Solihull, United Kingdom – Reported by Coleman Bentley for Elite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazine
From the Scottish Highlands to Buckingham Palace, the 2013 Land Rover Range Rover is rugged enough for the rough stuff, swanky enough for the Queen, and available in North America just in time for the holidays. Yep, we know the SUV that gave birth to all SUVs is now on your Christmas wish list but look out; Ol’ Saint Nick is going to want one too.
Designed, engineered, and produced at Land Rover’s Solihull, UK manufacturing centers as new and technologically advanced as the vehicle they spawned, the 2013 Range Range boasts, above all else, an all-aluminum unibody design that is 39% percent lighter than its now-obsolete steel predecessor. The aluminum overhaul also carries over into the redesigned front and rear chassis, sharpening handling and cutting weight. These updates alone have cut the 2013 Range Rover’s weight by 926 pounds.
Of course, a light frame does little if it houses nothing to move it. Thankfully the new Rover puts power to the mud, sand, concrete and tarmac with a 5-liter V8 that has stuck to the same diet at its structural counterparts. The naturally-aspirated engine has shed 700-pounds of gut, improving the vehicle’s agility while simultaneously reducing its carbon tire-track.
While originally built on a function-first ideology, Land Rover has evolved into one of the premier luxury automotive manufactures on the planet and the 2013 Range Rover is no black sheep to their elite SUV bloodline. Side-door glass and an acoustic-laminated windshield turn road noise into a whisper while the redesigned suspension system absorbs all but the most severe terrain disturbances. Clean interior lines— wrapped in premium leathers and attention-demanding veneers—are given room to breathe by an additional 4.7 inches of legroom, adding even more space for the exclusive Meridian sound-system to stretch its vocal chords.
Amenities aside and with the help of its onboard Land Rover Terrain Response system, utilizing sensors to calculate and adapt to current driving conditions, the 2013 Range Rover has also survived Land Rover’s grueling on-and-off road testing and development program. So with millions of miles behind it, and another million to go, the 2013 Range Rover is poised to add another indispensible link in Land Rover’s prestigious DNA chain.
Related
Content from our partners
