The design of the Range Rover is such that no matter how distant its unique silhouette is, you know it’s a Range Rover. That being the starting point, Land Rover’s job was half-done. So, the clamshell hood, the floating roof and the split tailgate remain in the latest iteration. The headlamps are sleeker and also pulled back, steering away from the predecessor’s rectangularity. Clearly, these are inspired by the Evoque. The front grille design has also been tweaked a bit, along with the fogs.
At first glance, the new Range Rover looks luxurious, with fantastic ergonomics. It gets an all-new steering wheel design while the centre console gets a brown and beige trim. There are some wood finish touches and the rising gear knob— just like in the Evoque— replaces the conventional gear stick.
Land Rover is now offering four-engine options— two diesel, one petrol and a diesel hybrid. A 3.0-litre TDV6 is being offered on a Range Rover for the first time, thanks to the reduction in weight. The TDV6’s pistons have been redesigned and it now produces 256bhp of power and 600Nm of peak torque. Despite being less powerful than the 4.4-litre TDV8, Land Rover claims it to have the same performance and also downsizing has helped enhance the fuel efficiency.
The new Range Rover gets the next generation Terrain Response system.This analyses the current driving conditions and automatically selects the most suitable vehicle settings for the terrain. To ensure exceptional durability and reliability, the new model has been subjected to Land Rover’s punishing on- and off-road test and development regime. The luxury SUV also gets four-corner air suspension, which makes ride plusher than the previous generation, and JLR claims an enhancement in its handling characteristics and also steering feel.
The new Range Rover looks extremely, extremely competitive on paper. We will share our verdict once we drive it. Suffice to say we are very excited because it seems one heck of an SUV.We expect it to land on Indian shores by the end of this year or sometime early next year. The price of the base model will be similar to the current offering, while the top-of-the-line model will be expensive.
