2013 Land Rover Range Rover Reviews

We Aussies love our V8s. The history books say it, the Bathurst fans say it, and now there are more than 500 cash-paid deposits for the GTS from Holden Special Vehicles that prove it.The overwhelming support for the supercharged 6.2-litre Big Dog, and the rest of the HSV pack that's romping to a sellout V8 success of more than 3000 cars in 2013, shows there is still a place for old-school muscle in the modern world.But not at Nissan, where the all-new, petrol V8-powered Patrol is a disaster. Things are so bad that the geriatric superseded model is continuing alongside the newcomer and still finding plenty of friends.Nissan dealers have a backlog of unsold 5.6-litre V8 heavyweights and there is a growing backlash from long-term Patrol fans who cannot see the point in the company's new off-road flagship. It's nicely cushy, but it costs anywhere from $82,690 to $114,490 - a sharp jump from $53,890 to $57,390 for the old one - and there is no diesel engine.It's not just that, as the new Patrol also arrived in Australia more than 18 months late and - because development was focussed on wealthy Middle East buyers with no petrol paranoia - carrying the sort of specification that only works for a very limited number of people who are probably more interested in a Porsche Cayenne or Benz GL.Nissan has only sold 1600 of the new Y62-series Patrols this year and, to put that into perspective, more than 6000 people have driven away smiling in a new Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series in the same period.Nissan even resorted to a $1500 petrol voucher for a while to try and get things moving, but that's only 1000 litres - give or take, mostly take - in today's world, and the hulking Patrol can easily guzzle at 25 litres of unleaded for every 100 kilometres under the treads if you're towing something big or crawling off the blacktop.So it seems V8 engines have become a case of horsepower for courses. They are still fine for HSV fans who want something fun and fast, and also for Mercedes-AMG buyers who want flashy and fast, but not for family-focussed suburban work, or towing and off-roading.Even the latest Range Rover, the current Carsguide champion in the top-end SUV stakes, is most popular with a turbodiesel V8 despite prices that can balloon to $250,000. So, what makes the difference in the world of V8s? "I think there is a performance market still in Australia, and people want great cars," the head of HSV, Phil Harding, tells Carsguide. "I think there is still a passion in Australia for V8 performance, and sporting saloons that deliver excitement. We're fulfilling a need and a demand."

We settled into our leather trimmed lounge seats after admiring their deep red hue, with traditional stitching that increased the upmarket image. We turned on the TV, flicked through the channels but couldn't find anything to interest us, so went instead to one of our favourite movies on the DVD player.Comfortable as we were, it was time to get moving to meet some friends at a new coffee spot they had discovered. So I fired up the supercharged V8 engine in the front of our hotel room, clicked the automatic into Drive and set off to cruise down the road.The all-new Range Rover really is like a mobile hotel room – yes, you’ve probably guessed by now that we weren’t trying to pilot a Hilton suite down the road. It just felt that way.The Range Rover Vogue SE V8 is spacious, luxurious and finished to an immaculate standard in top-line leather, timber and alloy.As regular readers will be well aware, I consider driver inattention to be the number one cause of road crashes -- so I was no longer able to watch the movie. In any case I wanted to key the details of the new coffee place into the Rangie’s sat-nav.Not a problem. We pushed the pause button on the DVD, keyed in the coffee shop’s address, then hit ‘play’ on the DVD. Julie put on headphones to watch the movie and I looked at the same centrally mounted screen to see the satellite navigation route.That’s right, the same screen. From the driver’s seat I watched the sat-nav map, from the front passenger’s seat the movie was playing. Even when your eyes see it, they don’t quite believe the stunning technology.STYLINGNew, fourth generation Range Rover is considerably larger than the original that launched over 40 years ago, but retains enough visual features to instantly make its heritage obvious. The castellations on the bonnet are shallower than we, and other purists, would like, and the windscreen slopes back significantly more than in the first three generations. But the Range Rover Vogue SE V8 turret stands aloof and makes an upmarket, perhaps even arrogant in the English manner, statement.There have been unfavourable comments about the dummy air intakes on the front doors. But as most cars have false intakes on their front guards these days it’s good to see Range Rover trying something ahead of the field. May we predict other designers will follow with their doors one day soon?ENGINESSupercharging a five-litre V8 petrol engine, as was done in our review Range Rover, results in a 375 kilowatt powerplant that can rocket this mobile hotel room from rest to 100 km/h in only 5.4 seconds. That’s amazing.Other engine options are a 4.4-litre V8 turbo-diesel (250 kW) and a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel (190 kW). Range Rover calls the V8 diesel the SD - for Super Diesel - not a lot of Pommie modesty here…A supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol will arrive down under late this year.TECHNOLOGYThe previous Range Rover was disgustingly overweight. Thankfully the designers have managed to pull almost half a tonne, 420 kg, out of the new one, to bring it down to a respectable 2150+ kilograms (depending on the model). This, weight reduction has been achieved despite the vehicle being significantly larger and more spacious. Even better, the guys and gals at the Range Rover division of LandRover have made major improvements to the engines, transmissions and aerodynamics, resulting in fuel and CO2 cuts of as much as 22 per cent. That’s clever.Though it’s a superb luxury vehicle rear legroom is good without being limo like. The boot is huge and easy to load through the two-piece, horizontally-split tailgate. Our test vehicle had power operation of the gate to make life positively lazy.DRIVINGRide comfort is most impressive and the big Range Rover Vogue SE V8 shows its usual disdain for speed humps - we love it for that.Handling is tenacious rather than sporting and keen drivers won’t like the over-soft feel through the steering.The gen-four Range Rover is even more capable than its forebears in serious off-road conditions - and that’s saying something. A complex electronic system that juggles grip according to terrain combines with adjustable suspension height to provide extraordinary competence that makes even inexperienced drivers feel comfortable.VALUEPrices start at big $168,900 and range all the way up to a sky-high $240,100 for the supercharged V8 petrol. Putting the Range Rover way above anything else comparable has never hurt sales before and we certainly don’t expect anything to change with this new fourth-generation model.

It's hard to believe the new Range Rover is only the fourth generation of the iconic premium off roader. It's been around for 40 years so the people at Range Rover obviously put plenty of thought into any new model before committing. They must have put an extra effort into the latest version because it's a huge step up over the previous (already impressive) model.Range Rover seems ready and willing to adopt new technology which abounds in the new model. It's all aluminium for a start shaving weight by some 420kg.As you can no doubt tell, this is an impressive vehicle as it should be pitched at a start price of $217,100. It bristles with multimedia communication options and has slick touches like the virtual instruments, auto high beam, adaptive cruise control with auto braking, expanded Terrain Response and now, wheels up to 22 -inches in diameter.The large format touch screen has a split screen function that enables the driver to see one set of images and the passenger to see something completely different. Digital TV is piped in on three screens (two in the back) and the sound system on the mid range test car pumps out some 850w of power.But this is all the frilly stuff around the edges because a Rangey must be the ultimate off roader as well as offering ultimate luxury.Power comes from a cracking good 4.4-litre, twin-turbo, V8 diesel with 250kW and 700Nm of torque from as low as 1750rpm. It drives the permanent all wheel drive system through an eight speed auto with paddle shift. This is sufficient to propel the 2360kg Rangey from 0-100kmh in a scant 6.9 seconds while consuming as little as 8.7-litres/100km.The poms have nailed it with this vehicle which can go pretty much anywhere a driver chooses on and off road. The multi-mode Terrain Response system takes care of everything simply by rotating a dial to the required setting for a given driving environment. You can raise and lower the vehicle on its adaptive air suspension or leave that to the auto mode.Sick of not being able to see what's coming when reversing out of a car park? Not a problem with this Rangey - it looks three ways for you, left, right and straight behind.The front seats are lounge-size and multi adjustable and the rears recline and offers sumptuous room. Then there's the large load space down the back with a full size spare under the floor - just as it should be.The entire roof is pretty much glass. We like the look from some angles. It's bluff fronted and too chamfered at the rear behind the wheel but still looks the goods - a real Rangey.On the highway it's superb, off road - equally as good with a supple, controlled ride from the air suspension and enhanced stability from the 21-inch wheels. The turning circle is tight, there's plenty of ground clearance up to 295mm, it will wade through almost 1.0 metre of water and can tow up to 3500kg braked.The test vehicle was more with selected options like the desirable adaptive cruise control with queue assist - yes, it will maintain your position in a queue automatically. Quite disconcerting at first. Would you take it off road? Hardly but that would be underutilising possibly the most capable luxury off roader on the planet.

Land Rover's V6 diesel does a 'Stirling' job of moving the bulky Ranger Rover. The Ranger Rover portfolio also includes V8 petrol and diesel engines as well as a supercharged petrol V6 that was added recently. But with an impressive 190kW of power and 600Nm of torque, why go past the V6 diesel? The answer is that for some, enough is never enough - especially when it comes to cars.There are four rungs on the large Range Rover ladder. Our TDV6 Vogue sits one up from the bottom. Priced from $178,900 it's not cheap. In fact, the Ranger Rover is the most expensive vehicle in its segment - but then some people will find that attractive in itself.And before you ask, it's still manufactured in a new, state-of-the-art aluminium manufacturing facility at Solihull in the UK - not on the Sub-Continent. Standard features include leather, wood veneer, satellite navigation, heated seats and even a heated steering wheel for those cold mornings - plus a hi-end Meridian sound system.They've managed to shave 420kg off the weight of the vehicle through the adoption of a totally aluminium monocoque body/chassis. In fact, it's this dramatic weight saving that has allowed them to introduce the acclaimed V6 diesel. The interior finish is impressive too.The instrument panel has been decluttered, with 50 per cent less switches and as a result it's a lot less intimidating. Even the off road dial has an automatic setting which means no driver intervention is necessary - the car will do it all.The driving position is claimed to be 90mm higher than other premium SUVs affording a clear view of the traffic ahead. Some of the more often used controls have been moved to the sides of the touchscreen to stop the screen acquiring dirty finger marks.A reversing camera is standard and it comes with more acronyms than you can poke a stick at, including Hill Descent Control (HDC), Gradient Release Control (GRC), Hill Start Assist (HSA), Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Electronic Traction Control (ETC), and Roll Stability Control (RSC). If you option active cruise control, you also get automatic emergency braking which is particularly handy in heavy traffic.It's fitted with a ground-breaking next-generation version of Land Rover's Terrain Response system. Terrain Response 2 features an Auto setting that uses sophisticated `intelligent' systems to analyse the current driving conditions, and automatically select the most suitable terrain program.It's surprisingly quick for a vehicle that weighs in excess of 2100kg. With an eight-speed ZF auto the dash from 0-100km/h takes 7.9 seconds, but it feels quicker than this - with a top speed of 209km/h.It's quiet inside too, so quiet that you'd be hard pressed to tell it's a diesel. The thing sits on air suspension and some body roll is apparent, but it firms up once you get into it.Fuel economy is a claimed 8.5 litres/100km and that's exactly what we were getting from the 85-litre tank, giving the car a theoretical range of 1000km from on a single tank. Trailer stability control is standard and it can tow a 3500kg load.The best of both worlds. The Range Rover is tough and luxurious, a car that is as much at home in the city as it is in the back lots. Time was when Rangeys used to suck fuel like a vampire - but not so anymore.

A decade ago fundamentalist greenies accused SUV owners of damaging the planet's climate and plundering fossil fuel reserves.Today, a 5m long, near-$180,000 Range Rover SUV uses the same amount of fuel as an automatic 2012 Toyota Corolla. Argument over. The Range Rover Vogue - even in its entry-level TDV6 version - may be out of financial reach for most people but nothing can deny it a place as one of 2013's most remarkable motoring exhibits.The all-alloy Vogue's versatility, perfect form and outstanding function will arrest prospective luxury-car buyers. The equipment level, the superb ride comfort and spaciousness put it above saloon cars and its performance smothers many so-called sports cars.Show it the dirt and it'll plunge through where no normal SUV would dare. It is, in fact, the motoring equivalent of Inspector Gadget - a car that is everything to all buyers. Damn shame it costs so much.My wife wants a Thermomix because it's one kitchen appliance that does everything so we don't have to buy five devices.The Range Rover falls in the same category. Of course, like the Thermomix, the price is five times the price of a single-purpose appliance. So at $178,900 (plus $13,420 of options) the 3.0 TDV6 Vogue isn't cheap but can be all cars to all men. And women. The warranty is ordinary, the service costs are high-ish but fuel costs are low.Hot features include massage and heated front and rear seats, huge sunroof ($3080 must-have option), dual-view touch screen ($1300 option) and superb audio. Your neighbours will hate you.This 2013 model softly reflects the original Range Rover silhouette but does so with a bigger, more accommodating body.There is more subtly with the styling - note the neater grille, headlights and tail lights - while 21-inch alloys ($3240 option) give power to the design. Cabin design is beautiful. Lots of leather and wood, excellent graphics and switchgear, superb seats and a wide field of driver vision.It's also big inside with giant-size leg and headroom in the rear and an expanded cargo area that fits a mountain bike without removing its wheels. The electric tailgate, electric fold rear seats and rear-seat control panel adds icing to the cake.The big news is its all-aluminium body that shaves up to 400kg off the old model. The 190kW/600Nm 3-litre V6 turbo-diesel may pale against the optional V8 diesel and Porsche's new 4.2-litre oiler, but it's the right choice for owners who don't tow heavy gear.It's mated to an eight-speed auto that goes through a constant all-wheel drive system. Unlike most rivals, it has a low-range gearbox. The suspension is air adjustable, electric-assist steering, there's Terrain Response to electronically dial in the wagon for different off-road conditions and even stop-start to save a bit of fuel. Brilliant.It's (only) a four-star crash-rated car with nine airbags, electronic stability and traction control enhanced with roll-stability and cornering brake control, cruise control (adaptive is $3240 extra), all-wheel drive and a full-size spare wheel.Boat lovers will salivate over the aquatic bent of this vehicle. It moves forward like a luxury launch, cutting a fluid path and gently pitching and rolling with an unseen ocean's swell. That underbody cushioning - attributes of air suspension - and leather armchair comfort create the feeling that your loungeroom is suddenly capable of motion.There's a cautious vagueness about this marshmallow ride but even when thrown into a corner, the wagon reacts immediately, hardening the suspension and steering so it unrelentingly follows its confident line through the bend.The engine is quick to respond, though there are moments when it gets caught napping and the turbo fails to quickly ignite the engine. In terms of response though, it's a better engine than the optional V8 turbo-diesel that in comparison feels almost truck like.Acceleration to 100km/h is a quick 7.9 seconds and it feels like being pushed in the back by a powerful, velvet-encased glove. It's an incredibly quiet car as well. Electronics run this wagon, from the steering to the optional adaptive cruise to the ride-height air suspension and the five-mode Terrain Response system.In the sand and gravel this never even looked like slowing down. The low-range box, gobs of torque and diff locks sneered at sand. Pump the air suspension up to the max (from 220mm to 295mm) and while wheel travel is reduced, the wagon will clear some really big hurdles.Towing is rated at 3500kg so it may suit a lot of holiday haulers.This is a clever vehicle. Few cars come close to its flexibility while being luxurious, secure and even fun to drive.

I love the new Range Rover. And I hate most SUVs. I'm not in love with the price, or the thirst of the supercharged V8 engine, or the long history of Rangie horror stories, but I love the idea of a full-sized luxury limousine that can turn left at any time and head out for Kakadu.And, make no mistake, the all-new Range Rover is really a luxury car that's only dressed up like an SUV. It can easily tackle the worst off-road conditions in the world, but would you honestly go bush in a car that costs more than $200,000 and has a cabin as plush as a five-star hotel?These days, the cabin of the Range Rover is as comfortable and cosseting as any Benz S-Class or BMW 7-Series, although you might need a step ladder to climb aboard if you forget to lower the air suspension to the loading level."It's the halo. The flagship. It's what people look at when they think of Land Rover," says the brand's boss in Australia, David Blackhall. "The money we put into this car, which is about $1.5 billion, tells you how important the car is. It's the one people look for, and our owners come back time and again."A couple of hundred wealthy Australians will take delivery of a Range Rover this year, with around a four-month wait from placing an order. The Vogue with a 4.4-litre diesel engine is expected to be the most popular choice.A new Range Rover has never been cheap, but you can get at least get one now - an HSE with 3.0-litre diesel V6 engine - from `only' $168,900.Blackhall describes the starting point as "pretty much unassailable", but there are cheaper quality choices including a fully-loaded and lovely Porsche Cayenne GTS from $164,400.For perspective, a Benz ML now starts below $100,000 but go for the GL that really runs against the Range Rover - arriving in April with claimed quietness to beat an S-Class - and you'll be spending at least $130,000. A BMW 7 Series also stickers from $204,700.The Carsguide test car is towards the top of the Range Rover line, priced at $234,960 thanks to a bunch of extra equipment added to the $224,200 base of the supercharged V8 Vogue SE. But there is incredible value in everything from the sumptuous leather to the safety systems, cracking infotainment package and a suspension and driveline system that sets the benchmark.Ultimately, though, the price and thirst are the worst things about the Range Rover. And the things that cost it a five-star Carsguide rating.A full aluminium body, eight-speed automatic gearbox, an updated and automatic terrain response system for four-wheel drive work, radar cruise control, air suspension, a classy touch-screen infotainment package with rear displays, remotely-adjustable electric rear seats, and even a night light that projects a Range Rover logo onto the ground beisde the doors. The Range Rover has it all.There is more and more and more, but the key things are the alloy construction that slashes more than 400 kilograms from the Rangie's heft, a modern and techno-loaded cabin, adaptive dynamics to match the drive feel to the conditions, and the safety and driver-assist systems.For perspective, the new Range Rover still runs to five metres in length, but its drag is down with a roofline that is 20 millimetres lower, fuel economy is better by as much as 22 per cent on the diesel V6.The chassis package means the car can still handle the toughest off-road conditions - perhaps not with the optional 22-inch alloys - that means it is still a paid-up member of the Land Rover crew. Horse people will be happy to know it has a 3.5 tonne towing capacity.There is no disguising the sheer mass of the new Range Rover but, for an SUV, it's not bad looking. It's not as svelte as the Cayenne GTS, but definitely nicer than a Lexus LX. Design chief Gerry McGovern says he needed to maintain a historical link to the three earlier generations of Range Rover, but developed a package with considerably more interior legroom.It's the cabin that shines, with lovely seats, lots of technology and a logical layout. It takes time to learn your way around the controls - even with voice activation for the infotainment - but even back-seat passengers are pampered and the signature clamshell tailgate is fully electric.ANCAP is not going to be slapping a Range Rover into a wall, but it's sure to be a five-star car thanks to everything from the rigid body structure to emergency braking as part of the radar cruis control system.Apart from the regulation ABS braking and ESP stability control, it comes with eveything from a roll stability control and trailer stability assist to blind-spot monitoring and hill-descent control for off-road work. There are also a variety of operating heights to match the terrain, together with the latest Terrain Response system to make any dummy into an off-road winner.The Range Rover won me in less than a kilometre. I was captivated by the cabin and the sumptuous ride, which is such a contrast to the thumping and wallowing of lesser SUVs. And then I began to pick up the sound system, and the steering feel, and the impressive brakes, and all the rest.I confess that I did not go seriously off-road, barely away from the bitumen at all, but I just know what a Range Rover can do from plenty of previous experiences with Land Rovers of all sizes and prices. And Craig Duff, who drove for Carsguide in Morocco, reports that the new Rangie is just about unstoppable and superb at speeds well beyond Australia's 110 limit.The supercharged V8 in the test car is thumping and impressive, with massie torque for towing, but not so good with economy running at 17.4 litres/100km in a mix of conditions. I'd definitely take the 4.4 diesel V8.Even passenger who rides in the Rangie is impressed by the equipment and the comfort and quietness, although they are often shocked by the price. And every day I spend with the car I find something new to enjoy, like the Range Rover logo that's projected onto the ground at night like some sort of corporate Batman callout.As I said at the beginning, I'm not a fan of SUVs. I like the new Cayenne GTS a lot, the Benz GL is plush and enjoyable, but even X5s and MLs feel bulky and I'd much prefer a station wagon to the vast majority of affordable SUVs. But I don't think of the Range Rover as an SUV. For me, it's a luxury car with the works.When the end of the world is coming, I want to be driving the new Range Rover.

The new Holden Commodore is the most important new car of 2013. The upcoming VF, and the VF alone, points to the future of motoring in Australia.

Noxious brown water was lapping over the bonnet of Land Rover’s new flagship. Forget towing a boat, I’m in danger of turning the $200,000 Range Rover into one. At the time — midway through a 5km survival swim up Morrocco’s Oued Ourika — it is only of passing concern.I was far more focused on what was happening under the surging torrent as the luxury four-wheel drive lurched from boulder to boulder. I could feel the Terrain Response software shunting torque to alternate wheels trying to scrounge grip against the current and shifts in weight.The result was technology and engineering won out and the 2.2-tonne turbodiesel kept ploughing resolutely on, despite being literally out of its 900mm wading depth and coping with ground that was causing a Defender with off-road rubber nearly as many problems.It had already survived some axle-deep sand dune runs and a rock crawl that had Land Rover PR Tim Krieger wincing on the few occasions when the 260mm of front and 300mm rear of wheel travel were exceeded and the Rangie did bottom out. That wheel travel was tested again in the river run, where one of our group managed to drop two wheels off a silt ledge and can’t the SUV on a 45 degree lean that no one believed it could recover from.We were already discussing how they were going to extricate the car from the bottom of a ravine when the driver managed to recover it — despite doing almost everything wrong, from trying to swing back up the ridge, thereby increasing the tilt, to gunning the engine and making the Rangie jump. The car was built from the ground up for just this purpose and it’s a travesty that very few owners will be have the chutzpah to test the extreme capabilities of their decidedly luxurious SUV. One wouldn’t want to despoil the leather interior now, would one? It’d be like mucking out the stables in a pair of Gucci loafers.Regular owners can rest easy though, because the Range Rover is probably even more composed on the freeway, where revisions to the steering and suspension have all but eliminated the head-shake that beset the previous model at speed and improvements to the insulation make it a serene workplace. Even with the speedo needle nudging 200km/h, it was as composed as a well-trained butler. And the steering wheel, which spun like a child's toy on the sand, stiffens up to sports car levels on the road. Other carmakers should tear it down to find out how to make an electric steering system that works at all angles.All models have a 3.5-tonne towing capacity and unless you intend to regularly use it, the V6 turbodiesel’s 600Nm and 0-100km/h time of 7.9 seconds should do the job for most owners. The diesel V8’s 700Nm make it the pick for heavy haulers, while the supercharged petrol V8’s 5.4-second sprint time gives it performance bragging rights.VALUEIf you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Given there’s no direct competition, Land Rover benchmarked the car against everything from BMW’s X5 and 7 Series to the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and S-Class — and says the Range Rover is quieter than them all at highway speeds. The V6 turbodiesel will go on sale in February at $168,900 in HSE trim and will be the volume seller, though a $178,900 Vogue spec will also be offered.The turbodiesel V8 will be a $195,100 proposition in Vogue format, stepping up to $217,100 for the Vogue SE and $232,800 for the “with-the-log” Autobiography trim. The supercharged V8 is the sole petrol engine destined for Australia and starts at $224,400 in Vogue SE spec, rising to $240,100 for the Autobiography. A diesel hybrid will join the range late next year.TECHNOLOGYThe fourth-generation Rangie uses an aluminium monocoque chassis and alloy panels to trim more than 300kg of weight from most models. That is then promptly returned with an apps store of technology, reinforced aerodynamic shields under the SUV and heavy-duty air suspension to give it the legs to go anywhere. Even if anywhere will be no farther than a gravel driveway or grassy paddock for most owners.It is part of the Range Rover mystique that this vehicle is as capable as it is classy. To make life easier for owners, the Terrain Response system has been upgraded with a default auto mode that switches between five settings — general; grass/gravel/snow, mud/ruts, sand, and rock crawl — as it detects the surface it is travelling on. Each setting alters the car’s throttle response, gearbox shift points, centre differential and chassis systems to optimise drive.A dial still lets owners manually choose their preferred mode and there’s an adjacent switch to active the low-range function. The latest Bosch ABS software includes stability, roll and traction control, along with hill ascent and descent control. The V8 models also pick up a lean control system that uses hydraulics to adjust the stiffness of the front and rear stabiliser bars and reduce head-toss on uneven surfaces.All models have automatic variable damping that can be best felt when switching the eight-speed automatic transmission from drive to sport. That also sharpens throttle and steering response.DESIGNThe traditional Range Rover look has been refined and given a sportier makeover. The clamshell bonnet has been kept, the side fins are still there (though moved from the front quarter panel to the front doors) and the floating roof, courtesy of blacked out pillars, has been retained. The bottom of the two-part tailgate can still act as a standing platform at the polo, but both sections are now powered.Designers did sharpen the windscreen angle, which improves looks and fuel efficiency and the roofline itself has been lowered to give the big SUV an edgier look. The “camera style” bi-xenon headlamps are the easiest way to spot the Rangie, especially at night. It still has the presence of a truck, just a very good-looking one.SAFETYIt hasn’t been tested yet, but expect the Range Rover to keep its occupants supremely safe. The only criticism of the last model was it didn’t protect pedestrians. Land Rover has responded by fitting a raised bonnet and optimising the bonnet and bumper to absorb energy.Adaptive cruise control is now linked with an optional queue assist function for stop-start driving and there’s blind spot warning and automatic emergency braking systems. Front parking sensors are boosted with a reversing camera and there’s six airbags to cover all occupants.VERDICTComposure is a learned trait and the Range Rover has learned over the years how to do it with panache. The substantial price is matched by as much substance on and off the road as any potential buyer could desire. It’s not as nimble as an X5 but it is has more presence on the road and behind the wheel. Simply put, it is the most luxurious heavy-duty tow vehicle on the market, with the potential to do much more if the owner dares.Land Rover Range Rover TDV6Price: $168,000Warranty: 3 years/100,000kmService interval: 12 months/26,000kmSafety: Six airbags, ABS with EBD, BA, TC, ECS, hill ascent and descent, blind spot warning, reversing cameraCrash rating: Not assessedEngine: 3.0-litre turbodiesel, 190kW/600NmTransmission: Eight-speed automatic, four-wheel driveDimensions: 5m (L), 1.98m (W), 1.84m (H)Weight: 2.16 tonnesSpare: Full-sizeThirst: 7.5L/100km, 196g/km CO2