News : Fourth generation Range Rover breaks cover

The fourth generation Range Rover is an all-new model that has been developed from the ground up, capturing the innovative spirit and iconic design of the original model which changed the world of motoring when it was launched over 40 years ago. The most significant development over the excellent L322 that it replaces is its revolutionary lightweight all-aluminium monocoque body structure, which is 39 per cent lighter than the steel body in the outgoing model – enabling total vehicle weight savings of up to 420kg.

The lightweight aluminium platform has delivered significant enhancements in performance and agility, along with a transformation in fuel economy and CO2 emissions. In addition to the strong and rigid lightweight body, an all-new aluminium front and rear chassis architecture has been developed with completely re-engineered four-corner air suspension. While the ride quality has been retained, handling and agility have been significantly improved.  The new suspension architecture delivers flatter, more confident cornering, with natural and intuitive steering feel.

The all-new Range Rover has a clean and elegant shape which is derived from a fresh new interpretation of Range Rover design cues. The sculpted flanks and floating roof remain, but a rising shoulder line, Evoque-style wraparound head- and tail-lamps, and low scuttle line are evolutions that make the L405 a much more contemporary-looking design. While instantly recognisable as a Range Rover, the new vehicle takes a significant step forward with a bold evolution of the model’s iconic design language.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Design Director and Chief Creative Officer, headed up the design theme and was more than aware of the challenge of designing the fourth iteration of one of the UK’s most iconic cars to remain in production. ‘Designing the next generation Range Rover, following over forty years of success, came with a huge responsibility to protect the DNA of such an icon. Our design team worked incredibly hard to capture the elegant proportions and pure surfaces which have been a feature of the best Range Rover designs.’

Amongst the industry-leading innovations is a ground-breaking, next-generation version of Land Rover’s Terrain Response system, which analyses the current driving conditions and automatically selects the most suitable vehicle settings for the terrain. And the new model has been subjected to Land Rover’s punishing on- and off-road test and development regime, with a fleet of development vehicles covering millions of miles over 18 months of arduous tests in more than 20 countries with extremes of climate and road surfaces.

Measures like the rigorously optimised body structure and acoustic lamination of the windscreen and side door glass have significantly reduced noise levels, while the new suspension architecture has enabled engineers to achieve even more luxurious ride comfort and refinement.

The interior incorporates Range Rover design cues, but executed with a very contemporary Evoque-like treatment, and clean, elegant surfaces which are flawlessly presented using the finest leathers and veneers.  With over 120mm more legroom, the rear occupants benefit from vastly increased space and comfort, with the option of a new two-seat Executive Class seating package for the ultimate in rear-seat luxury.

To deliver the model’s characteristic effortless performance, customers have the choice of a refined supercharged V8 petrol engine, TDV6 and TDV8 diesel engines combining responsive performance with outstanding CO2 emissions.

John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director, said: ‘The new Range Rover preserves the essential, unique character of the vehicle – that special blend of luxury, performance and unmatched all-terrain capability.  However, its clean sheet design and revolutionary lightweight construction have enabled us to transform the experience for luxury vehicle customers, with a step change in comfort, refinement and handling.’

Full specifications will be revealed at the car’s official launch at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Range Rover at a glance:

  • World’s first SUV with a lightweight all-aluminium monocoque body structure
  • 420kg weight saving over outgoing model delivering improved fuel economy and CO2 emissions
  • An unrivalled breadth of capability with transformed handling and agility
  • State-of-the-art adaptive dynamics to further improve peerless ride quality
  • Enhanced all-terrain performance with introduction of Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 Auto®
  • The pinnacle of SUV refinement, with a more spacious and luxurious interior and a truly composed driving experience
  • British designed and engineered at Land Rover’s development centres in the UK
  • Manufactured in a new, state-of-the-art aluminium manufacturing facility, Solihull, UK
Keith Adams

57 Comments

  1. @ 2 the original range rover was much like the series lr’s at the time (and also disco 1) steel ladder chassis, steel body work, 2 heavy steel axles and aluminium body skins all up weight in the region of 1800 to 2400 kg depending spec. add to that modern sound proofing, computers, air bags, blah blah and the more recent land rovers are quite heavy. not on their own, though, a toyota corrola in the 70s was well under 1000 kg…and now….1400 kg? 1990 Jaguar xj40 1800 kg…for example alex

  2. @Andrew Elphick.. And the Peugeot design cues are? The only feature that jars with me is the “wing” on the rear lamp cluster, just doesn’t look right

  3. I must admit that the third generation (L322) Range Rover looked so right, particularly the pre-facelift 2010 Model Year examples, because it addressed the design shortcomings of its predecessor and played such a heavy homage to the first generation Range Rover. This is why I am such a fan of L322.

    From a design point of view, replacing it must have been an enormous task as it really did reinforce the Range Rover’s position as the ‘iconic’ must-have SUV. Building it for nearly eleven years without it loosing its showroom appeal was an enormous achievement too.

    As for the new one? Well, clearly the task was to maintain the loyalty of existing customers but also show that the concept has not stagnated. Apart from those frivulous looking gills in the doors and the flamboyant flourishes to the exterior lighting into the wings, it looks okay.

  4. Seems as though the ‘Anti-Everything Society’ is at it again. I think it looks both fresh and evolutionary and as such will increase RR sales still further.

  5. “Lode Lane’s sad decline into Peugeot-esq mediocrity. I feel quite sad typing this….”

    Eh?

    Styling wise it’s no great leap forward – similar, but with a curvier nose – but the massive drop in weight is excellent, and it’s quieter and roomier inside. The king is dead, long live the king!

  6. The current range which harks back 10 years has had it’s details (grille, lights, bumpers) fiddled about many times, each tweak progressively worse. It started out fresh and ended up fussy and awkward in it’s details.

    Engineering-wise, the cars have progressed through the roof in terms of ability and reliability so all is far from wrong at Land Rover.

    This new design, whilst a difficult project to undertake, is a triumph of engineering. The stylists, though, really have cocked it up. It should be cleaner than this. But it will still sell to those people most of us really wouldn’t want as neighbours.

  7. I like it! Hopefully when the existing L322 owners start trading in their current cars there will be some good affordable ones out there – I had a run-out model RR Classic for many years and loved it.

  8. That front door is a bit of a mess. Apart from that, it looks nice enough: it’s certainly more refined and less vulgar and sharp-elbowed – let’s hope the profile of the clientele follows suit.

    But can you hose out the interior…?

  9. Love it, lower, lighter, better looking and still great presence on the road…… it will sell in bucket loads, and i can see nothing Peugeot about it,

  10. My Peugeot comment was reference to the way Peugeot produced some fantastic looking cars (anything ending in a 5 or a 6) then whittled away and diluted the design to a similarly shaped “blob”. Like the equally iconic Rolex submariner it has became larger and gaudier, hence it will sell easily.

    Remember in 2002 when you saw your first L322? Will you remember spotting this one in ten years time?

  11. @ Jon:

    “I had a runout model RR Classic for many years and loved it.”

    That wasn’t a 25th Anniversary Final Edition variant by any chance?

    At others:

    I hope my comments were not interpreted as being part of the “Anti Everything Society”, as they were not intended t be. Apart from the detail features mentioned, I am very supportive of the new Range Rover and hope it will sell just as well, if not better than the outgoing model. The Range Rover is a great success story and I, for one, am very proud of its ongoing achievements and the role it plays in the financial success of Jaguar Land Rover.

  12. A very difficult design to replace but team McGovern have created a gorgeous forward looking design that still keeps classic RR stance. Well done LR design and engineering team. This will see yet another sales rise at JLR and push the prestige image further. SIAC need to watch and learn.

  13. Toughest job in the automotive world designing a new RR…but I like this one, I’m pleased that haven’t gone all retro.

    I agree with the comments above, the L322 was way to blinged up at the end. I can see hints of the P38….or is that just me?

    What a fantastic range of cars now for JLR, we should be very proud.

  14. I know that they are trying to take the design on from the old model, but those oversized lights with wings and the strange grill thing on the door are just not right. Remove those and I think you have a Range Rover, with them it looks like a Ford Flex a bit.

  15. @ David 3500

    It wasn’t a 25th anniversary one, but a 1995 model ‘M’ reg with the TWR bodykit and 5 spoke wheels, in Niagara grey (the 25th models were in Biarritz blue I think). Sadly it started rusting very badly from the inside out, Land Rover used some very poor quality steel in the mid nineties, contemporary Discovery’s were similarly afflicted.

    I have never really fancied a P38A, but the price of earlier L322’s is making one very tempting right now… the problem is I am now used to the running costs of a MINI Cooper D with £20 a year road tax and 64mpg, so it’s probably a bad idea!

  16. I think the Peugeot comment is a fair point. The ’05 and ’06 gens are regarded by Pug fans as their highpoint, since then design and reliability have faltered a little (though the 508 and 208 look promising).

    This Range Rover I think has all the design cues to distinguish it as a RR – The clamshell bonnet with raised edges, the blackened glasshouse with large C pillar, the long rear overhang with a rising lower line to a raised rear bumper to give a better ground clearance (or at least the impression of…), the wheels at the front corners with that space between the wheel and the doors (the large amount of sheetmetal now disguised with shark fins).

    The “wing” of the rear lights ties it in with the wing of the front lights, is this a ploy to get around US sidemarker legislation without having tacky looking stick-on amber lights?

    I would like to see a couple of variants, perhaps a “base” model with the vertical slats of the classic, and a higher spec model with these horizontal slats.

  17. Looks stunning in my opinion, and 420kgs lighter is a very good achievement. Jaguar Land Rover can’t seem to put a foot wrong at the moment.

  18. Why all the Ford adverts on the pictures? This sit is nothing to do with Ford. They don’t even make any cars in Britain any more.

  19. Nearly very good.

    The tapering in towards the rear makes it look too long, and the rear lights are fussy.

    And most importantly, it’s NOT an SUV. It is a luxury 4×4. Entirely different.

    Chris.

  20. Fussy light styling aside, I really like it. The muscularity about the wheel arches looks really good, and I like the way the rear part of the greenhouse and wing corner wraps around the back. In the same way that the Jag XJ can’t always keep harking back to the ’68 original, neither can the RR – at least this fuses elements of the Evoque and the previous generation successfully. I’ll be interested to see the interior, the previous incarnation had (IMHO) one of the best in the business.

  21. It looks awesome – menacing yet graceful in a way only a Range Rover can be. Lovely stuff. Wish I could afford one.

    @25 Leslie – it’s probably advertising that helps to keep the site we enjoy so much ticking over at no cost to us. I wouldn’t start complaining about that

  22. I like it. It’s not as aggressive as some 4×4’s but the rear overhang/departure angle might be an issue for serious offroading – I hope the spare wheel isn’t hanging underneath like a plough as on Discovery. No manual gearbox – sign of the times I s’pose. The insurance might be expensive, especially due to the cost of body repairs, but at that price probably not an issue at least for the original buyers! I hope the quality is good – at the rate that JLR is increasing production and introducing new models suppliers must be struggling to cope and we’ve been here before…

  23. @1 – My god there are some miserable buggers post to this website (and I suspect most of them have beards). I feel “quite sad” having to read such idiotic statements.

  24. Personally I love it! Its got the comtempoary feel required to keep sales moving AND which are needed to appeal to a worldwide market fused with the classic RR styling – how else could they have done it?
    To all you critics – LR is a company with products that I am proud of and even if it looked terrible and the wheels feel off everytime you drove it, I would still stick up for it and support it because by and large it is a Landrover and it is British. So lets all do like our european cousins do and get behind our firms and big them up rather then all become a design critic and bash it into the ground.

  25. It looks like a pretty good rehash- it won’t scare away existing punters and its fairly subtle (at least as subtle as something this bloody huge in the Luxury SUV market can be).

    Probably far too subtle for many of its owners, who will gladly pay through the nose for a garish Underpidgeon boob job, unnecessary power hike, gangsta wheels, and have it painted in an offensive colour.

  26. @30 & 35
    🙂 Yup i agree. It’s possibly why we dont own most of our car industry now. We actually now make cars people want to buy for a change 🙂

  27. We’ve seen lots of prototypes of this model out and about in Warwickshire over the last six months in their black and white ‘disguises’ – it’s nice to see what it will actually look like in real life….!!

  28. ok so im going to start by disagreeing with most people on here by saying that i actually HATED the l322 range rover. range rover, both first a second generation were my all time favorite cars and i was horrified when the 3rd gen came out. its detailing was very hand fisted. it look extreemly top heavy at the back and it looked like a caricatured blob of the original desgin. just horrible. so after 11 years of wishing they would hurry up and bring a new one out, i have to say im pretty impressed. it looks pretty good, having lost some of the bloatedness of the l322. it looks sharper and i think its going to grow on everyone even more over the coming year or so. although i agree with everyone about the rear lights. that lip/tale/whatever needs to go. but well done jaguar land rover. god they must be getting bored of all this praise. however well deserved!

  29. Tough job following the L322, but it is a logical progression that will sell very well. The weight drop is the most important step forward in an engineering context.

    Not my thing, I’d rather have a battered 90 with a Rover V8, but well done JLR (again)

  30. @39 – You’re not alone – the P38 is still my favourite by far – the new one doesn’t look too bad to me – less blingy than the L322 and with 400+Kg shaved off – well done to the engineers.

  31. Not so keen on the bling. Needs a black grille, remove those weird details on the rear lamp clusters and you have something that might look like a proper “man’s” car.

  32. @42 yes the rear lamps look like theyve been stolen from the XJ. on the whole though I would be happy with a new Range Rover, im sure it would be a very nice palce to be (as long as theyve done something to move to the top of the vehicle reliabilty / customer satisfaction scale – lets hope those Jaguar a-ffected rear lamp cluster help in that regard).alex

  33. Just seen the interior – again it has modernised the last Rangie’s delightful job, though you def can play spot the jag parts

  34. @45 My recollection is that one V12 38a was for Reitzle and the other for Pischetsrieder. I once drove the Reitzle one from the BMW FIZ building to Munich airport. Quite an experience and probably a good thing it was limited to 130mph.

    As far as L405 is concerned, you need to see one in the metal to judge how it really looks and I suspect that it will be something that grows on people over time.

  35. Why not the original range rover made in small numbers like MB do with the stupendously expensive G-wagen which has become brash,arogant and vulgar?

  36. @ Adrian:

    Land Rover is currently working on this very vehicle although you will have to wait three more years until it is unveiled. Which will of course tie in rather neatly with the 25th Anniversary of the Defender name itself. So don’t be surprised to see an end-of-line (for Solihull)Defender ‘classic’ commemorative edition based on the current model…

  37. Earlier scoops left me pretty unexcited but now I’ve read your report I think it deserves to succeed and will do so handsomely.
    Hopefully this will now free up JLR to develop a new Defender and a compact saloon/estate, preferably with a Rover badge!

  38. When I was a kid in the early seventies I was given a Firebird bike (like a Chopper but cheaper). It had metallic copper paint, stick-on flames, and the all important stick-shift. I added twin wing mirrors, the coolest lights I could find, a hooter and a bell, and STP stickers. Is it at all possible that this car’s designer lived nearby?

  39. I’m certain it’ll be a belting car, but had hoped it would be a tad bolder. Then again, what do I know? The evolutionary approach to styling has hardly bankrupted VW, has it?

    Not sure the long reveal in the press helped in the end, though.

    Nevertheless, it looks very Range Rover (patrician, restrained) and that’s no bad thing when you consider Bentley’s take on the notion of a posh SUV.

    Anyway, for those of us who hoped for a groovier Range Rover mayber that’ll be the new Sport…

  40. Looks fine, a slight improvement over its predecessor. However, I can’t help but think it needs to stand out more – the styling details need to be more ‘off road, country gent’ as opposed to ‘sporty’. If the styling detail harked back more to the original this would differentiate the car on today’s roads.

  41. @49 Francis Brett – you are so on the money with that horrible MB G Wagon. I have no idea why they fetch such a premium. I saw one on the Wheeler Dealers program and was aghast at how much the seller wanted for a wonky old bus with bits hanging off.

    It’s funny how peoples tastes vary – I see lots of positive comments here about the P38, but I thought it looked like a bloated Metrocab! The newer versions to me look a huge improvement

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