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DRIVEN: Range Rover Romps On Trail
The all-new 2013 luxury SUV proves its off-road meddle in a back-country jaunt through southern Utah.
The 2013 Range Rover charges up a muddy hill, street tires and all. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
Range Rover never looks out of place no matter where it is in the world. From the jungles of Nepal to the streets of Manhattan, it fits right in.
And so it did in the starkly beautiful American Southwest, in a part of southern Utah where every rocky bluff looks like a monumental artwork. The ruddy, pastel colors glimmer and change as the sun glides overhead across the deep-blue sky.
We were brought here by the Land Rover group to test the fourth-generation 2013 Range Rover against the harsh landscape. Narrow, treacherous dirt roads cross the plain and climb into the high country, challenging four-wheelers driving pickup trucks, ATVs, SUVs, Jeeps and, I suppose, the occasional Range Rover.
A rare blizzard had blanketed the region with snow earlier in the week, now melting into rivulets of water as the temperature climbed, and which had turned much of our chosen trail just north of Kanab into deep, slippery red-clay muck.
All the better to demonstrate how well this most elegant of British sport utility vehicles could play in the mud. Which it did, quite well.
The full-size Range Rover is the gentrified patrician of the Land Rover family, all-new for 2013 though maintaining an updated version of the distinctive look that attracted so much attention when it first arrived on U.S. shores. Range Rover was introduced in the U.K. as a separate Land Rover model in 1970.
Most significantly, the new Range Rover is about 700 pounds lighter than the outgoing model mainly through the extensive use of aluminum, or as the British say, aluminium. The all-aluminum unibody structure – the first for an SUV – carries 39 percent less weight than the previous steel body, which leads to greater agility, better fuel mileage and lower emissions.
The aluminum structure, including suspension and driveline components, is also stronger and more rigid. It certainly held up well on the Range Rovers that the auto journalists pummeled with varying levels of skill along the muddy/sandy/rocky trail.
The off-road electronics that include a new Terrain Response system were key to our trail jaunt. The Range Rovers remained remarkably composed while churning through some incredibly difficult driving challenges: extremely steep inclines with loose surfaces, sheer sections of rock layered with traction-confounding sand and deep mud pits that were rutted and slick.
There were places where you’d think only the most-aggressively equipped Jeep or off-road truck could traverse, but the luxuriously trimmed SUVs made light work of it – even with original equipment all-season tires. It was surprising that we were able to get through without the benefit of the knobby-treaded rubber you see on jacked-up trucks.
All the while, the Range Rovers’ occupants relaxed in the lush interiors in regal comfort. That’s what this SUV is all about, or as Land Rover likes to say, “There’s no other vehicle like it.”
The 2013 Range Rover was redesigned from the ground up to combine the tasks of top-drawer driving – the designers benchmarked such luxury icons as Bentley and Rolls-Royce – as well as providing unparalleled off-road capabilities that allow an adventurous owner to take it into the wilderness via an “intelligent” full-time four-wheel-drive system.
“This is the single biggest engineering project that Jaguar/Land Rover has ever undertaken,” said Stewart Moore, the automaker’s chief electrical engineer who led the development of the Range Rover’s vast array of electronic features for both on-road refinement and off-road dominance.
Among the enhancements for highway driving: a new, fifth-generation electronic air suspension for improved ride quality; redesigned Brembo disc brakes for greater stopping power; optional Active Roll Control to reduce body sway; and superb audio systems by British experts Meridian, including its top 3D surround-sound system with 1,700 watts and 29 speakers, including some tucked into the headliner.
The drivability is relaxed and seamless, with minimal wind or road noise. The handling is decent, although the ride feels soft and floaty.
And so it did in the starkly beautiful American Southwest, in a part of southern Utah where every rocky bluff looks like a monumental artwork. The ruddy, pastel colors glimmer and change as the sun glides overhead across the deep-blue sky.
We were brought here by the Land Rover group to test the fourth-generation 2013 Range Rover against the harsh landscape. Narrow, treacherous dirt roads cross the plain and climb into the high country, challenging four-wheelers driving pickup trucks, ATVs, SUVs, Jeeps and, I suppose, the occasional Range Rover.
A rare blizzard had blanketed the region with snow earlier in the week, now melting into rivulets of water as the temperature climbed, and which had turned much of our chosen trail just north of Kanab into deep, slippery red-clay muck.
All the better to demonstrate how well this most elegant of British sport utility vehicles could play in the mud. Which it did, quite well.
The full-size Range Rover is the gentrified patrician of the Land Rover family, all-new for 2013 though maintaining an updated version of the distinctive look that attracted so much attention when it first arrived on U.S. shores. Range Rover was introduced in the U.K. as a separate Land Rover model in 1970.
Most significantly, the new Range Rover is about 700 pounds lighter than the outgoing model mainly through the extensive use of aluminum, or as the British say, aluminium. The all-aluminum unibody structure – the first for an SUV – carries 39 percent less weight than the previous steel body, which leads to greater agility, better fuel mileage and lower emissions.
The aluminum structure, including suspension and driveline components, is also stronger and more rigid. It certainly held up well on the Range Rovers that the auto journalists pummeled with varying levels of skill along the muddy/sandy/rocky trail.
The off-road electronics that include a new Terrain Response system were key to our trail jaunt. The Range Rovers remained remarkably composed while churning through some incredibly difficult driving challenges: extremely steep inclines with loose surfaces, sheer sections of rock layered with traction-confounding sand and deep mud pits that were rutted and slick.
There were places where you’d think only the most-aggressively equipped Jeep or off-road truck could traverse, but the luxuriously trimmed SUVs made light work of it – even with original equipment all-season tires. It was surprising that we were able to get through without the benefit of the knobby-treaded rubber you see on jacked-up trucks.
All the while, the Range Rovers’ occupants relaxed in the lush interiors in regal comfort. That’s what this SUV is all about, or as Land Rover likes to say, “There’s no other vehicle like it.”
The 2013 Range Rover was redesigned from the ground up to combine the tasks of top-drawer driving – the designers benchmarked such luxury icons as Bentley and Rolls-Royce – as well as providing unparalleled off-road capabilities that allow an adventurous owner to take it into the wilderness via an “intelligent” full-time four-wheel-drive system.
“This is the single biggest engineering project that Jaguar/Land Rover has ever undertaken,” said Stewart Moore, the automaker’s chief electrical engineer who led the development of the Range Rover’s vast array of electronic features for both on-road refinement and off-road dominance.
Among the enhancements for highway driving: a new, fifth-generation electronic air suspension for improved ride quality; redesigned Brembo disc brakes for greater stopping power; optional Active Roll Control to reduce body sway; and superb audio systems by British experts Meridian, including its top 3D surround-sound system with 1,700 watts and 29 speakers, including some tucked into the headliner.
The drivability is relaxed and seamless, with minimal wind or road noise. The handling is decent, although the ride feels soft and floaty.
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