Range Rover 2014
Still Enticingly Irrational!
When one of your toughest decisions in life is figuring out which full-size luxury SUV to buy, you might not be a rational kind of person. But what’s wrong with that?
If you have the budget and the desire to buy a $100K vehicle, it’s likely the result of one of the following scenarios: you’ve made very good financial decisions in the past, or someone in your family did, and you’re reaping the rewards; your sources of revenue aren’t totally legit; you’re living above your means.
Whatever your situation, it also means that by choosing a 2014 Range Rover Supercharged, you’re also making an emotional purchase, because there’s nothing rational about this brutish ute. And that’s what makes it so appealing, because as long as you can afford the monthly payments and the fuel required to get it moving along, it offers a nocompromise lifestyle we’d all like to have – even though we won’t admit it.
The self-titled Range Rover is the biggest one of the bunch, the flagship, the crown jewel of the English SUV kingdom. It relies on its reputation of toughness, go-anywhere capability and prestige to attract customers, despite not being the most powerful, the most luxurious or the most environmentally friendly large premium SUV.
Still, you can’t blame Land Rover for not trying to create a more sensible Rover, even though they must be careful not to mess with the truck’s personality and charisma. Redesigned for the 2013 model year, the latest Range Rover rides on a drastically lighter platform, and weighs about 500 lbs. less than the previous-generation model; that’s quite a difference.
Yet the 2014 Range Rover Supercharged still feels heavy behind the wheel, although it naturally throws that mass around with more poise. It also allows Land Rover to offer a more sensible engine choice, as a 340-hp, supercharged 3.0L V6 can handle the task of moving the SUV around without complaint.
Hey – no compromises, remember? The logical or emotional engine choice remains the mighty supercharged 5.0L V8, which belts out 510 horsepower and 461 lb-ft of torque. Obviously, acceleration times have improved, as our V8-powered tester was capable of clearing the 0-100 km/h dash in 5.4 seconds, almost a second quicker than the previousgeneration model. Note that the V6 and the V8 have the same tow capacity rating, pegged at 7,716 lbs. or 3,500 kg.
Both engines are now matched to an eightspeed automatic transmission and include an automatic start-stop system, which shuts off the engine when the vehicle slows to a halt. These features allow the 2014 Range Rover Supercharged to be more efficient than ever, but it’s still a gas guzzler. In the dead of the winter season, we averaged 16.5 L/100km with the force-fed V8. I honestly was expecting worse, but if you really are concerned about fuel economy, the V6 engine will provide a good balance of power and efficiency.
Land Rovers have always been recognized for their off-road prowess, and that tradition soldiers on with the new generations of the Range Rover and 2014 Range Rover Sport.