Fastest Ever
by David Finlay (05 Oct 05)

It's a peculiarity of the way Land Rover sees its products that the Range Rover is barely thought of internally as an off-roader despite its undoubted off-road credentials. Of the models created in recent years (and obviously excepting the Defender), the company considers the Discovery to be its "workhorse" product and thinks of the Range Rover as a luxury vehicle which happens almost incidentally to be a stormer of a 4x4. In quoting record sales figures for 2004 of 32,493 units, Land Rover compares this favourably with other luxury cars rather than with rival off-roaders.

Following revisions for the 2006 model year, the car tested here is the most luxurious of the lot. It's also the most powerful thanks to the arrival of the increasingly ubiquitous 4.2-litre supercharged V8 engine originally developed for Jaguar and later used in, for example, the Range Rover Sport. As in its other applications, this unit produces a maximum of 400bhp, but for the Range Rover its low-range torque has been improved.

Despite the emphasis on luxury, this is clearly an attempt to improve the car's already celebrated off-road ability; likewise, the engine will continue to operate at most un-Jaguarlike angles, and there is more waterproofing and protection from dust and rocks than you would ever expect to find in a saloon car.

More . . .

Back to Range Rover Road Test index
Back to main Road Test index