After the unexpected viewing of the first photos of the 2013 Range Rover earlier today, Land Rover has come out with an official announcement detailing its bigger, lighter and more modern looking luxury SUV.
While many have and will continue to focus their attention on the sleek evolution of the Range Rover's traditional looks and the modernized interior that is influenced by the Evoque, it's what you don't see that truly makes the fourth generation of the British SUV stand out from its predecessors.
You see, the 2013 Range Rover features a new all-aluminium monocoque body structure that is 39 per cent lighter than the steel body in the outgoing model. In addition, there's an all-new aluminium front and rear chassis architecture.
These weight saving measures help the new Range Rover shed as much as 926lbs of 420kg over the outgoing model, depending on market and specifications.
For example, Land Rover tells us that the US specification model with the naturally-aspirated 5.0-liter V8 will be approximately 700lbs or 318kg lighter than the outgoing equivalent.
"This new aluminum platform delivers significant enhancements in performance and agility, along with an improvement in fuel economy and reduction in CO2 emissions," said Land Rover in a statement.
The luxury SUV also gets a completely re-engineered four-corner air suspension, which according to the company, "delivers flatter, more confident cornering abilities, with a natural and intuitive steering feel".
The all-wheel drive Range Rover debuts a next generation of the brand's Terrain Response system, which analyses the current driving conditions and automatically selects the most suitable vehicle settings for the terrain.
Land Rover hasn't revealed the vehicle's exterior dimensions yet, but says that the new model features a longer wheelbase and a significant 118mm (4.6 inches) boost in rear legroom. There's also an available two-seat Executive Class seating package, which the company claims to offer the "ultimate in rear-seat luxury".
For its motivation, the European market model will offer buyers three choices at launch including a refined supercharged V8 petrol engine, and the 3.0-liter TDV6 and 4.4-liter TDV8 diesel engines.
The only engine confirmed for launch in North America at this stage is a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8.
All engines will drive through an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF with the driver making the selection through a rotary knob positioned on the lower part of the center console.
The new Range Rover will be available for order from September, with first deliveries for North America scheduled for December and the rest of the world in early 2013.
More details on 2013 Range Rover including specifications and prices are expected to be announced during its world premiere at next month's Paris Motor Show.
32 Comments:
body-on-frame... r.i.p...
Looks like it stole its tail and head light styling from the explorer although Ford sold the brand to Tata since 2008 causing head scratch, hmm?
well if you want to be accurate.....The Range Rovers with this styling came before the Fords just like how Ford is using an aston martin themed grill on its Fords its just stealing their design cues........
I love Range Rover's and I've been anxiously anticipating the release of this model as well as the Sport. Its handsome and I'm sure the level of interior luxury has been raised however the design envelope was not pushed in terms of distinction on the exterior as the lights (F/R) are very Ford Explorer - albeit taken from the Evoque styling cues. Now the Explorer is a handsome SUV in its own right, but at over $100K I was hoping for a bit more in terms of front design & headlight. I suppose I wanted them to do a modern interpretation of headlights & grill from earlier Land Rovers. I did see a two tone painted roof in one of the images - which I love and will make the vehicle more distinctive. The weight savings will increase mpg & performance (on-road & off) and I can only hope the electronics & engines sourced from Jaguar have greatly increased reliability. With all that said, this vehicle should look great in person. I'm looking forward to the live reveal.
WOW, the focus on head & tail light design from people is astounding - just get over it! when the Explorer was first revealed all were comparing it to the Range Rover...so go figure!?
this car will never be mistaken for anything other than what it is - the Range Rover.
I remembered a couple of months back someone photoshopped what the Land Rover would look like over an existing body and he was called an idiot for having the vents that usually are behind the front wheel wells on the door. Even though they may not be vents, he was sure accurate. Who's the idiot now?
Wonder what Jeremy Clarkson is thinking of this RR right now..
About time. All that reduced mass means much better fuel economy, as well as enabling the manufacturer to put a much lower output engine while still maintaining performance, and further reducing fuel use and admission.. Let's hope other manufacturers follow suit.
Subaru was right on track to build the Outback, now everyone follows.
I think it looks great - nice evolutionary design - def looks like a RangeRover
author, from photography?
ok, thought at least RR would keep the 'classic look', but now they have f-d it up. what's with the stretched lights? god...
lame ford explorer tail lights
to some the front could look a little busy but i think it looks superb, and luckily they havent fallen into the same boat as aston martin did with the ""all new"" vanquish, their not afraid of making new looks thats a good job
Not quite correct.
Since 1970 every successive generation of gas and diesel engine in the RR has had a higher output, that won't change now as RR customers have higher expectations than ever. Lowering cubic capacity while (at the very least) maintaining output levels is a possibility in the engine game. Fuel use and emissions are happy companions to this. There's no need to over congratulate the weight loss from moving from a body-on-frame to aluminium monocoque, it's the very least to be expected. The same magnitude of weight loss would happen if Mercedes ever decided to design a new generation of the G-Class onto a monocoque. As for competitively comparing mass, the new RR is still heavier than the Cayenne in both gas and diesel. And the present Cayenne has been available for two years now. This is the first RR Land Rover have fully designed in the 21st century. And they finally have stopped relying on it's mid-90's BMW era internals, now that Ford are no longer holding the purse.On mass, other manufacturers have never needed to follow suit.
this looks too conservative. I expect it looks close to Evoque with larger windows.
rear lights WRONG
vents on front doors WRONG
fake aluminum side strip WRONG
front grille WRONG
front lights WRONG
other than these rather important features on a luxury motor its OK, just ok, JUST ....
Looks still the same, but so awful redesigned lights...and another one who will blind oncoming drivers with too bright DRLs.
the Range Rover has not been body-on-frame for a long time.
Also that video does a great job at showcasing, the forest.
That's a really nice Ford Flex.
I think I like it, but this is as mainstream as the Range Rover should look. If you cannot identify this vehicle's eventual replacement as a Range Rover, it will just be a slightly boxy SUV.
You are right. Discovery/LR4 still is, but Range Rover became unibody with BMW.
omg what is this??
is it? is that a jaguar`s transmission knob?
explorer taillights?
all i hope is that you are also changing in your price too?..for good
I would have suggested a bit more slant to the windshield and a much less square transition to the roof from the windshield. OK, windscreen. Would bring the still reconisable Rangie into the modern age a bit, with maybe a little slicker airflow.
True but incomplete : Cayenne and others do not have the complex off-road wizardry that range rovers have. Without that stuff range rovers would be even lighter. But of course we do not want that. Do we ?
Simply Awesome
These are not even a vents... only a formed doors...
Oooh My God,
The Range Rover for me has been(up till now) the supreme vehicle....not any more. It looks to much like a Ford, to plastic, the head & tail lights are lame, the shifter is to Jaguar. They really need to try this again.
Front bumper and old grill is rubbish... wait for the face lift!!! or the modified autobiagraphy, khan, overfinch or hamann
Disco4...I think it's not fully body-on-frame
Where are the rounded lamp at front bumper.???? It feels to boxy
Generally, It still retains most of the design ques from former models and actually feels sportier with the more elaborate spoiler and deeper D pillars (wonder what the RR sport will look like). However, the aluminum trims from the tail lights feel like after thoughts, an aesthetic that we can do without. The long vents also look too exaggerated.
Front looks a bit dopey and the back looks stretched but... it's still a Range Rover so its still awesome
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