Auto Spies gives first ever, five-shield ranking, in a vehicle review

The Most Capable Vehicle in the World?



What has been called "the most capable vehicle in the world" has redefined what levels of luxury and ruggedness can be combined in a sport utility vehicle.



The all-new Range Rover is now available with what has been called the most beautiful interior of any car or truck and an evolved exterior that embraces many of the iconic design features that have so endeared Range Rover to its North American owners.

Innovative design technology is expected of every Land Rover and the new Range Rover doesn’t disappoint. Independent front and rear suspension, and a variety of electronic traction control systems are among the features that move the 2003 Range Rover into a class of one.

"We believe the new Range Rover has the greatest breadth of ability of any vehicle ever made," said Bob Dover, Chairman and CEO of Land Rover. "This mixture of peerless off-road ability combined with on-road excellence should satisfy the most demanding luxury car buyer."



The new version is only the third all-new Range Rover in 31 years, and with a remarkably attractive price of $69,995, including free scheduled maintenance for 4 years/50,000 miles, it is set to enhance Land Rover’s reputation as a maker of premium vehicles.



Among the new Range Rover’s key features are:

The distinctive exterior design of the new Range Rover, which is the only vehicle ever to have been displayed at the Louvre, has evolved.. It embodies many iconic design features such as the clamshell hood with its castellations, the split tailgate, the bold upright front and the "floating" roof. The design has been moved firmly into the 21^st century with uniquely styled headlights and tail lamps, distinctive side intake louvers and clean, crisp surfaces.



The all-new monocoque body with integrated chassis has extremely high levels of torsional stiffness that benefit the new Range Rover's on- and off-road ability. Advances in high-strength steel and sophisticated computer-aided design processes mean it is now possible to reap the refinement benefits of unitary construction without compromising off-road performance.

Longer and taller than the previous model, the new Range Rover has correspondingly more interior space and even stronger on-road presence. Greater ground clearance and excellent approach and departure angles result in higher off-road limits than its hugely capable forebear.

The elegant cabin design is, simply put, revolutionary. The interior brings new levels of luxury to the class. A wide variety of styling and texture cues—including elegant woods and leathers—were studied from a diverse range of influences including Riva speedboats and high-precision running gear from ocean racing yachts.
Range Rover comes fully equipped with virtually every comfort and convenience feature an owner could wish for. In fact, the only available options for 2003 Range Rover are the Bi-Xenon headlights and the Heated Accessories Package.

Central to the new Range Rover’s superb on- and off-road handling and ride is the totally new subframe-mounted fully independent air suspension. The chassis also features a number of electronic traction control systems including Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and the Land Rover–pioneered Hill Descent Control (HDC). Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) supplement the standard anti-lock brakes (ABS).

The all-aluminum, 4.4-litre V8 engine, manufactured for Land Rover by BMW, has been thoroughly modified for application in the Range Rover. The free-revving, 32-valve V8 produces 282 horsepower at 5,400 rpm and generates 325 lbs-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm, substantial increases compared to the larger-displacement V8 it replaces.

However, this engine is not the same as it appears in a BMW, having been adapted for the rigorous demands of life under a Range Rover hood, notably for wading through water, heavy-duty towing and steep off-road angles. A state-of-the-art five-speed transmission provides fully automatic and CommandShift™ manual operation, even in low range.



The new Range Rover undoubtedly offers the highest degree of passenger safety of any vehicle ever made by Land Rover. The comprehensive package of active and passive safety features includes eight standard airbags protecting both front and rear passengers.

It is also the highest-quality Range Rover ever built. Led by Ford, new engineering and manufacturing processes have been implemented, resulting in quality equal to the best Europe has to offer. Over $290 million has been invested in new production facilities at Solihull, England, Land Rover’s home since 1948.

At its peak, production of the new Range Rover is expected to reach 35,000 per year. First-year sales are estimated to exceed 7,000 units in the U.S. and 450 in Canada.

More information is available by calling 1-800-FINE-4WD or at

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Auto Spies Rating (From zero to five shields, five being the best)

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The good: Our first five star winner ever! The highest quality of ANY vehicle we’ve seen outside of the Rolls and Maybach. Phenomenal suspension and comfort on and off road. The perfect amount of power in any driving situation. Incredibly composed at highway speeds… (90MPH feels like 40MPH in any other SUV). Best looking interior of any vehicle on the road today (Simple but elegant). The Rover’s interior quality is significantly better than the S-class and 7-series and embarrasses E-class and 5-series taxis, we mean cars :) . We were especially impressed with the interior details like: Leather usage throughout the SUV, metal tips on all the floor mat corners, carpet quality, navigation voice that speaks with English accent, padded leather covered grab handles (ATTENTION ALL MERCEDES-BENZ, BMW AND PORSCHE DESIGNERS-At the minimum, this is the interior level quality EXPECTED from your offerings. Go sit in this vehicle and you will realize how lame, the quality of your interior materials have degraded, in recent years).

The bad: Best mileage we could get was 12.67 on the highway.

The ugly: Previous sins from Land Rover are not far enough back in history, to warrant a great residual on this beauty. No great lease program yet…So Auto Spies readers can’t steal one.

Judgment day: If we were considering the current S-class, 7-series, A8 and Range Rover, we would definitely pick the Range Rover. Especially if we lived in an area where there is even a hint of inclement weather. This is the first SUV where there are virtually NO tradeoffs in comparison to its luxo-sedan counterparts. It’s simply in a class by itself. Our recommendation, is to wait until Land Rover gets a little nervous with inventory backing up, and starts a more aggressive lease program. When they do, RUN, don’t walk and go get one! We’ll guarantee you, Ford will NEVER make a car this good, again. If there’s such thing, as a collector SUV, this will become on down the road. If you're one of those people, who loved the over-engineered quality of older Mercedes-Benz cars, you will go ga-ga over this baby. Also, keep an eye on the Presidents tax cuts…there’s rumor that the huge tax deduction on vehicle with GVWR’s of over 6000lbs, will increase this year to $75K. If so, you just found your Christmas present!
 
DESIGN
COMFORT

• Three-zone automatic climate control system with pollen filter, steering wheel–mounted controls plus auto and manual recirculation settings
  
• CFC-free air conditioning
  
• 10-way, power adjustabledriver seat and 6-way, power adjustable front passenger seat with adjustable head restraints,inflatable lumbar support and folding armrests
  
• Available heated front and rear passenger seats
  
• Three-position memorypreset for driver seat, steering column and exterior mirror positions
  
• Leather-wrapped, power tilt and telescoping steering wheel
  
• Tilt-and-slide glass sunroof with sunshade
  
• Deep-tinted glass, including sunroof

• Full instrumentation, including tachometer
  
• Electronic message centerwith trip computer
  
• Dual-blade (extendible) sun visors with lighted vanity mirrors
  
• Courtesy lighting, including external puddle lights located in the side-view mirrors and interior "waterfall" ambient illumination
  
• Power windows with one-touch open and close function and anti-trap feature for all four side windows and sunroof
  
• All-close/open function for windows and sunroof
  
• Retained accessory power for windows, power front seats and sunroof operation
  
• Variable-speed front wipers with intermittent feature
  
• Rear-window wiper and washer with variable function
  
• Programmable defrost function with ice warning indicator
  
• Heated front windshield and rear window
  
• Electrically adjustable steering column. Steering wheel is automatically raised when the ignition key is withdrawn to improve ingress and egress.
  
• Multi-function steering wheel–mounted controls for audio and cruise control
  
• Electrically adjustable, heated, electrochromic (auto-dimming) side-view mirrors with power fold function
  
• Electronic cruise control with steering wheel–mounted controls
  
• Electronically locking fuel filler door
  
• Fuel filler door location indicator
  
• External temperature reading
  
• 60/40 split folding rear seat
  
• Five cupholders
  
• Full-size passenger side glovebox and center console cubby box with auxiliary power point
  
• Integral Class III trailer tow hitch receiver
  
• Available heated steering wheel rim

• On-road functionality provides scalable maps; turn-by-turn directions with voice commands; and a database containing thousands of landmarks.
  
• Off-road functionality provides a bird’s eye view of the vehicle’s off-road location – and the ability to place route-traceable geographic markers that facilitate the return trip.

• Twelve-speaker, AM/FM-stereo cassette audio system with Radio Data System (RDS) and Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Six disc CD changer in the front glovebox.
  
• Steering wheel–mounted controls for volume, station, mode and track/disc selection.
  
• Dual glass-mounted diversity antenna system
  
• Speed-sensitive volume control

• 4-year/50,000-mile new-vehicle limited warranty with free scheduled maintenance during warranty coverage
  
• 6-year/unlimited-mileage corrosion perforation limited warranty
  
• Land Rover Road Recovery^SM 24-hour service provided for the duration of the new-vehicle limited warranty
  
• LEGAL NOTES
  
• HomeLink^® is a registered trademark of Johnson Controls.
  
• Land Rover Road Recovery^SM is a registered service mark of Land Rover North America, Inc.

• Four-channel, all-terrain Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
  
• Four-wheel Electronic Traction Control (4ETC)
  
• All-terrain Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
  
• Hill Descent Control (HDC)
  
• Emergency Brake Assist (EBA)
  
• Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
  
• Eight driver and passenger airbags
  
• Driver and front passenger airbag Supplemental Restraint System (SRS)
  
• Driver and front passenger seat-mounted side airbags
  
• Driver and front passenger side head protection airbags
  
• Rear passenger side head protection airbags
  
• Side-impact beams in front and rear doors
  
• Front crumple zones
  
• Three-point safety belts with height-adjustable anchors for outboard seating positions
  
• Three-point safety belt and head restraint for center rear seating position
  
• Pre-tensioning front safety belts
  
• Child seat tether anchors
  
• Head restraints for outboard seating positions
  
• Available Bi-Xenon headlights
  
• Power headlight washers and wipers
  
• Front and rear fog lamps
  
• LED center high-mount stop lamp

• HomeLink^® system for remote control of garage door, gate and lighting operation
  
• Vehicle security system with perimetric and volumetric functions and engineimmobilization. Central locking of all doors and tailgate. Superlocking feature, which prevents the vehicle from being opened from inside or outside and arms the volumetric alarm.
  
• Keyless entry. Vehicle keys equipped with integral remote handsets to control keyless-entry door locking and all security functions.
  
• Child locks for rear doors
  
• Power windows and sunroof, each equipped with anti-trap feature. Lockout feature that disarms the power rear window controls.
  
• Foldable/removable rear load space cover
  
• Park Distance Control (PDC). Provides audible warning of the proximity of obstacles when parking.

• Steel monocoque with integrated unitized chassis and three steel subframes
  
• Aluminum-alloy front quarter panels, hood and doors
  
• Zinc-coated (galvanized) steel roof and rear quarter panels

• Power-assisted four-wheel disc
  
• 13.5 in. x 1.2 in. (344 mm x 30 mm) vented disc front; 13.9 in. x 0.47 in. (354 mm x 12 mm solid disc rear)
  
• Four-channel, all-terrain Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)

• 19 x 8-inch aluminum alloy wheels; 255/55HR-19 mud & snow radial tires
  
• 20 x 8-inch aluminum alloy wheels; 255/50VR-20 radial tires (dealer accessory)

• Land Rover Range Rover is not subject to luxury tax as it is classified as a multi-purpose vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) in excess of 6,000 lb.