matic gearbox and the ingenious mecha nism that automatically shuts down vanes in the grille to
increase aerodynamic effi ciency
‘It screams money, as it may be entitled to do, with a starting price of £71,295’
when additional cooling air is not needed. This innovation may not come into play very often in Oman, but it is expected to go over big in places where it is unwise in the depths of winter even to open your mouth (yes, that’s you, Pitlochry). Even the monstrous 4.4-litre LR-SDV8 diesel
engine emits 10% less CO2 (229g/km) in the new Range Rover and its overall average fuel con - sumption has been raised to 35.5mpg. These are the kind of fi gures that would win it member- ship of the Green Party, despite its 0-60mph acceleration in 6.5 seconds (which would have been considered respectable for an out-and-out sports car even 20 years ago). The original Range Rover of 40 years ago now
looks spartan and utilitarian, while succeeding generations have upped the luxury stakes to the point where the new one is the equal of the priciest Mercedes or Bentley. Few private homes could match the opulence of the Vogue’s leather upholstery or the astounding concert-hall quali- ties of its 380w Meridien sound system. Only a military vehicle on tracks might
Below: No attempt has been made to disguise the new Range Rover’s opulent good looks.
surmount terrain that would defeat this Range Rover, otherwise it is unsurpassable as an off- roader. For a vehicle to be capable of such deeds at the same time as having on-road qualities to match high-performance luxury cars such as top-end Jaguars makes this, unquestionably, the most versatile 4x4 of all.
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