Au trecut deja trei ani de când am testat generatia anterioara de Land Rover Range Rover 5.0 V8 Supercharged. Un rezervor pe roți, care cantareste 2580 kg. În acel moment, am spus că generația Range Rover anterioara nu arate veche după zece ani. Ei bine, nu ne-am schimbat opinia noastră până acum. Totuși, era timpul pentru un succesor. Unul care trebuie să fie mai usor si mai economic. Land Rover a pus mâinile pe proiect și a introdus acest succesor in august anul trecut.
Scopul stabilit a fost atins. Noul Range Rover a fost cu 420 kg mai ușor decât generația anterioară, cu o emisie CO2 și consum de combustibil mai mic ca rezultate directe.TDV6 chiar a primit eticheta de energie C ! Cu hârtie goală, au început să restructureze complet mașina și să o îmbunătățească atunci când este necesar. Această a patra generație de Range Rover este primul SUV ce o structura revolutionara. Totuși, când am compara ambele generatii , diferența este de doar 143 kg. În ciuda acestui fapt, Range Rover a devenit mult mai economic. Unul dintre lucrurile care ajută consumul de combustibil este cutia de viteze automată cu opt trepte. Cel anterior a avut o cutie de viteze cu sase trepte, care face multa diferență atunci când conduci atât! Unul din lucrurile mari ale acestui 5.0 V8 Supercharged este că puteți să vă comparati cu ușurință cu masini sport, cum ar fi un Porsche Carrera S sau BMW M3. Nici una dintre aceste masini nu vor depăși mastodontul de 510 CP, spre uimirea șoferilor de autoturisme ". Masinile nu vor câștiga înainte de a ajunge 225 kph, pentru asta e viteza maximă de Range Rover. Considerăm aceasta viteza limitată, pentru că puteți ajunge la ea cu ușurință. Geamul din sticla stratificata acustic face viteze mari, vorbim despre viteze mai mari de 200 kph, posibil, chiar și fără auzirea celui mai mic zgomot de vânt, ceva care este total diferită fata de rivali. Apropo, sprintul la o sută kph se poate face în 5.3 secunde.
The new Range Rover is improved on every thinkable surface. The new generation of Land Rover’s Terrain Response®-system analyses the most actual driving conditions and automatically selects the most suitable settings for the conditions. It all sounds good, but in reality it can be less successful, as we experienced. Not only this car wasn’t equipped with off-road tires, it was expectable that we would get stuck with a 2300 kilogram car in clay ground. Happely though, a friendly excavator driver got us out of trouble. We have to say, with other circumstances like sandy hills, this Range Rover handles perfectly, without even the slightest struggle or wheel spin. It’s a real strange experience, of such a heavy car driving up a hill so easily. This proves that 18 months of testing under heavy circumstances bear their fruits, and that small hills like we have at the Dutch testing location are a piece of cake.
Compared to the previous one, the interior was raised to an even higher level. The satellite navigation finally works properly and fast, where the previous one excused on speed. The comfort of the car also improved a lot. We mentioned the acoustic glass earlier on, but also the leg space increased with 118 millimeters. Then, there is the addition of the optional Executive Class-version. This optional extra, implies two separate seats in the back which create even more luxury. The new Range Rover is fitted with the latest development on the surface of car technology, luxurious interior equipment included like exclusive Meridian, electric service of the above and lowest boot lit, and even the rear seats can be fold down automatically. We start to understand why the weight has increased again.
When we take a look at the exterior of the Range Rover it immediately stand out that Range Rover used some design elements from the Evoque. This stands out even more at the Range Rover Sport. The Range is an SUV with the luxury of a limousine. Luckily, there are optional footboards to make it easier to step into the car. For smaller people, it’s a small jump to get behind into the luxurious seat behind the steering wheel so this is quite a functional option. Even when the Range is set on entry mode, it’s still a challenge to get into the car. The looks haven’t changed much compared with the previous generation. The lights look more modern and the Range now has 22 inch wheels. A nice option is the automatic tow bar, ideal for those who need to tow their caravan or trailer.
Luckily, the price is something we always mention last because the price for this car is high, very high. The version we drove costs 208,910 Euros. But this does give you a complete and very luxurious SUV with the most powerful engine. You can also choose for a softer version, the TDV6 or de SDV8 Vogue which cost 114,400 or 147,600 Euros. This is, of course, without any extra options. The version we drove also has extra options worth 20,000 Euros. This includes the tow bar, 22 inch wheels, the Meridian Surround Sound System and the massage function on the front seats. The options we now named are already worth 7,000 of the 20,000 Euros.
The Range Rover 5.0 V8 Supercharged is an all-rounder. It’s good in carrying people around in luxury, driving off-road or just cruising on the highway. Everything’s possible only filling up at the gas station will be a thing you will regret about this car. They might say that this car is economic but fueling up does take a lot of time. Choosing for the diesel version is an option but this won’t come together with the lovely sound and acceleration of the V8 and we don’t know if you can live without this?
