Review and photos by Peter Bleakney
Read a review of the all-new 2013 Land Rover Range Rover in any British motoring publication and you’d think the arrival of this all-aluminum luxury off-roader was paramount to the naming of a fresh Pope… or the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury.
Well, they say good tidings come in threes.
You’ll read how this leather-lined luxo-barge is 350 kg lighter than the outgoing model, and how its increased approach and departure angles, updated Terrain Response 2 and even deeper wading ability (now 900 mm) has the Rangie attacking the wilds of Morocco and coming out unscathed… other than for a few mud smears on the baby-bum-soft leather dash and a bit of sand in the foot wells. You’ll see it perched at ridiculous angles with one wheel cocked high in the air, and marvel at photos of it blasting through a river like a Boston Whaler.
   2013 Range Rover Supercharged. Click image to enlarge |
But you ain’t gonna’ see that here.
No, my week was spent doing what 99.99 percent of 2013 Range Rover Supercharged owners will do – that being rumbling through the ‘hood, dropping kids off at school and commuting to work while observing the less fortunate from its imperious and lavishly appointed perch.
And I must say the view is pretty darned sweet. Not least due to the tall greenhouse and thin A-pillars that allow excellent outward visibility and full view of the front corners – a necessary virtue for serious off-roading. More importantly to some owners I suspect, it offers the Great Unwashed a fine view of the driver.
Starting at $114,750, the 2013 Range Rover Supercharged (there is no naturally aspirated model) arrives with the Jag/Land Rover 5.0L supercharged V8 that generates 510 hp and 461 lb-ft of torque, and is mated to an eight-speed ZF auto. This is a terrific engine. It is creamy smooth and has right-now throttle response – none of the elasticity seen in some turbocharged engines. The ZF auto is also very impressive. It shifts smoothly and responds with the immediacy of a twin-clutch when using the paddle shifters.
Land Rover claims this to be the first all-aluminum SUV, and with the aforementioned 350-kg weight reduction (that’s about four adults worth) the 2013 Range Rover certainly feels lighter on its feet than the outgoing model. Put your foot in it, and it charges like a pissed-off rhino – zero to 100 km/h in a scant 5.4 seconds. Its newfound svelte-ness also reduces fuel usage by a claimed nine percent, although at 2,330 kg this Rangie is still more Rob Ford than Rob Lowe.
When considering the Range Rover’s overachieving off-road abilities, its on-road dynamics are all the more impressive. This is no top-heavy waddler.
It has a marvelously smooth and quiet ride, yet when negotiating an on-ramp at speed this big ute’ stays eerily level – there are only a scant few degrees of body roll.
Credit goes to the Electronic Cross Linked Air Suspension (with variable ride height) along with upgraded adaptive dampers that adjust 100 times a second.
If you do venture off road (or fail to see the concrete parking partition in front of the yoga studio) the entirely new and mostly aluminum double-wishbone front suspension offers 260 mm of travel, while the rear multi-link setup allows 310 mm. The low-range transfer case can be engaged at speeds up to 65 km/h.
