Paris Motor Show 2012: New Range Rover wows the crowds in Paris
Thu, 27 Sep 2012
It's now official - the wraps have come off the new Range Rover at the Paris Motor Show 2012. The styling is still unmistakably Range Rover, but brought up to date with styling cues from the incredibly popular Evoque.
The most important change is the reduced weight – the new Range Rover is 420kg lighter than the outgoing model, which will significantly help with fuel economy. The reduced weight is possible thanks to a new all-aluminium monocoque structure.
The rest of the car is improved too, with upgraded suspension to provide flatter cornering without adversely affecting ride quality. Improved road manners shouldn’t mean compromised off-road ability though, thanks to upgraded ‘Terrain Response’ technology, which analyses conditions and selects the best settings to cope with them.
Refinement, one of the most important Range Rover attributes, has been considered. The body design, coupled with acoustically laminated glass means that road and wind noise should be minimal, while the carefully optimised suspension should offer good ride comfort. Interior space is greater than the old model, with more rear legroom.
Engines offered will be a V8 petrol and TDV6 and TDV8 diesels. Weight saving has made a bit impact on performance and emissions - without the saving, it would have been impossible to offer the TDV6 in the Range Rover. It also means that the Range Rover benefits from some big drops in CO2 and now comes in at under 200g/km. The addition of a hybrid should bring this down further sometime in the near future.
On board technology is said provide both front and rear seat passengers with the same peerless luxury experience, with features including keyless entry, power upper and lower tailgates, electrically deployable towbar, high-end Meridian surround-sound sound system, full digital instruments, voice control and connectivity, luxury massage seats and sophisticated interior illumination.
Prices start at £71,295 for the Range Rover Vogue 3.0L TDV6, rising to £98,395 for the Range Rover Autobiography 5.0L Supercharged.
Order books are now officially open with the first months of production expected to fill up immediately. Sales of the outgoing Range Rover are said to remain extremely strong.
