Range Rover Review
Published: 6th November 2008
Range Rover
How It Drove - Performance
There is a choice of three V8 engines – two petrol and one diesel – the petrol engines are available as a normally aspirated 4394 cc (306 bhp) unit or a supercharged 4197 cc (396 bhp) - the diesel engine is 3630 cc (272 bhp) TDV8 and they are all mated to a six-speed ‘ZF’ automatic gearbox.
We sensibly opted for the TDV8 engine - the V8 diesel replaced the TDV6 diesel engine in 2007 – and offers 54% more power and 64% torque than the six cylinder engine. It is also significantly quieter than TDV6 and there have been improvements to the handling and brakes.
There is not much of a case for the petrol engines unless you simply detest diesel engines or haven’t sampled the TDV8. Only the supercharged engine outpaces the TDV8 – both the normally aspirated and diesel engine having similar acceleration times and top speeds.
We have already sampled the TDV8 engine in the Range Rover Sport last year and we were very impressed - Range Rover Sport Review.
Where the TDV8 engine comes into its own is when you look at the torque delivery figures – with 472 lb ft of torque available between 2000 – 2500 rpm. Although the Volkswagen Touareg R50 does offer more torque - 590 lb/ft at 2000 rpm benefiting from two extra cylinders.
There is a six speed automatic gearbox (with high and low ratio for off road use) with a command shift facility which allows manual gear changes.
Acceleration is fairly brisk for such a heavy car and there is a satisfying grunt from the engine with 0-62 mph being achieved in just 8.5 seconds and an electronically controlled top speed of 124 mph. This is significantly quicker than the old six cylinder diesel the TDV8 being 40% quicker between the 50-70 mph acceleration time than the older TDV6 model.
We achieved a realistic 25.4 mpg touring and motorway cruising was circa 36 mpg, which is around 8 mpg more than the Mercedes Benz GL 420 CDI.
How It Drove - Ride/Handling
Our test car ran on 255/50 ZR20 tyres with Range Rover branded 20” alloy wheels - The ride quality is exceptional - the air suspension can make you feel a little sick but you soon get used the feeling.
The suspension settings and brakes have been upgraded for the TDV8 with competition-bred Brembo front brakes as standard. And remarkably good they are too making short work of stopping over 3 tonnes of car.
The handling and cornering is surprisingly good with minimal body roll although not in the league of the Porsche Cayenne or even the Mercedes Benz GL we were testing at the same time but considering its ride height and girth it feels very stable.
