Land Rover Reviews

An electric version of the fifth-generation Range Rover (L460) wasn't meant to be this late.The delay that sees it land four years after the current car first went on sale, was triggered first by having to reconfigure the Range Rover's MLA Flex platform's outdated 400-volt electrics to more powerful 800-volt hardware and then by the huge decision to go ahead and design, develop and engineer the battery and drive units in-house.The final barrier to its launch was when, after extensive testing, engineers realised the all-new front motor that it had developed from scratch was prone to overheating in extreme off-roading, prompting a costly last-minute switch.In the end, the pioneering tech developed needed no less than 300 patents, not that the new Range Rover Electric advertises its state-of-the-art tech.Just a tweaked front grille, revised underbody and set of fresh 22-inch wheels give the game away. All have been aerodynamically optimised to benefit range.The reason for the under-the-radar approach is that even deep into its middle age, the current Range Rover's design remains a major attraction for buyers.The same well-heeled bunch are pretty partial to the way the big SUV looks and feels within, and that's why the Electric version's cabin is also unchanged, which is a very good thing when it comes to the fit, finish and the intuitive tech available, plus the Range Rover's trademark towering driving position and incredible comfort.The decent 575-litre boot also remains undisturbed and is still accessed via the excellent split tailgate, although there's no space for a spare wheel and no frunk up front for cables.The Range Rover Electric can't match the all-new BMW iX5's 845km range, but data from 350 million journeys collected from owners suggests the 600km NEDC range provided by its 118.5kWh battery is more than enough, especially since that figure translates into up to 535km in the real world.Plug it in and, thanks to its 800-volt electrics, a 10 to 80 per cent top-up takes around 22 minutes, which isn't bad, but its 350kW peak charging is some way off the 460kW rate a BMW iX5 is capable of.While a 10 minute burst of charge adds up to 220km of range, its German rival will have squeezed in as much as 350km into the battery, but in Australia, finding a charger powerful enough to realise those numbers won't be easy.For now, just one powertrain will be offered that combines two 260kW e-motors that drive each axle to produce 405kW and 850Nm.That translates to a brisk 0-100km/h dash of 4.5 seconds and an 80-120km/h sprint of 2.7 seconds, which is said to demonstrate that this EV is as quick to overtake at higher speeds as the V8 version.What's remarkable is that performance is achieved with a kerb weight in excess of 2800kg, with the battery accounting for 700kg of that mass.Behind the wheel on our brief drive, the Range Rover Electric is effortless, off the mark and gathering pace, it doesn't feel heavy.Helping disguise the weight is an 88mm lower centre of gravity, but the large SUV hasn't quite morphed into anything remotely sporty.Like other models, rear-wheel steering and twin-chamber air suspension are present, but the star of the show is the new Integrated Traction Management tech that can monitor and adjust torque in 50 milliseconds – 100 times faster than the combustion version.Capable of climbing 45-degree slopes, there's now even a one-pedal off-road mode for when you're in the mud, snow, sand or rocky terrain for a safer, more precise way of tackling unfamiliar territory.The system is so quick and smooth to work that it's difficult to detect any slip, even with clumsy stabs of the throttle.Come to a river crossing and the Range Rover can still wade through water up to 900mm, although there is one drawback of going electric – towing is wound back to just 2500kg – 1000kg less than the V8 and 500kg behind the plug-in hybrid.In Australia, the Range Rover will be available with HSE, Autobiography and SV trim, with the entry model likely to feature:22-inch alloy wheelsMeridian 3D surround soundSoft semi-aniline leather20-way adjustable front seatsHeated and ventilated front and rear seatsLarge head-up displayThe Autobiography will add:Upgraded headlightsSliding panoramic roofMore powerful sound systemBody and Soul 24-way adjustable massage chairsQuad-zone climate controlThe Range Rover Electric has yet to be crash-tested but the combustion versions were rated the maximum five stars for protection by Euro NCAP and ANCAP back in 2022.The large luxury SUV comes with Land Rover's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and eight-year/160,000km protection for the high-voltage battery.Expect the Range Rover to come with the option of pre-purchased, fixed-price servicing for up to five years.The Range Rover Electric has been priced from $317,718 for the HSE, $357,718 for the Autobiography and $417,418 for the flagship SV, with all pricing excluding on-road costs.The new battery-powered SUV is offered with the standard and extended-long wheelbase, but a seven-seat version will be off the menu.

When you're spending the best part of $200K on a family SUV you want more than a little luxury and performance to go with its day-to-day practicality. Add in petrol-electric plug-in hybrid efficiency and the Range Rover Sport Dynamic HSE P460e starts to look like a compelling proposition. We spent a week behind the wheel to test its credentials.

It's easy to make a vehicle work on the road or off-road, but it's much harder to make it excel in both situations. But that's precisely what Range Rover did with the Sport model which combines effortless cruising with genuine off-road ability. It even looks great. But that's where the cheering stops, because this is a vehicle with a very patchy reliability record. But should you ignore it now?

Given the way so many four-wheel drives have morphed into performance SUVs over the years, it’s no surprise Range Rover had its own take on a high-spec, high-stepping wagon. The difference being, of course, that with a Range Rover badge, the end result needed to be sporty(-ish) and capable of plugging through the worst forest tracks and trails imaginable.The product of that thinking became the Range Rover Sport.Although the badging and high-end interior materials said Range Rover, the platform with its semi-monocoque construction said Land Rover. Land Rover Discovery 3, to be precise. But when you started to explore the Sport’s on- and off-road abilities and its tremendous looking body, any misgivings might have been scratched.The range kicked off in Australia in 2005 as the L320 series and included a huge range of mechanical packages. They started with the 2.7TDV6 which used a 2.7 litre turbo-diesel V6 with a six-speed automatic. With 140kW performance was okay, but importantly, the L320 used a proper two-speed transfer-case with permanent four-wheel drive.There was also a 4.4-litre petrol V8 option with 220kW and a storming 4.2-litre supercharged petrol V8 with no less than 287kW at its disposal. Both of those also had six-speed automatic transmissions and all V8 models had a locking rear differential for more off-road prowess.A year after the model’s launch, Range Rover added a 3.6-litre twin-turbo diesel V8 model with 200kW.The Range Rover badge decreed that luxury could not be forgotten, so every version of the Sport featured 18-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, LED lighting and leather upholstery. The 4.4-litre V8 version added a CD stacker, bi-xenon headlights, and rear parking sensors, while the diesel V8 carried the same specification but with 19-inch alloys. The supercharged Sport added 20-inch wheels, Brembo brakes, front parking sensors, memory seats and mirrors as well as hydraulically controlled anti-roll suspension.Air suspension was a much hyped part of the Sport deal with the (on-paper) ability to make the independent suspension work as if the vehicle had solid axles in tougher off-road settings.Range Rover gave the L320 a facelift (to Series 2 spec) in 2009 with new engines and improved suspension as well as interior improvements to make the driver’s job easier.The new engines started with a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, while the V8s were replaced by a 5.0-litre petrol V8. Available in either naturally aspirated or supercharged form, the new V8s were good for 276kW and a massive 375kW.The model was eventually replaced in 2013 by the L494 model Range Rover Sport. The short answer is yes, and no.The Range Rover Sport is a pretty amazing thing dynamically, able to combine high-speed stability with good comfort and even exceptional off-road abilities. That’s the ‘yes’ part.The ‘no’ comes in the form of a litany of serious mechanical and electrical problems that have surfaced over the years, tainting the Sport’s reputation.This car is a classic case of buyer beware, but if you do get lucky and find one that is reliable, the driving experience is hard to match. The problem is picking a good one, because the odds aren’t great that it will be clear sailing. In a nutshell, not great. In fact, not even close. Too many owners have had expensive, often catastrophic failures to make any other judgment. The problems are wide and varied, too, so there’s no short-cut to finding one that won’t necessarily break the bank.The rusted-on fans out there will beg to differ, but the facts are the facts, and this vehicle’s a gamble at best. This is no short list and the Range Rover Sport’s reputation for fragility and dud engineering is based on many years of turning motorists into mechanics.Let’s start with the real elephant in the room, the 2.7 and 3.0 litre V6 turbo-diesels. These have a pretty shocking record for destroying themselves due to problems with the bottom end bearings. Speculation is that the bearings themselves were either fitted incorrectly at the factory, or that they could wear and 'spin' in service. Either way, once you hear the warning noises from under the bonnet, you had a handful of seconds to pull off the road, shut the engine off and call a tow-truck. Any longer and you were likely to destroy the engine completely as the crankshaft failed due to the bearing problem.Symptoms that you have those precious seconds remaining include a knocking noise that gets louder as you load the engine, and a low oil pressure warning on the dashboard. Ignore it and you’ll soon have the con-rods on the ground under the car. Not nice.Scandalously, despite this being a known problem affecting the very earliest L320 cars, it took Land Rover until 2012 to sort a fix with a revised bearing design.Early examples of this engine also had a major design flaw in the oil pump assembly which was too weak to support the tensioner for the rubber timing belt that was mounted on the pump casing. This often showed up straight after a new timing belt was fitted and the added tension of the new belt exceeded the integrity of the pump casing.At that point, all hell boke loose as the timing belt jumped ship, allowing the pistons to collide with the valves and reducing the engine to scrap in milli-seconds. A revised pump casing design fixed things, but not before plenty of owners were replacing entire engines.The single turbocharger unit fitted to the 2.7-litre V6 was also prone to internal wear. Lots of white smoke from the exhaust was a sign that this was the case. Replacing the turbocharger unit was the usual fix. EGR valve failures on this engine are not unknown, either.The 5.0-litre supercharged V8 was not without problems and it often developed a rattle or ticking noise. This was usually traced to the timing chain tensioner, requiring the tensioner and the timing chain to be replaced. An improved design of the chain and tensioner helped, but didn’t arrive until the 2012 model.The Sport’s air suspension has also caused its share of grief with many owners returning to their vehicle to find it lying almost flat on the ground. The cause is usually the air suspension’s compressor system which can either fail to maintain the required ride height or simply allow all the air to escape the suspension units. One theory holds that the compressor itself was too small and was overworked, leading to failures.We’ve also heard of a few instances where the suspension units themselves have failed requiring costly replacement. But even the plastic plumbing for the air suspension seems underdone in the sense of a car designed for off-road work.Those are by no means the only faults associated with this make and model, but they’re the ones that keep surfacing over time. None of them are minor. Again, this is a long list because the Range Rover Sport has been far from immune from safety recalls to fix things that should never have gone wrong.Let’s start with the transmission which could sometimes refuse to select Park. This affected very early build L320s.Then there was the ABS sensor which could chafe its wiring on the wheel under extreme cornering and suspension travel situations. Again, this affected early (2005 and 2006) models.Perhaps the recall with the greatest potential for mayhem was one for V6 turbo-diesel vehicles built between mid-2004 and mid-2009. In those, there was a chance the vacuum system and the entire braking system could fail, leading to a total loss of brake performance. And again, that’s an awful lot of cars to be affected by such a serious defect.The L320 was also recalled at various points in time to correct faulty crank angle sensors that would stop the engine in its tracks, door latches that wouldn’t (latch) and fuel pumps that could fail prematurely.You can find out more by visiting https://www.vehiclerecalls.gov.au/ Later built cars were definitely better than earlier-build examples, purely because Range Rover had time to sort things out (not that it always did). But the one vehicle we’d avoid would be the turbo-diesel in any of its forms as these were the ones with the dicky bottom end. This is a vehicle where the fewer kilometres covered, the better. That said, you do see the odd one with better than 400,000km on board still getting around, but it would be very interesting to find out how much of a grandfather’s axe it is. Those high-milers are also almost always turbo-diesel cars, too, but that’s as much a function of the fact that this vehicle arrived in Australia when diesel was the new black, and people were flocking to it. It’s very difficult to recommend this make and model unless you’re an expert in diagnosing and fixing them and don’t mind a bit of down time. The non-supercharged petrol V8 stands a better chance of going the distance, but even it lives in the shadow of air suspension failures and other maladies. A high-mileage turbo-diesel can be had for comfortably less than $10,000 these days. In fact, you see them advertised for as little as $5000 which still makes them a punt, but a much lower-stakes punt.There’s a wide spread of prices after that with something like a supercharged V8 version with 100,000km showing for between $45,000 and $50,000. The one thing in the Sport’s favour as a long-term proposition is the magnificent repair and parts industry that has sprung up around the brand. You could argue that’s a function of necessity to keep a flawed product on the road, but it also reflects the fanaticism the Range Rover brand has created for itself.There’s a legion of specialist workshops that know these vehicles backwards and can supply pretty much every part needed. Independent specialists are also usually a lot cheaper than Range Rover dealership repairs and servicing.The better news is that every time a Range Rover Sport is pensioned off or scrapped its parts help keep other Rangies on the road. There’s no way of knowing how many L320 Range Rover Sports were sold during the model’s eight years on sale. But we can tell you that the bigger online sales sites have between 50 and 140 L320s available for sale.The vast majority of those are turbo-diesel V6 variants.

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