Land Rover

Land Rover is a 4x4, SUV and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer, based in Solihull, West Midlands, England, now operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business owned by Tata Motors of India. Originally the term Land Rover referred to one specific vehicle, a pioneering civilian all-terrain utility vehicle launched on 30 April 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show, but was later used as a brand for several distinct models, all capable of four-wheel drive.

Starting out as a model in the Rover Company's product range, the Land Rover brand developed, first as a marque, then as a separate company, developing a range of four-wheel drive capable vehicles under a succession of owners, including British Leyland, British Aerospace and BMW. In 2000, the company was sold by BMW to the Ford Motor Company, becoming part of their Premier Automotive Group. In June 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors. Land Rover, coming in second to Jeep is one of the longest surviving four-wheel drive (4WD) brands.

Go to Land Rover website

On 2 April 2004, Land Rover introduced the Discovery 3. It was a new design, sharing no components with the outgoing model. It retains the key features of the Discovery, such as the stepped roofline and steeply-raked windscreen. Land Rover developed an all-new method which they called Integrated Body Frame (IBF). In the IBF, the body, the engine bay and passenger compartment is built as a monocoque, which is mated to a basic ladder-chassis holding the gearbox and suspension. It claimed to combine the virtues of both systems, but does make the Discovery 3 uncommonly heavy for its size stunting on-road performance and off-road agility, especially in soft ground such as sand. This was one of the reasons that the new Discovery became the first Land Rover to be offered with a rear locking differential.

Another big change was the fitting of full independent suspension (FIS). This is an air suspension system, which allows the ride-height of the vehicle to be altered by simply pumping up or deflating the air bags. The vehicle can be raised to provide ground clearance when off-road, but lowered at high speeds to improve handling.

The Freelander 2 is Land Rover's offering for the compact SUV segment. The Freelander 2 debuted at the 2006 British International Motor Show and is based on the EUCD platform. The engine range is all-new for Freelander, featuring transversely-mounted 3.2 litre I6 engine of the Volvo SI6 series, which first debuted in the new Volvo S80, as well as the 2.2 litre DW12 common rail turbodiesel engine, co-developed by PSA Peugeot Citroën. The Freelander features improved ground clearance and promises greater off-road capabilities, closer to other Land Rover models. It has improved quality interior with more safety features as standard. It features a modified version of the Terrain Response off-road driving system. The 4WD system was developed in conjunction with Haldex.

Interior appointments include an Alpine 440 watt 14 speaker surround sound audio and touch navigation screen options. There is also a Cold Climate Package that includes heated front windscreen, heated front seats with two heating levels and heated windscreen washer jet and a Lighting Package that includes Bi-Xenon headlights, Adaptive Front-Lighting System, memory system for the driver seat and exterior mirrors and approach and puddle lamps. However, for what is a strictly five-seat SUV, the asking price might seem a little high, but for your money you get a Land Rover with mild off-road ability.

For the 2010 model, the Range Rover gets an updated exterior grille, bumpers, and LED head/tail lights, two new engines, and new features. It was unveiled at the 2009 New York Auto Show. The interior of the Range Rover received a minor facelift, consisting mainly of redesigned and repositioned switchgear.

The 2010 Range Rover also gained new visual display units as also seen in the Jaguar XJ launched a weeks previously. This change consists of a 'glass cockpit' LCD screen replacing the traditional instrument cluster- instead 'virtual' gauges are projected onto a single screen in front of the driver. This allows various sets of information to be displayed as required- for example navigation and map information can be displayed instead of engine readouts, whilst when one of the off-road driving modes is selected on the Terrain Response system the 'gauges' are reorganised to provide space to display the schematic of the vehicle's suspension, steering and transmission systems. This allows navigational information to be displayed to the driver, whilst someone in the front passenger seat can use the same screen to use the onboard DVD player at the same time. Simply Superb. It's difficult to beat on looks and classy interiors. Take it anywhere on tarmac or mud, it will drive amazingly.