Motoring corner With Carlover

“Range Rover SUV” The Range Rover SUV will not only be one of the most important models for rappers all over the world, but it’s also crucial for Land Rover as most of its other vehicles are based on the same basic design of the boxy luxury off-roader. Models like the Range Rover Sport, LR4 (Discovery) and LR2 (Freelander) all share their basic design and technology with the Range Rover, so as you can expect engineers have a lot of pressure resting on their shoulders when it comes to designing the next-gen model. Land Rover is testing the next generation of the Range Rover. This model, set to debut in 2012-2013 is currently being tested by the British company. Land Rover is using a modified body of the current luxury SUV with a different front end and more muscular wheel arches. Although the looks of the 2013 Range Rover are still a mystery, some details of the car are already known. The new Range Rover will get a new lightweight aluminium chassis, benefiting from the know-how of Jaguar. Also, the new model will feature an alloy body shell and some components made out of composite materials. The 2013 Range Rover will receive a marginal increase in dimensions, but most important is the extensive use of lightweight materials which should improve the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and performance. It has been rumoured that new luxury SUV will lose almost half a ton of its weight compared to the current model, which weighs between 2,580kg and 2,810kg. The new Range Rover will be powered by refined version of the current power plants, including V6 and V8 diesels, and a petrol powered V8 in both naturally aspirated and supercharged formats connected to Land Rover’s eight-speed automatic transmission. A hybrid model is in the works as well. Land Rover earlier showed the hybrid powertrain with the Range-E Concept at the Geneva Salon this past March. The Range-E Concept is based on a Range Rover Sport and features a 3.0 litre TDV6 diesel with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. The engine is connected to a plug-in parallel diesel hybrid system that enables the Range Rover to achieve 89g of CO2. It has a hybrid range of 32km, a top speed of around 193km/h and a complete range of 1,112km. This would give the vehicle a final curb weight roughly equal to a fully-loaded luxury sedan, improving both performance and fuel economy, the latter of which is expected to be as high as 33.3 mpg combined for some models. This same platform will also spawn a new-generation Range Rover Sport, which is expected to replace the LR4 model in Land Rover’s line up and be available with seven seats for the first time. Codenamed L405, the new off-roader is in its final stages of engineering definition. The vehicle looks to be slightly longer than today’s model, with its roofline considerably lower as well. This should result in lower drag and a smaller overall look. motoringcorner@live.co.uk

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Motoring corner With Carlover