There’s something to be said about people who roll around town in a Range Rover with ’rich’ being one of those words that are thrown around most often.
Well, if the word fits you and you’ve got enough money to waste, might we suggest that you give the folks over at Design Q a call. These guys certainly go to extraneous lengths to make the buyer feel, shall we say, more at home inside their Range Rover. See, what Design Q did is outfit a Range Rover with an interior that looks more like the inside of a private jet. Yeah, we’re not kidding. The features include an elevated roof designed to give the SUV’s rear seats more space, a gullwing door, a pair of plane-worthy seats, a drink chiller, a humidor, a mini-spa center, and a computer as well as “many other highly desirable features”.
Not your average SUV, is it? Even for Range Rover standards.
Last week we brought the first rumors about a 2WD version for the future Land Rover Range Roverand, we have to say, it’s nice when we get an almost immediate confirmation following such rumors. Today, LandRover has officially confirmed that the model will go on sale in 2011 and will emit less than 130g/km of CO2.
"Land Rover has announced that the all-new compact Range Rover will be available in 2WD. This is good news for the company and for our customers. A 2WD option is just one way in which we are developing our vehicles efficiency whilst adding to the Land Rover range and expanding our customer base. We will continue to make the ‘world’s finest all-terrain vehicles’ for those customers who require 4WD but will also now offer an alternative to those that don’t," said Phil Popham, Land Rover managing director.
Land Rover has also confirmed that a hybrid model will be unveiled in 2012 and on the road in 2013. The first diesel hybrid prototypes are called the ’range_e’ and are being developed using a Range Rover Sport platform. The goal is to achieve a range of 20 miles using electric power only emitting less than 100 g/km of CO2 emissions and to achieve a top speed of around 120mph.
Onyx Concept Bespoke Automotive is in the car tuning business not to tinker around with cars, but to question conformity. They believe cars are beginning to lose their style and appeal, so they are in business to challenge the automotive business by creating tuning packages for models such as Bentley, Aston Martin, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Land Rover. Creating design and style is exactly what they have done with their new Land Rover Range Rover Sport and Vogue tuning packages. The V and S packages not only provide a full body kit for the Range Rover models, but they also provide an impressive revamping of the cars’ engines.
The V and S packages begin with front and rear bumpers, arches, and spoilers made of high quality fiberglass reinforced plastic. The side vents, front grills, and rear diffusers are made of a more luxurious material: carbon fiber. The body kit makes the car look lower and wider than the standard Range Rover model and also adds a square shape to the Range Rover that is questionable in terms of taste. The Range Rover fulfills its exterior destiny with a set of 22” forged bespoke custom TPM1 alloy wheels. The interior of the Range Rover models gets only a minor, but exceptional change: buffalo hide perforated leather.
Hit the jump for the full story and press release.
For whatever reason, drag racing SUVs aren’t all that common in today’s world. Whether they’re a little too bulky or they just don’t make for good drag racers, SUVs have served far bigger purposes in our lives than for just the 12-second, quarter-mile thrill-ride.
That being said, when we do chance upon the rare sight that is a quarter-mile race between two high-powered SUVs, we certainly won’t miss the chance to see which one takes the cake and which one ends up whiffing on it. In this video, we have a BMW X5M taking on a Range Rover Sport Supercharged. Pretty even race, don’t you think?
Well, it was pretty even for a while before one of them decides to take-off, leaving the other one staring at the winner’s rear end. Care to venture a guess as to who crossed the quarter-mile first? Check it out and find out.
Well, it didn’t take long to receive confirmation on the story we brought forth only yesterday. Land Rover confirmed today that the company is indeed preparing a hybrid Range Rover and that it will be unveiled in 2013. The first testings will begin in late 2010.
The Land Rover Range_e features a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain and a new ZF eight-speed automatic that will be used in all of the future models. Land Rover said that the company is also considering adding a petrol-electric hybrid system.
The first model said to be introduced with the hybrid technology will be the Range Rover Sport with the full-sized Range Rover and the Land Rover Discovery not being too far behind. The hybrid version of the Range Rover will be priced at around £10k, but Land Rover is also considering a plug-in hybrid model for 2015. This plug-in hybrid Range Rover is one of the most exciting developments. Chief engineer of hybrids at Jaguar Land Rover, Peter Richings, said: "It means you can drive a Range Rover for at least 20 miles on full electric power around town, emissions of less than 100g/km and speeds of up to 70mph in EV mode."
