  2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE. Click image to enlarge |
To be honest, it’s a charming characteristic that’s nice to find. While something like the Range Rover Sport can offer physics-defying sprinting abilities, it does so at the expense of enormous wheels and prodigious supercharged power. The LR4 is more Land Rover-y than that – it’s the kind of machine you have to drive a little more slowly and conservatively, but that’s probably what your rear passengers would prefer anyway.
 2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE. Click image to enlarge |
Then there’s the question of offroad prowess, and the high-range-only LR4 is still pretty good. I’m not sure what would possess an owner to expose these broad black flanks to striations caused by close-packed underbrush, but if you have to clamber up a gravel driveway, or slough off into the undergrowth to find temporary parking, the LR4 can handle itself no problem. More extreme offroading ability is available with the added low-range, but you still get selectable terrain system, and a broad range of gears to use in the lower part of the eight-speed automatic. If you want to hold gears with the paddle-shifters, you do have to engage low-range.
Then there’s the question of reliability, which has historically never been a Land Rover or Range Rover strong point. The nice thing about the old machines was that while they broke down almost constantly, you could fix pretty much anything as long as you had a big enough hammer and a large vocabulary of swear-words. Owning an air-suspension-equipped Land Rover outside the warranty period will similarly drive you to violence, but it won’t fix anything – you’re going to want the extended coverage here.
Because the Defender isn’t sold in this country, the LR4 is the most Land-Roverish Land Rover your dealership carries. It’s certainly expensive, but it’s at least now semi-reasonable in terms of fuel economy thanks to a more efficient powertrain, and there’s a tremendous amount of utility to go with the snobbery of the badge up front.
While many of these machines will only see adventures that are carefully signposted, properly groomed, and probably paved, the LR4 is still capable of doing a little rough exploring. If it’s considerably more costly and much less agricultural than its scrappy little aluminium-panelled ancestor, it’s still a proper Land Rover. I say chaps, who’s up for a spot of mountaineering?
|
Related Articles: Manufacturer’s Website: Photo Gallery: |
Pricing: 2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE
Base Price (Base Trim): $59,990
Base Price (HSE Trim): $63,590
Options: $5,790 (Vision assist package [blind spot monitoring, auto highbeams] – $2,800; Grand Black Lacquer – $490; seven seat comfort pack – $2,500)
Freight: $1,470
A/C Tax: $100
Price as tested: $70,950
Competitors:
BMW X5
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Lexus GX460
Mercedes-Benz ML-Class
Porsche Cayenne
Crash Test Results:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
