Range Rover stretches its reach

It's a good year to look at Range Rover, writes Brian Byrne, because this is the 40th year since the brand was invented. And in the big 'Rangie' nameplate, there have been just three generations since then. The first one lasted 25 years, the latest one was launched in 2002.

So Range Rovers hang around a long time. And there are aficionados who still swear by the original, which became known as the Classic when generation two was launched. All three are nothing if not imposing.

The current version has had particularly good technology to allow the big vehicle to go, and come back from, places where nothing of its kind had ever gone before. For 2011, they have improved even on that.

There are detail changes to the sheetmetal, tweaks and references to mark the nameplate's 40th birthday. And the interior, already the height of luxury since an upgrade for 2010, has been turned up yet another notch on the refinometer.

But the big news for the car is a brand new V8 diesel, 4.4 litres in displacement, that now replaces the 3.6 V8 diesel. Built and tuned exclusively for the Range Rover, it has significantly more power that allows a sprint of 7.8 seconds to 100km/h. That's a 15 percent improvement on the outgoing engine. Yet it is 18 percent more fuel-frugal with 9.4L/100km or over 31mpg. A whopping 700Nm of torque gives the latest car an urge that is hard to match in the segment. A new 8-speed automatic gearbox both helps with economy as well as providing a virtually seamless transmission performance. It also detects the driving patterns of the driver and adjusts its response accordingly. A car already renowned for its smooth go has just been warped up.

There's new turbocharger systems in too, a similar sequential twin-scroll unit that force-feeds the 3.0 V6 diesel introduced in LR and Jaguar models last year.

All in all, the great just got greater in powertrain terms.

Inside, in addition to some luxury details, there has been a little cross-breeding with the current Jaguars. The rotary transmission selector which rises out of the console when the engine is started is something you get used to very quickly. And if you want to use the transmission manually, there are paddles on the steering wheel.

The back seats in the introduction car now have the same electric recline ability as the front ones, something that makes a significant difference to riding long runs in the rear.

There's a new all-round camera system that allows view of all areas out the outside of the car, something that is quite useful when negotiating this big beast through narrow tracks or river gorges.

To sooth, or boost, the frame of mind while on the run -- depending on music chosen -- there's a new 17-speaker sound system that is quite phenomenal.

The proprietary Terrain Response system which Land Rover developed to provide exactly the right combinations of engine power, suspension settings and electronic control for various kinds of driving environment has been further refined. Operating it is now arguably simpler with the rotary switch replaced by a sequential toggle affair.

So what does all this mean on the actual run? Well, on a first-time visit to the stunningly beautiful valley of the Douro river from Porto the 2011 Range Rover provided the best seats in the house to enjoy it all.

Progress on the highway was, of course, exemplary. No less was expected anyhow, but the new engine really did add an appreciable level of extra enjoyment.

Not content with having us view the beauties of the Douro region from the truly excellent road network in the area, they put us onto a challenging off-road session that brought us literally to a mountain peak.

It was a terrain that involved driving through rivers with sharp stone beds, and on mountain tracks which were not tyres friendly. So they did a complete wheelchange before we took our cars to the hills.

They didn't use jacks. Nope, in true LR style they dug a couple of holes in the ground, then guided us through them, switching each wheel when it was lifted in the air ...

The section got the cars dirty too, but nobody from the company seemed to mind that. Well, Range Rovers were designed to be down and dirty anyhow.

The 2011 version will be available in Ireland from October/November.