Fire and Ice, honestly speaking, those are the last two words that we would ever associate with a vehicle. However, the people over at Land Rover believe that they will be selling like hotcakes. They must know something from over 60 years of building off road vehicles, so we’ll leave it at that for now.
In the now Indian automaker’s defense, Fire and Ice are actually two editions of Land Rover’s stripped down off road machine, the Defender. A stark contrast in a sea of pimped Luxury SUV’s with excessive amounts of unnecessary accessories. Let’s face it; we see vehicles like the Hummer H3, the Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes G-Wagen rolling along our highways sporting shiny grills and ridiculously large wheels and ultra low profile tires, with their owners not even considering stepping off the beaten path. Despite the current trend, the Defender chooses to remain as simple and as basic as possible.
If you look at it from the outside, you might mistake the modern day Defender for a car that has been since before you were born. That’s partly true, considering that the Defenders frame design goes all the way back to 1948, and unlike almost every other car on the face of the planet, the Defender is still built by hand.
Continued after the jump.
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While there are plenty of luxury SUVs out there, only a few have cut their teeth on a crowd that actually goes off road. In fact, there are only three that are still in production that come to mind: Mercedes G-Class, Toyota Land Cruiser and Land Rover’s Range Rover (the Hummer H1 is long gone).
The difference between the three is who buys them. The G-Wagon is for those likely to take over a small country, and the Land Cruiser is for those who are likely to take aid to a small country. The Range Rover leads a more sedate life. It’s for people who may like to go for a small ride in the country…
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New York was the place for Land Rover to overhaul almost its entire line. After the 2010 refreshes to the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, it showed off the 2010 LR4.
While the name LR4 is new to Land Rover, it’s just to signify the fourth generation of the Discovery (it’s still called Discovery outside of North America.) Just like the other two Land Rover stylings, the idea with the LR4 is smooth out and simplify. Outside this includes a more aerodynamic front bumper and a new LED light cluster. Inside there are new materials with a more ergonomically friendly layout.
The LR4 will also get the the new 5.0-liter V8 engine that has gone to both Range Rover models. Unlike the Rangers, this Land Rover will not get the supercharged version. The engine is rated at 375 bhp and 375 lbs/ft torque, which gives the LR4 a 0 to 60 mph time of 7.5 seconds.
More pics and press release after the jump.
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The Range Rover Sport is getting a makeover for 2010. Where Land Rover has to be careful when touching up the evergreen Range Rover, it gets to go wild (in a very British way) for the Range Rover Sport.
Outside the lines have been smoothed out, and the front had been given a more protruding bumper. The front also features new LED headlamps and a new two-bar grille. The interior has also been redesigned with higher quality materials and soft-touch finishes.
Just like the 2010 Range Rover, Jaguar’s 5.0-liter V8 is making a new home in the SUV. The Sport gets the same 375 hp and 510 hp supercharged upgrade as its bigger brother. This is a 75 hp and 120 hp (respectively) upgrade in this lineup. The naturally aspired version makes the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 7.2 seconds, and the supercharged version in 5.9 seconds.
Press release after the jump.
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The Range Rover’s look is timeless. The original design lasted relatively untouched for 26 years, and the only reason why it was redone for the third generation was to get the RR’s design back to the looking like the original. So when major updates are announced for 2010, look closely.
This facelift includes a revised bumper with relocated fog lamps, new grille and new headlamps. The overall impression help the Range Rover closer to achieve its very British goal of simple elegance. The interior’s appearanc has also been upgraded and includes a new GPS navigation system. The instrument cluster in front of the driver has been replaced with a Thin Film Transistor screen to better organize driver information.
The real change comes in the engine compartment. Land Rover is taking advantage of the newly enlarged 5.0-liter V8 engine from Jaguar. Now the Range Rover will be available with 375 hp or 510 hp in supercharged form — that’s a 75 hp and 110 hp bump over the previous engine lineup.
Press release after the jump.
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Land Rover Australia has revealed a new styling package inspired by the 2004 Range Stormer Concept Car. Available only for the 2009 Range Rover Sport TDV8 or Supercharged models the Stormer kit is priced at $9,990.
The package includes: Stormer front and rear bumpers, extended rear spoiler, body colored side cladding, rectangular, chromed, exhaust finishers, honeycomb radiator grille and front Park Distance Control (PDC).
For the exterior colors customers can choose from: Santorini Black, Alaska White or Stornoway Grey.
Press release after the jump.
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Land Rover unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show the limited edition Range Rover ’Westminster’. It will be built in only 300 units and sales will begin at the end of March.
This special edition adds 20" Diamond Turned wheels, an exterior design pack, ’Westminster’ tailgate badging, half wood steering wheel and stainless steel accents to the brake and accelerator pedals.
It will be available in either Santorini Black or Stornoway Grey with Ivory/Jet or Jet/Jet interior color and prices will start from £62,995.
Press release after the jump.
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Land Rover is giving some upper-class treatment to its basic diesel Range Rover Sport model. Called the Range Rover Sport Stormer Edition (don’t get it confused with the Range Stormer sports coupe/SUV concept that’s the basis for all Range Rover Sports), it starts with the 188 hp TDV6 ’S’ model. Land Rover then adds upmarket features like 20" 10-spoke alloy wheels, tail-mounted rear spoiler, deep sculptured front and rear bumpers, integrated rectangular exhaust pipes, body-colored lower body side mouldings and lower tailgate moulding, leather seats, front and rear Park Distance Control (PDC) and Personal Telephone Integration.
Sales wil begin in March at a price of £43,550. No use in showing the exchange rate on this one. Since the U.S. doesn’t have any diesel Range Rovers/Land Rovers, we won’t be getting this one either.
Press release after the jump
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Land Rover sells cars more on its image that ability. These SUVs are great off-roaders, but rarely do you catch their owners forging a stream or survey open land. Instead, owners demand luxury and handsome looks.
Land Rover first tried to give the U.S. a small SUV by adapting the Europe-only Freelander for North America. By the time the car first appeared here in 2002 it was already six years old and showing its age. Sales were slow, and Land Rover learned ts lesson.
Starting in 2007, Land Rover had a new Freelander they renamed LR2 for North America. This had much better materials, more features, and looked a lot more like the up-market Range Rover.
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Land Rover presented at the Paris Auto Show the new Freelander 2 TD4_e, Land Rover’s most fuel-efficient vehicle to date. The fuel savings comes from the combination of using a diesel engine with a stop/start system (stopping the engine while the car is idling) that is becoming popular in frugal European cars.
The CO2 emissions of the Freelander 2 TD4_e are reduced by 8 percent, compared with the outgoing manual diesel Freelander 2. The 8 percent improvement equates to a CO2 emissions reduction of 15 g/km compared with the standard Freelander 2 TD4 manual (from 194 g/km to 179 g/km). In terms of fuel efficiency, consumption is improved from 37.7 mpg to 41.3 mpg. In heavy urban traffic, Land Rover engineers have measured fuel savings as high as 20 percent.
All this environmental friendliness now comes in a car that is 95 percent recyclable. The Freelander 2 TD4_e has not had an announcement for North America sales. Although we are enjoy green technologies and are starting to seek better fuel economy, it’s unclear if we are ready to buy diesel Land Rovers on a large scale.
Press release after the jump.
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