2009 Land Rover Range Rover HSE

Now this is what a luxury SUV should be. The Range Rover is fast - especially between 40 and 80 mph - its power delivery is velvety smooth, and its suspension tuning is nearly perfect. It’s amazing how well the Range Rover smooths out rough surfaces and even potholes while still being able to tackle the most extreme off-road tasks. The steering is communicative and nicely weighted without being too heavy at low speeds. The turning radius is also impressive.

The dash is a little busy because many of the controls are oversized, but they are logically arranged and within easy reach of the driver. Being able to adjust the ride height makes parking in structures with low clearances a little less stressful and can also make ingress and egress easier on the vertically challenged (although at five-foot-four, I had no trouble on the standard setting).

After driving this, I’m even more disappointed in the Mercedes-Benz G550 that I drove recently. If I had to choose between them, I wouldn’t give the Benz a second thought. The Range Rover may not feel as unstoppable or as unique as the G-wagen but it’s damn close, and the Rover betters the G in refinement, vehicle dynamics, interior design, and fit and finish. The Rover is a pleasing combination of modern engineering and design and old-school-truck functionality, where the G550 just feels plain old.

One of the biggest complaints I have with the British automakers is a consistently pathetic navigation interface. Land Rover, Aston Martin, Bentley, and, to a lesser extent, Jaguar are saddled with infotainment systems that really trail most American, German, and Asian infotainment systems. Thankfully the 2010 Land Rovers seem to be upgrading this. I didn’t get a chance to sit inside a new Range Rover at the New York auto show, but the images of the interior show a revised display for the navigation system. That should go a long way to making the interior a nicer place to spend some time.

I don’t really care for the Range Rover. Functionally, it doesn’t seem much different than a Land Rover LR3 (or the new 4) and I much prefer the looks of the Range Rover Sport. All three of these beasts get an upgrade to the new 5.0-liter V-8 that makes 375 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque, thanks to direct injection. I’ve never been blown away with the power of this 4.4-liter V-8, but as Jen Misaros points out, the power delivery is very smooth and the SUV feels very capable.

I can’t wait to sample the revised Land Rover line later this year. The new vehicles are scheduled to hit dealerships in October, and we’ll probably get a chance to drive one shortly before that. Just a bit more power will be nice, and direct injection might even allow a slight increase in fuel economy.

I can’t help but be taken aback that that this SUV costs more than $78,000 - that’s a lot, even if it is the legendary Range Rover, known for its unrivaled blend of off-road ability and top-grade luxury. Still, that price pales in comparison to the Mercedes-Benz G550, which stickers for more than $100,000, so I suppose that, in some circles at least, the Range Rover might be considered a good deal. At least, if I were a millionaire, that’s probably what I’d think.

For the large chunk of cash you’ll need to unload at the Land Rover dealer, you’ll at least get a solid, capable, luxury SUV. Yes, the power delivery is smooth, but at close to three tons this is a heavy vehicle, so ultimately, it doesn’t feel overly fast. Surely the extra dose of power in the 2010 Range Rover won’t hurt. The interior is pretty nicely put together, with what feels like fine-quality leather and plastics. However, some of the controls seem a little dated. For instance, the seat heater controls are large, clunky dials located at the bottom of the center stack. In fact, they look more like HVAC fan regulators than seat heaters - which might explain why they were hiding in plain sight when I tried to find them. It took me half the drive home before I figured out how to heat my rear end!

This article was taken from: Automobile

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 10:47 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.