But the British automaker, which is now under the control of India's Tata Motors, believes it's time to move on and prepare fans of the vehicle and consumers alike for the next generation of its iconic Defender with the presentation of the DC100 concept that will bow in Frankfurt next month.
Vilner, which is a Bulgarian design studio, said it was approached by a "Russian oligarch" (a.k.a. a business magnate) who wanted to turn the wick up on a short- and long-wheelbase Land Rover Defender by customizing their interiors.
Read more »
The company’s test drivers put the zebra-dressed Range Rover prototype through its paces to check out different suspension settings and evaluate its on-road high-speed behavior and agility.
Read more »
The upcoming Range Rover will be the fourth generation model following the original that was produced from 1970 to 1996, the second iteration that lasted from 1994 to 2001, and the current version that has been in production since 2002.
While the current model has the unique distinction of being developed by three different companies as it was planned and designed under the leadership of the BMW Group, updated by Ford when the latter bought Land Rover, and revised when the British company landed in the hands of India's Tata Motors, the fourth-gen Range Rover will be the work of Tata.
Read more »
The most important change of course is the new, EU5 compliant, 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine that replaces the EU4 2.4-litre oil-burner found in the 2011MY Defender.
Despite the smaller capacity, the new four-cylinder diesel delivers the same power and torque as the outgoing unit with 122PS at 3,500rpm and torque, 360Nm (265.5 lb-ft) at 2,000rpm.
Read more »
Especially if said icon has a long and distinguished history and has made its manufacturer synonymous to hardcore 4x4 capabilities. The Defender is one such example.
However, that’s what Land Rover intends to do, and the first step will reportedly be the unveiling of a new Defender concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Read more »
That’s a 17% rise over just five years ago, with more than four out of 10 cars each year facing breakdowns due to electrical problems that are mostly rather complex, and expensive to fix.
Read more »
"To optimize the synergistic strengths between JLR and Tata Motors in India, an examination is also under way on a joint engine development program which would have manufacturing facilities both in the U.K. and India," Ratan Tata stated.
Read more »
That’s why, according to company insiders, Land Rover is ready for the launch of a “Victoria Beckham Special Edition” named after the former pop star and the company’s new creative design director.
Read more »
So, what’s the worst car one could imagine? Well, if we played around with the above statements, we’d say one designed by Japanese, engineered by Americans, built by Italians and marketed by Germans.
But UK insurance firm Warranty Direct had something a little bit different in mind. Instead of playing the origin card, the company decided to check out its database of 50,000 live policies on cars aged five years on average to part the UK’s most unreliable vehicle that would break down every other month and cost an average of £2,050 (equal to US$3,270 - €2,330) to fix each year.
Read more »
As with the Discover 4, the Range Rover Sport’s more powerful 3.0-liter SDV6 diesel engine receives a 10HP boost lifting output from 245-horses to 256HP and is now mated to Land Rover’s new ZF 8HP70, 8-speed automatic gearbox. As a result, CO2 emissions have been reduced from 243g/km to 230g/km while combined fuel economy has improved from 30.7mpg to 32.1mpg UK.
Read more »
First fitted to the Range Rover TDV8 for 2011, the 8-speed auto helps improve fuel consumption to 8.8lt/100km (26.7mpg US or 32.1mpg UK) in the combined cycle and bring down CO2 emissions from 244g/km to 230g/km.
Read more »
If the British company goes ahead with this plan, it would allow them to bridge the gap that exists in the marque’s (Range Rover, not Land Rover) range between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
Read more »
Even worse, Dodge was placed last in the list with 137 problems per 100 cars. Scion, MINI, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Suzuki didn’t fare well either occupying the last places in the study.
Read more »
And while the 2013 Range Rover’s looks remain a mystery for now, we do know that it will adopt a new lightweight aluminium chassis using know-how from the group’s Jaguar brand. Furthermore, the new model will feature an alloy body shell while certain components will be made of composite materials.
