More info on upcoming Land Rovers
If they're as nice as the Range Rover, we're excited!
More info on upcoming Land Rovers
The new Land Rover X5 rival will use a re-badged
version of the Jaguar V8 engine, reprogrammed for
torque, not brute power. Insiders suggest that
literally the only differences will be a new ECU chip
and “Land Rover” engine covers. Ford only signed-off
the new Rangie because it will use a lot of existing
components and should yield an expensive, highly
profitable “life style” model.
Studies have shown that customers want a CX70, X5 or
Touareg style car, but want the real thing, ie, a Land
Rover.
The new car will have a steeply raked, split rear
door, similar in angle to the C-Class estate and wear
20” alloy wheels with high performance ROAD tyres.
Overall size will be smaller, but very roomy inside
and it will be marketed straight at the X5. With the
help of a fine engine, less weight (from composite
panels) and a 6-speed ZF gearbox, test cars are
currently out-running the German machine.
Insiders say this is a devilishly accomplished road
car and with the help of LR's off-road technology -
not bad off-road either, out performing ALL the
competition in that department. Expect 140mph and sub
8-second 0-60 times. This is marketed as a prestige
model, so there will be NO DIESEL, Fords V6 will only
appear in the new Disco.
Dear 001,
Probably about 1 1/2 years ago (a few months after purchasing my ML500)
I got a call from one of those marketing companies asking me if I would
be interested in being in a test group. it took place at the Orange
County Fairgrounds. We were led inside to a room containing 5 vehicle .
A Lincoln aviator(pre production , now I can see why they had a model
there(ford motor)), an X5, A ML, A Range Rover and a midsize vehicle
that look like a 75% scale range rover(clay model, with interior
mockup). Over the course of the morning we were asked lots of compare
this to that on a scale of 1 to 5 question, what do we like or dislike
about the other vehicles.. The Vehicle turned out to be a X5, ML
competitor Range Rover. It looked a little more swept back and
aggressive than its big brother but you could definitely tell that the
vehicle was part of the range rover family. One of the big questions
they asked us was what brand should they market it under, Land Rover or
Range Rover.. The group consensus was Range Rover. Also a note the
session was pushed back a month or 2 because the first clay model
apparently was crushed during shipping.
Dear 001,
Dear sirs, in your article you suggest the baby Range Rover will use a Ford V8 engine. Actually Land Rover will re-engineer a Jaguar V8 engine with peak power sacrificed to improve torque. Land Rover has not decided whether this vehicle will wear a Range Rover badge, It is styled to resemble Range Rover and will have air-suspension.
I hope this helps.
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