05/11/09

• Price75,695
• We like...Luxury car that'll go anywhere
• We don't...Leg room is tight (for a big car)

Latest changes to this classic luxury 4x4 pack it with techie goodies. And now, as we discovered, it's even better If you are well-off and love new-tech, the 2010 Range Rover will have you drooling. There ‘s the new, 12in instrument screen set in front of the driver, which shows a beautiful sunset (yes, really) until you fire up this big off-roader, whereupon it’ll display conventional dials for the speedo and rev counter, though it continues the clever stuff by making the area around where the speedo needle points a little brighter than its surroundings. You can programme it to how you want and it’ll also change what it shows according to how you’re driving – when off-roading, it’ll show extra info about the drive systems, for instance.

If that’s not enough, our top-spec Autobiography model had built in sat-nav for both on- and off-road, and five cameras – at the 4x4’s front, rear and under its mirrors – to help you position this long, wide and high vehicle just-so along a muddy track – or into the last parking space at Waitrose. You can show the view from each on the centre screen singly, in a combination, or all at once – which’ll delight children, no matter how old.

On the move, it has adaptive radar cruise control that keeps you at a safe following speed from other traffic and auto-dip lamps that give full beam on unlit roads but adjust their light whenever a car approaches. They’re good: we weren’t ‘flashed’ by an oncoming driver once.
Outside the changes are subtle. The bumpers, grille and lights front and rear have been reworked to ‘slim’ the vehicle, while the fog lamps have shifted, with the same purpose in mind.

Inside, the leather is even classier than before and the switches on the centre console are tidied and reordered to make them easier and more logical to use. The big Terrain Response dial that adapts the car’s ride height, damping, steering and throttle responses to its surroundings is as before, but it gains new settings to help you clamber over rocks or cross an expanse of sand. There’s another that helps when towing.

Range Rovers are part go-anywhere goat, part pedigree stallion. At motorway speed this one is limo-hushed, its 3.6 diesel just murmuring away, its firm-pillowy ride dismissing bumps, its steering assured. It’s an inspiring drive.

Tuck it through some quick bends on an empty lane and it’ll transform. Such a big, heavy vehicle is never going to respond like a roadster, but it’ll make an impressive attempt. There’s a degree of body roll but it feels contained, even if you take a turn quicker than you’d intended and then swing quickly in the other direction. But it’s best as a cruiser, when its ability to cover vast distances is unparalleled.

Should you buy one? It’s a big beast and even with its camera-helps, it’s not for timid drivers. But if you have the cash and love its marvellously classy cabin, its genuine go-anywhere gung-ho and its cashmere-smooth motorway manners, nothing else will do.

To read our review of the 2009 Range Rover - and watch the video - click here
To read our review of the 2010 Range Rover Sport - and watch the video - click here
To view and buy new and used Range Rovers on motors.co.uk, click here
 

• Engines3.6 diesel V8
• Power267bhp
• 0-60 mph8.6secs
• Economy25.4mpg
• CO2g/km294
• Insurance groups16
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: