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Range Rover Vogue SDV8 road test – don’t look at the numbers, just drive one

Aristocratic motoring with oodles of luxurious feel-good factor. But don’t tell your accountant.
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5 February 2013

Range rover Vogue SE
Lighter, quicker, more luxurious, and full of radical improvements – but unmistakably a Range Rover

Land Rover Range Rover 4.4 SDV8 Vogue SE Auto

What is it?

This is the fourth generation of motoring aristocracy: the new Range Rover.

It’s lighter than before, thanks to its all-aluminium body; it’s more streamlined with a faster rake to the front windscreen, and it’s more capable off road thanks to improved approach and departure angles.

Customers kept telling us not to change anything; just make it better.

But it’s still identifiably a Range Rover. There’s the clamshell bonnet, the floating roof, split tailgate, and that imperious Range Rover air. And although this car is new it’s very much an evolution.

Sean Henstridge, Range Rover’s design manager, said: “Customers kept telling us not to change anything; just make it better.” Hence the evolution.

So there’s greater space in the rear by 120mm, a halving of switchgear, an even greater emphasis on luxury, and a 20mm lowering of the roof height in ‘access’ mode to make getting in and out easier.

We’ve already tested the 3.0 SDV6 Vogue model – see Could this be the world’s most capable car? – the car most likely to appeal to business users.

But what if you’re the boss? You want the best. So here we’ve tested the other diesel in the range, the 4.4 litre SDV8.

Range Rover Vogue SE
Equally at home in both environments…

 

Range Rover Vogue
…you may never want to put your £84,000 Ranger through this, but it’s pleasing to know that you can

What’s hot?

  • There’s simply more go than V6; a convivial urgency to the throttle
  • The driving experience is effortless, the passenger experience serene
  • We found the TDV8 quieter on the motorway than the SDV6 (but these were pre-production models)
    Rear seats are now power fold from a switch bank in the boot
  • And the eight-speed auto glides effortlessly and imperceptibly through the gears
  • The high standard of furnishing and trim adds to the sense of well-being
  • Soft close latch functionality on all the doors with keyless entry
  • TDV8 model has addition of Dynamic Response which keeps the car flatter in the corners
  • Rear seats power fold from switch bank on the right rear of the boot
  • And to ensure that nothing is too much effort, the split tailgate is powered too
  • Sturdy luggage cover forms a shelf – or can be cantilevered back to access the boot
  • Latest Terrain Response 2 takes all the effort out of going off road
    Range Rover Vogue SE
    It’s finished to a very high standard, and switchgear has been cut by half in the new car
  • And, of course, the Range Rover’s ability to stride from tarmac to muddy track unflustered is quite unparalleled…
  • …Let alone tackle steep slopes that would be impossible to walk up
  • Extensive range of options to personalise the car

 

What’s not

  • Running costs. It might be a diesel, the CO2 might have gone down, the weight been shed, but it’s still very high…
  • …CO2 emissions are 229g/km (so probably not worth thinking about the company car tax)…
  • …and fuel consumption is 32.5mpg average but expect 20-24mpg around town
  • No stop-start on SDV8 model
  • Plastic aluminium trim around the centre console looks…well, cheap
  • It’s a big car for parking in tight spaces

 

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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