The Range Rover is one of the most iconic cars Britain has ever produced.It was king of the SUVs long before that term was ever invented and during its 40 year reign nothing has even come close to toppling it.
Audi, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes all make some fine luxury off roaders. But none of them have the cachet, class, pedigree or elegance of the Range Rover.
Now the fourth-generation car has come along. Land Rover brought a stack of them to Scotland for us grizzled car hacks to test in the conditions for which they were designed.
Arrayed outside Gleneagles Hotel they looked magnificent. And, with the thermometer reading -6 and snow whipping in the wind, we would be putting them through their paces.
The new car is a slightly sleeker and has more streamlined headlamps but the basic shape is now so much a part of its identity they’d be foolish to make big changes.
The real work has taken place under the skin, where an aluminium body and a host of other technologies have combined to make the car up to 420kg lighter.
That’s an incredible weight saving, amounting to the combined weight of five grown men. Basically, driving the new car with a full complement of passengers and their luggage is the equivalent weight of driving the old car on your own.
In fact, the car’s bodyshell is only 12kg heavier than that of a Mini Countryman.
With a new, lightweight V6 diesel engine it’s the most economical Range Rover ever produced. Combined fuel economy is 37.7mpg and emissions fall below 200g/km for the first time.
A hybrid Range Rover will join the range late next year or early in 2014 and promises emissions below 150g/km.
Land Rover have always prided themselves that their cars can also walk the walk when it comes to off roading and that includes their most expensive model.
So we hot footed it through the driving snow to Dunkeld, where we put the cars through their paces at the off road centre.
Prodigious is the only word to use. My V8 model crawled down icy inclines without slipping, climbed snowy hills and scrambled through deep ruts. Its wading depth is now 90cm the highest of any production vehicle.
Of course, most Range Rovers will spend their lives on tarmac so it’s a good thing it excels here. A miracle of refinement, it cossets you from the outside world in the way that only a handful of high-end Lexus, BMW and Audi saloons can manage. And because you’re high up, you can even look down on these luxury saloon drivers.
The three litre 258hp V6 diesel is fantastic: creamy smooth, refined and (by this car’s standards) very frugal. It gets from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds and tops out at 130mph.
The 4.4 litre, 339hp V8 diesel is more powerful, surging the car effortlessly forward and breaking 60mph in 6.5 seconds. It’s quite frugal too, averaging 32.5mpg, but the V6 is so good I’m not sure how you would justify the extra expense.
As well as the two diesels there’s a 5.0 litre supercharged petrol model. It does 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds and is electronically limited to a 155mph top speed. I didn’t get the chance to drive this bonkers model but though fun it won’t be much more than a curate’s egg.
The only real objection to owning a Range Rover is whether you can afford one, or justify affording one. The cheapest V6 model costs over £71,000 (Vital stats are for the fully loaded V8 Autobiography model I drove) and it would be easy to pay more than £100,000.
But it is magnificent. As Ferris Bueller once said: “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”