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New Range Rover on test: could this be the world’s most capable car?

Luxury at a new level, and yet the Range Rover is still even better offroad.
No other car offers the business owner such all round capability. Wherever your business takes you, the Range Rover will excel.
Car review: SUE BAKER<br
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29 October 2012

 

What’s hot?

  • Lighter by 180kg and more fuel-efficient
  • All-aluminium body with same look but more streamlined details
  • Terrain Response 2 system now fully automatic
  • Very impressive to drive, better road-holding and more nimble than previous Range Rovers
  • The most business-friendly engine, the TDV6, is also the most refined
  • Strong performance with 600Nm of torque in the TDV6
  • Acceleration from 0-62 in 7.4secs with 130mph top speed for the TDV6
  • Lower CO2 emissions for company car tax purposes: 33% in 2012/13
  • Choice of four or five-seat configuration, opt for only two rear seats for optimum luxury
    New Range Rover
    Rear passengers haven’t been forgotten. More toys, and electrically reclining seats if you need a nap
  • Rear seats recline electrically so you can sleep in them
  • More toys for back seat passengers, for when you chauffeur your business colleagues or clients
  • Maximum ground clearance up by 13mm to 296mm, in case you ever want to swap your business car brogues for wellies and go off-road

 

What’s not?

  • Stonking price makes it a very expensive business car
  • Improved fuel economy still means heavy fuel bills
  • Big car, the Range Rover needs a large parking space
  • Over-cushioned head restraints push your neck too far forward
  • Some clunky satnav features, cumbersome way of changing map scale
New Range Rover
Expensive yes, but superlatively capable wherever your business takes you

 

Business Car Manager road test verdict

There is a massive difference between the old model Range Rover and this new one – and not just the saving in weight or the new V6 turbo diesel engine.

The new Range Rover represents a major step-up in luxury, with superb cabin quality and a reduction in driver workload. The number of switches has been halved, and the dial-a-surface Terrain Response is now automatic.

Fancy a dip on your way to work? The new Range Rover can wade through water up to 900mm deep, thanks to a redesigned engine air intake system with high channels just under the bonnet that have been nicknamed ‘Queen Mary funnels’.

We would agree that the running costs remain high (although reduced), and you can expect to pay for it in company car tax allowance should you choose to run it through the company. Meanwhile, don’t forget to make sure your parking space is reserved – the new Range Rover is a big vehicle.

But the new Range Rover’s superlative on-road luxury not to mention its fabulous dexterity off-road fully justifies its aristocratic status – and isn’t that what you want from a business car when you run a successful SME business?

Land Rover Range Rover 3.0 TDV6 Vogue Auto – the low down

P11D Value: £ 70,780
Monthly business car lease (ex VAT) From £984 (3 yrs/30,000 miles)
Company car tax bands 2012/13-2014/15: 33%, 34%, 35%
Benefit-in-kind tax 2012/12-2014/15 £23,357, £24,065, £24,773
Engine: 3.0 6cyl turbocharged diesel
CO2 Emissions: 196g/km
Power/torque: 258PS/600Nm
0-62mph/Max speed 7.4s/130mph
Economy: 37.7mpg

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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