LAVISH LUXURY BY THE LITRE
The diesel-powered Range Rover HSE Td6 delivers fuel economy among features
Nine. That’s the only number you need to know about the Range Rover HSE Td6. At least, it’s the only number that you need to know about this particular, diesel-powered, Range Rover. That was my average fuel economy, in litres per 100 kilometres, for a two-week-long evaluation that saw me pound out more than 2,000 klicks in this, the largest compression-ignition Range Rover.
It’s impressive stuff. Gas-fed Range Rovers, especially with the full-zoot 5.0-litre supercharged V8, usually average 50 per cent worse fuel consumption and will, given even a slightly leaden right foot, be even more profligate. The supercharged 3.0-L V6, now discontinued, was not much better. So the Td6’s fuel economy is truly laudable. Indeed, any time your 2,249 kilogram, tall-standing, bluffbodied SUV averages less than a turbocharged four-cylinder sport compact is amazing. That it can be done in the tallest-standing, bluffest-bodied — and oh, most luxurious — sport-brute on the planet is doubly so.
Nor is there much penalty, at least performance wise, exacted for all this parsimony. To be sure, the 3.0-L turbodiesel doesn’t boast the same number of Shetlands as the 5.0L — 518 horsepower versus 254 — but it is bountiful in the torque department (a very healthy 443 poundfeet is on offer) and at anything less than full throttle, it’s plenty punchy. Passing is a doddle, takeoff requires but a whiff of throttle, and the Td6 will tow as much as 3,500 kg of twin-hulled sport cruiser.
Its comportment is also all but indiscernible from its gasolinefuelled siblings. Oh, from outside one can hear the high-compression clatter common to oil burners, but inside the well-isolated cabin, there’s not even the slightest indication that said V6 has to make do without a spark plug. In other words, the turbodiesel is powerful, sophisticated and frugal.
This last, however, like all modern oil burners, is slightly compromised by requiring a fairly healthy does of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), essentially the ureabased solution that all diesels — yes, as it turns out, even Volkswagens — need to meet nitrogen oxide emissions standards. Officially, the TD6 needs about 1.5L of the stuff for every 1,000 km, though Car and Driver reports that their long-term TD6 — which achieved almost the same fuel economy as we did — could get by on about a litre per 1,000 klicks. Nonetheless, with DEF costing about $2.50 per litre, that works out to roughly the price of one-fifth of a litre of diesel per 100 km. In other words, the cost of DEF hardly puts a dent in the Td6’s frugality.
However, the Range Rover’s tank only holds about 18L, which does mean you will probably will have to fill it up in between the HSE’s 24,000-km regularly scheduled maintenance appointments. It’s no harder than replenishing washer fluid, but a few manufacturers in Europe have got into trouble trying to stretch that interval so that it coincides with the aforementioned service interval — yes, it would appear that luxury intenders are that lazy. But potential Range Rover owners with the same lackadaisical attitude toward maintenance be forewarned; run the urea tank dry and the Td6 will not start, the Range Rover’s ECU preferring to prevent unwanted NOx escaping from the Td6’s tailpipes over your emission turpitude.
That minor inconvenience aside, the Td6 powertrain is a winner. As for the rest of the Range Rover, it is familiar territory. It is the most versatile of luxury vehicles, able to haul castoff furniture the dump, squirm through the deepest of mud bogs and then transport the her highness to the Met.
Oh, compared with the latest spate of sporty sport-utes, the suspension is too soft — the better for that mud-bogging — for serious sportiness, and despite an air suspension system that can be lowered, it’s still a climb into the cabin. But, Lord, is it luxurious. To ride in a Range Rover HSE is to truly is to live like royalty; soft seats, commanding views and, of course, enough presence to send lesser vehicles scurrying.
Being an HSE, it’s especially sumptuous, festooned with luxury tidbits like tablets for the rear seat passengers and enough audio system wattage to power a Pink Floyd concert. The closest thing to a cabin deficiency is the tablet-based infotainment system which, though attractive and illuminating, can be somewhat limiting. Jaguar Land Rover, perhaps more than any other automaker save Tesla (which faces some of the same complaints), has bought into touchscreen as replacement for buttonry. For the most part, it’s effective, but the few buttons that are missed are really missed.
All that by way of saying is the Range Rover is standard HSE fare — luxurious, comfortable and a tad complicated — with the added benefit of being particularly frugal at the gas — er, diesel — pumps. That may seem an oxymoron considering that, as an HSE, the Td6 costs a not inconsiderable $113,000. But, for parsimonious hedonism, this particular Range Rover knows few equals.
OVERVIEW
Overview: Sophistication meets frugality in one luxurious mud bogger
Pros: Phenomenal fuel economy, sophisticated powertrain, luxurious cabin
Cons: A little wallowy on tall spindly legs
Value for money: Compared with all the other luxury SUVs that can traipse across the Sahara and the Rio Grande?
What would I change: A little more controlled suspension
How I would spec it: Exactly as
tested. Those rear screens will keep the most ADD’d 12-year-old occupied
VEHICLE RATINGS
Value: 12/15
Drivability: 11/15
Quality: 9/10 Performance: 6/10
Fuel economy: 10/10
Safety rating: N/A/10 Exterior: 9/10
Interior: 9/10
Storage and cargo: 4/5
Tech and toys: 3/5
Total rating: 73
Max rating: 90
Total percentage: 81 per cent