2009 New York Auto Show: 2010 Land Rover Range Rover
Published Apr 9, 2009
What is it?
2010 Land Rover Range Rover
What's special about it?
As only the British can so artfully describe, the 2010 Land Rover Range Rover arrives thoroughly revised and exuding more, you know, premium-ness. Still understated though more capable than ever, the current-generation Range Rover (now in its 10th model year) features the two new JLR (Jaguar/Land Rover) V8 engines, active dampers, upgraded brakes and a seriously cool full-TFT instrument cluster.
Versions of the direct-injection 5.0-liter V8s that recently appeared in the Jaguar lineup make it into the range-topping Land Rover, only in a tune suitable for off-roading. With supercharging, you get 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque, and without the boost you get 375 hp and 375 lb-ft of torque. The new motors are simultaneously more powerful, more efficient, quieter and more emissions-friendly than the 4.2- and 4.4-liter mills they replace. According to Land Rover's numbers, the added grunt makes the base-model 2010 Land Rover Range Rover nearly as quick as the outgoing supercharged version, as it does zero to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds compared to 7.1 seconds.
Both engines are mated to a revised version of the ZF six-speed automatic, which funnels all-wheel-drive thrust via an updated Terrain Response system. In addition to a new Sand Launch feature that should prevent you from burying the Rover down at the clambake, an update to the Rock Crawl setting helps improve brake response to avoid any unintended motion while boulder-crawling.
Out at the corners, new adaptive dampers monitor conditions at each wheel 500 times a second, and are said to provide ride-quality improvements both on- and off-road. Revised brakes claim to increase both stopping power and pedal feel, and the supercharged Range Rover gets some pretty serious binders with 15-inch front rotors clamped by six-piston monoblock calipers.
Tweaks to the Range Rover's exterior are limited to a new LED headlight design and minor changes to the front fascia, fender vents and taillights. Already one of the sweetest places in any vehicle, much less a sport-utility, the Range Rover's remarkably rich interior gets most of the love for 2010. Headlining the changes is a full-TFT (thin-film-transistor) instrument cluster. Basically an ultrahigh-resolution display that can be configured to suit the driver's preference, it can do slick things like shunt less useful regions of the tach off the screen if more pressing info (say, wheel position/articulation while off-road) needs more space for the driver's attention.
Beyond the impeccably tasteful combinations of interior materials and colors — plus seats swathed in leather so soft you'll want to make pillows out of them — a full-leather headliner is now available, complemented by a perforated center stripe that just plain works. The 7-inch touchscreen display in the center console has also been updated, reducing the button count. Now based on a computer hard drive, the infotainment system responds faster, offers HD radio, and is fully iPod-compatible.
Inside Line says: Powerful new engines and an even more covetable interior should increase the Range Rover's lust factor for those in search of understated elegance. — Paul Seredynski, Executive Editor, Edmunds.com