Range Rover test drive

The wheels are tearing apart the historic lawn, but walking retirees do not panic - the degree of trust in the Range Rover brand in England is great. In addition, the updated flagship almost does not pollute the air.

The middle part of the back of the sofa slowly slides down, forming a massive partition between the passengers. Part of it moves forward, giving access to boxes and cup holders. The seats take a reclining position, a plump ottoman rolls out underfoot. The driver starts quietly from a place - on the tracks of London Heathrow Airport Range Rover drives an electric motor.

The hybrid version is the main novelty of the updated range of the flagship Range Rover, and there is a feeling that it was made not for the sake of economy, but for the sake of this very blissful silence in the cabin. On the track, a gasoline engine comes into play, but the passenger, even in this case, will hardly be able to feel the change in the sound background.

If it were not for the presence of a driver, I would have had to jump behind the wheel right away, but they suggested starting the test from the back seat. Long wheelbase Range Rovers were brought to the airport, in which a full range of electric drives and functions seems more appropriate. In order to fully extend your legs, you need to have enough space in front of you, and in a 5,2 m car, there really is plenty of it. But it was not necessary to sit on the right, because the driver sits on the same side, and it is impossible to move his seat even further forward.

In the top-end versions of the 2012 Range Rover, there were separate rear seats with a massive console between them, and after the update, there was only a folding backrest with electric drives, thanks to which it became possible to seat the third passenger behind. Although sitting in the center on a convex backrest, hugging a wide console with your legs, is not very comfortable, but it is still a thing, as the British say, just in case, that is, just in case.

There is even a blatant ergonomic mistake - with a two-seater seating, the back-armrest blocks access to the climate control unit, and the passenger has to go to the menu of the media system screen hanging on the back of the front seat. There you can also turn on heating and massage by choosing from a dozen of wired programs of varying degrees of intensity.

In a short-wheelbase car, everything is organized in the same way, but a titanic-sized box no longer fits into the console at the back, and you cannot stretch out in a chair as freely as in the Aeroflot business-class cabin. With a normal landing - the same grace: space for knees with a margin, ottoman and massage in place, and in the cabin there is still the same pleasant silence.

The ability to talk in an undertone is not only in a purely electric driving mode. The two-liter gasoline turbo engine connects so quietly and neatly that you can only learn about its work by the instruments. In theory, a hybrid Range Rover can drive on electric traction up to 50 km, but in fact the gasoline engine works almost constantly to keep an inexhaustible supply of electricity in the batteries in case of a sharp acceleration or driving in ecologically clean areas.

The use of a two-liter engine on a flagship SUV can only be justified by its remarkable power (the swinging engine produces as much as 300 hp) and the presence of an electric assistant. Declared total 404 hp on paper, they really look very good, and acceleration to a hundred in less than 7 seconds on a car weighing 2,5 tons should seem extremely intense, but in fact the hybrid Range Rover drives very calmly.

He, of course, knows how to accelerate powerfully, but he does not provoke at all to feats, and sharp accelerations are not at all for him. Before firing hard in the oncoming lane, the hybrid must agree with both engines, and during this time the driver will have time to abandon the maneuver.

That is why, on the prepared off-road, the organizers of the test asked to immediately turn on one of the Terrain Response on-board electronics modes so that the power unit would work in a more stable mode. And the electronics itself here does not just insure the driver against mistakes. Depending on the selected algorithm, the center and rear differential locks are fully or partially triggered, and in a situation of driving on road tires on a slope made of liquid clay, this may be critical.

If the car does not release the lock in time, all traction will slip, if it blocks the excess, it will stop obeying the steering wheel. Therefore, the driver only needs to choose an algorithm that matches the coverage and not make unnecessary movements - the electronics itself will take the SUV wherever needed.

On the lawns of Blenheim Park, a dozen kilometers from the center of academic Oxford, which had to be ironed with wheels, the cavalcade of the updated Range Rover looked quite harmonious. The organizers promised to reclaim the excavated soil, but the pensioners walking around did not even try to panic about the historic lawn, and when they saw the cars they kindly dispersed to the sides. The impression is that Range Rover is generally in the order of things here, and the credit of trust in the brand is quite large: it drives, then it must be so.

It was unlikely that outside observers identified the updated cars, and there was no point in specifically explaining this either. Range Rover remained itself, outwardly changing only symbolically: it acquired new smart optics, slightly retouched bumper and hood. Well, and the socket for charging the battery of the hybrid version, which was so neatly and imperceptibly integrated into the false radiator grille. It made sense to tell the venerable Englishmen only about this, that is, about the opportunity to gently defile along the park paths without exhaust.

The updated Range Rover Sport in these prim places is much more difficult to imagine, and it does not belong here. Especially the wicked SVR with its muscular flanks, wheel arch edging, titanic air intakes and contrasting trim with sinister black accents. To the blackness of the rims and the entire upper part of the car, they have now added a leaky black hood made of carbon. In this performance, Sport flexes its muscles too deliberately to be included in high society, and indeed its field is in a completely different place, but on the narrow paths of the British hinterland.

You can drive calmly only with a constant feeling that the G25 pistons are rotating in vain. Actually, the SVR version has more or less noticeably changed, which was added 400 hp. as if as compensation for the eco-friendly Range Rover P4,5e. It turned out to be the next fastest Range Rover in history with acceleration to "hundreds" in 4,7 seconds instead of the previous XNUMX seconds. Not a record, but there are few peers on the market, but from a spot the SVR shoots in such a way that the body crumples from overloads, and lays ears from the exhaust system shootouts. Even in the standard driving mode, the muffler periodically spits juicy when the gas is released, and even in the sports mode it performs such a luxurious song that you want to listen to it again and again.

The Jaguar Land Rover Fen End track was built to test the vehicles of the SVR division to fully experience the passion with which Range Rover Sport can devour the roadway. The instructor sits nearby, but gives freedom even in spite of the wet coating, asking only to brake a little earlier in turns and turning on the overload display mode on the media system screen. It turned out that when accelerating, the SVR provides an overload of 0,8 g, and on the profiled curve of the turn, along which the car goes without dropping, at a speed of 120 miles per hour - 1 g, and this is quite a lot for civilian transport.

But the main thing is the power with which the Range Rover Sport SVR eats up space, and the ease with which it accelerates on the move. And also - responsiveness and transparency, giving the already leaving feeling of an honest serious car. So real that you want to ride it instinctively. And this, by the way, is not a story about racing on a track, but about controlled power. That is why the Fen End track, with its long, wide straights and gentle curves, is not at all like a racing track. Cars here are taught to drive fast, and not exactly turn in corners.

After dashing lumbago on the range, life on narrow lanes with 50 mph limits seems too bland to the SVR driver, but it can also take some getting used to over time. A sports SUV, even in the most charged form, calmly tolerates driving on roads of not the best quality, does not kick up in traffic jams and normally drives on a calibrated off-road. It has the same advanced Terrain Response and decent ground clearance in its arsenal, so it handles relatively simple off-road tasks without difficulty.

One could assume that the updates were made simply for the length of service, if not for one thing: the British do not polish the technique for show, but with love for the subject. The hybrid rides just as well off-road, and the fastest Range Rover gets even faster and more cocky, even though before it seemed like there was nowhere else. And it's okay that the media system is complex and slows down, and you can't figure it out in the second console display without preparation - they are just a superstructure over good technology and generic aristocracy, which are sincerely respected in England.

A type	SUV	SUV
dimensions (length / width / height), mm	5000 (5200) / 1983/1869	4882/1983/1803
Wheelbase, mm	2922 (3120)	2923
Curb weight, kg	2509 (2603)	2310
engine's type	Gasoline, R4 turbo + electric motor	Gasoline, V8 turbo
Working volume, cubic meters cm	1977	5000
Power, hp with. at rpm	404 (total)	575 at 6000-6500
Max. cool. moment, Nm at rpm	640 (total)	700 at 3500-5000
Transmission, drive	8-st. Automatic gearbox, full	8-st. Automatic gearbox, full
Max. speed km / h	220	280
Acceleration to 100 km / h, from	6,8 (6,9)	4,5
Fuel consumption (city / highway / mixed), l	n / a / n / 2,8	18,0/9,9/12,8
Cargo space, l	802	780-1686
Price from, $.	104 969	113 707