By Geraldine Ashton Green. View the original article here.

The Range Rover celebrates its 40th birthday on 17th June 2010. The Range Rover was the worlds first vehicle as good on road as off-road. Phil Popham, Managing Director of Land Rover said “Land Rover has a unique history of product innovation, but the Range Rover probably remains the most historically significant vehicle we have ever launched. It is one of the most important vehicles in the history of motoring.”

There have been three generations of the Range Rover, the Original now known as the Classic went on sale in 1970. The second generation Range Rover known as the P38a went on sale in 1994 and was replaced in 2001 by the current model. A second model line, the Range Rover Sport, was launched in 2005, aimed at more sports-oriented driver-focused customers. It has been a great success, and in 2007 was Land Rover’s biggest selling vehicle worldwide. Later this year, a further member of the Range Rover family will be added, taking the portfolio to three model lines. The new vehicle will be smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient, tying in perfectly with the Range Rover brand’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Yet it will be no less premium, no less luxurious, and no less special than the other Range Rover models.

The Range Rover is extremely well built with the interior using the finest plastics, chrome and wood. It is all very thick luxurious and put together very well to give it a good solid feel. The Range Rover comes with all the equipment you would ever need, the entry level is fitted with leather, 19in alloys, a CD changer, climate control, and metallic paint as standard. There is oceans of room front and rear inside the Range Rover, it is wide with supreme comfort for three adults in the rear. The boot is a good size at 535 litres and the rear seats fold over to make more than treble the load area.

Prices for the Range Rover start at £66,095 for the Vogue Auto rising to £81,725 for the Range Rover Supercharged V8 Autobiography Auto.

Read the original article here.

Land Rover’s new compact Range Rover – on sale next year – will be the firm’s first vehicle to be offered in two-wheel drive format.

Destined to be the lightest, most fuel efficient Range Rover ever, with claimed CO2 emissions of less than 130g/km, the new vehicle will be based on the LRX concept that was revealed two years ago.

Of course, it will also be offered in four-wheel drive form, Land Rover revealed. One thing that isn’t being revealed is the new car’s name – we wil have to wait until the summer to find out what it will be called.

Phil Popham, Land Rover’s managing director, said: “This is good news for the company and for our customers. A two-wheel drive option is just one way in which we are developing our vehicles’ efficiency while adding to the Land Rover range and expanding our customer base.

With their new start/stop technology, Range Rover is hoping to win over the 4×4 market in these days of increased environmental awareness and financial economy. To combat the fuel-consumption of the vehicles, their new technology aims to conserve fuel when the vehicle stops at lights by automatically shutting off the engine when the vehicle is put into neutral. When the clutch is pressed again the engine starts and you can resume your journey.

Additional technology ensures this doesn’t interfere with driving, by disabling the feature if the battery is low, if there is a big demand on climate control or if the special ‘terrain response mode’ is activated. It also disabled the feature if the temperature is above or below certain levels.

This new start/stop technology delivers a decrease in CO2 emissions of 8%, and improved fuel consumption. Simple, yet highly effective. Vehicles such as the new model Freelander have a host of other eco-friendly features that are sure to raise the bar for other 4×4 manufacturers.

Steve Gerrard’s Sport has been customised by Overfinch, with Liverpool’s colours in the upholstery and his shirt-number number stitched into the headrest. The engine has also had an overhaul, with 328bhp and 582l-ft of torque.

The vehicle is available for sale on Auto Trader online through AB Motors, for £59,994, and based on past sales of Gerrard’s customised vehicles, it’s sure to sell fast.

Land Rover have recently launched a new website offering a range of accessories and aftersales equipment for their vehicles, with official parts such as snow chains, bull bars, winches, off-road alloys and other products designed to complement the Rover models.

The website also offers the otions of booking a fitting at a nearby Land Rover showroom, for those that want custom advice and personal service.

Visit the new website here: http://www.landrover.co.uk/accessoriescatalogue

This article was taken from: Motor Authority

Prototypes for Land Rover’s facelifted Range Rover Sport have been spotted testing at the Nurburgring less than two months after the test cars were last seen in the UK. The performance SUV already received a series of upgrades last year, including the introduction of a 3.6L twin turbo diesel V8, so for its next update the list of changes have been kept to a minimum, although there’s the chance of the addition of a new high output supercharged V8 engine.

The facelifted SUV is due to hit the streets at the end of this year and is likely to be available with both the 3.6L diesel as well as a new supercharged 5.0L V8 engine developing upwards of 500hp (373kW) and 480lb-ft. (650Nm) of torque.

Another possibility is the introduction of a V6 twin-turbo diesel, likely to be the 2.7L unit used by Jaguar. However, in the Range Rover Sport, displacement would likely be bumped up to around the 3.0L mark.

In addition to the engine upgrade, the new Sport also receives a slightly revised face including a new grille design that’s reminiscent of the Land Rover Freelander/LR2 as well as a new front bumper. The side vents also feature a slightly different design to the ports on the current model, as well as the headlight treatment.

Gulf and Levant showrooms have seen the arrive of the new luxury range of Land Rover models recently, with a full range of features and technologies including Land Rover’s carbon emissions program.

Both the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport are in showrooms, showcasing features such as electronic parking brakes, cooled front seats and digital TVs, terrain response. The Range Rover Sport also features the speed-sensitive steering, Adaptive Cruise Control and the Dynamic Response System along with many of the features found on the regular Range Rover models.
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The fuel price increases have people looking for ways to save money, including reports recently of high-end vehicle users resorting to regular gas in their cars (not always with a great success rate) in order to save their increasing fuel bills.

But some specialist companies are offering another solution. For around £100,000 companies such as Liberty Electric will give you a Range Rover with a completely converted battery-driven engine. Zero emissions and a readily available form of fuel for the life of the vehicle - for those with the cash it may be worth the initial expense. However, as has always been the case with this form of engine, the availability of charging stations in your area will make or break the deal.

Besides, this deal with Liberty Electric is sold out for 2008 - so it appears that enough people to justify this expensive conversion have already ordered their emission-free Range Rover.

Land Rover will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. The company reached a high point of over 200,000 vehicles sold in 2007, over 17% more than the year before.

Range Rover Sport, the pride of the company, has proved to be a luxurious and well equipped vehicle. The impressive interior covers a 4,2 litre powerful engine. It also has leather seats for passengers’ comfort, a rear-view camera and DVD players, a 14-speaker sound system, a heated steering wheel and lots more features.

Not only does the vehicle look impressive, it’s also safe with its electronic pressure distribution, gradient descent control and a four channel ABS.

What more could you want? Even though the Range Rover Sport is a big vehicle, it’s incredibly easy to drive and manoeuvre. It drives smoothly and is very spacious, accommodating not only the weekly shop, but much more besides.

The Range Rover Sport TDV8 has won 4×4 Australia Magazine’s prestigious 4WD of the Year Award for 2008. Land Rover dominated this year’s awards with 3 vehicles in the top 4 positions.

Land Rover has now won the 4WD of the Year award three out of the last four years, further cementing Land Rover’s reputation as the world’s leading manufacturer of 4WDs.

Dean Mellor, editor of 4×4 Australia Magazine, praised the Range Rover Sport for its breadth of capability and technology, “It’s the whole package this vehicle, it’s absolutely amazing both on road and off road. The technology in this vehicle is like nothing else…it drives like a car on the road but it’s still very economical”.

The big surprise was the Land Rover Defender, a highly specialised 4WD, finishing a close second. The Range Rover Vogue TDV8 completed Land Rover’s dominance in the awards with 4th place.

2007 really has been a busy and exciting year for the Land Rover brand, with record sales globally. The Range Rover Sport, and in particular the new TDV8 diesel engine, has been a major part of this success. (more…)