News : Range Rover L405 picture clears

Words: Keith Adams Photography: Julian Reynolds

2013 Range steps closer to production
2013 Range steps closer to production

Range Rover management clearly took the decision last week to show just a little bit more of next year’s Range Rover, codenamed L405, to the public. The Midlands was flooded with test and development prototypes of its new flagship wearing far less disguise than before last week, and more of the new car’s styling is coming into focus – with clear ‘big Evoque’ styling cues emerging from under the zebra tape.

The front-end styling has been modernised with wraparound Evoque-style indicators and slimmer headlights, the flanks are less bulky, and the rising shoulder-line is a new styling cur for the big Rangie. Luckily, the rear end remains reasonably unchanged, which means a wide opening split tailgate, and a large rear window.

The main difference between the outgoing L322 and the new L405 is the all-new modular aluminium platform, which will also underpin the next Discovery, which will drastically reduce the current car’s portly 2.7-tonne kerbweight. The word on the street is that the new Rangie is a much more car-like driving experience – a deliberate ploy from a company that’s trying to take an increasing share of the luxury car market.

Unveiling is later this year, with the first public showing at the Paris Motor Show this autumn.

Keith Adams

44 Comments

  1. Looks like a lard arse to me. Lacks the elegant styling that Rangies used to be famous for. Fat arches & skinny body, scream of ‘Barryness’

  2. I’ve seen one up close while stationary and it’s not that different from the out going one, had some front end styling changes, to give it more of a family look with the evoque that’s all. The front and rear lights were obvious functional prototype LED ones though.

  3. lol… MartyB full of positivity again…

    The all ally modular chassis is the point of L405 – this will be a technical tour de force rather than a stylistic revolutionary one. Moving to ally is a sensible move.

  4. “The all ally modular chassis is the point of L405 – this will be a technical tour de force rather than a stylistic revolutionary one. Moving to ally is a sensible move.”

    Agreed.

    I would hate to be responsible for designing the replacement for the L322; apart from the really dodgy recent facelifts, which desperately need to be undone, the car is still a thing of beauty. However, the car is a complete nightmare as far as fuel consumption and emissions go.

    Use every bit of technology available to sort the fuel and emissions out and keep it looking like an early L322 (with only the slightest hint of Evoque – certainly not those stupidly small windows) and it could be a worthy replacement for the L322. I’m looking forward to seeing it.

  5. I quite like it, I would have to say that Im not keen on the current rangie (yes i like the sport model), but this one from what I can see looks better from behind. the slightly lower roof line looks more in proportion, than the current model. alex

  6. Its a daily occurrence RR spotting here in the West Midlands but I think if anything its less ‘Lard Arsed’, its a bit bigger but isn’t it the roll of the Sport or the Evoque to cater for the market vacated by the Classic RR and P38? The worse angle from the outgoing RR was the the rear,the glass area looked perched onto the metal area. I did mention a few weeks ago on FB that I think I saw a undisguised one in Brum, it had a Evoque type front end around the bumper area. No doubt the trolls will be out slagging it off but I for one are looking forward to it launch and the continued success of JLR and all much needed jobs that it is creating here in the UK.

  7. “However, the car is a complete nightmare as far as fuel consumption and emissions go.”

    Isn’t that also the case with it’s competitors though? Cayenne, Land Cruiser etc. Then even going back to the Range-Rover Classic it was never a frugal beast.

    From what i’ve seen of it they’re rightly following the lead of the VW Golf in terms of only making subtle changes with the styling with each generation.

  8. @4 If I’m correct, JLR are working with a company to produce a mass-inertia flywheel energy storage system. These tend to be more efficient than battery based hybrids and is mostly likely going to be used for their acceleration and stop-start systems.

  9. This lard arsed LT is around 400kg lighter than the current model, a dramatic weight reduction and one that should see impressive gains in mpg alone.

  10. “If I’m correct, JLR are working with a company to produce a mass-inertia flywheel energy storage system.”

    Makes it sound like a 2 stroke SAAB. :p

  11. Mass-inertia flywheel=kiss the weight loss of the ally good-bye,and its got to be reliable which landrovers are not.

  12. @13 all that would have been taken into account – don’t forget the mechanical equation. The velocity of the mass spins at 60,000rpm so it wouldn’t be much heavier than a small bank of batteries. It will be more efficient though as they don’t have to convert to different forms of energy, losing some in each conversion step. Besides this isn’t exactly new technology as such either but no less advanced in this form.

  13. “No, seriously, what is the black saloon ahead? It is not a current roadgoing car, I argue.”

    Audi A6?

  14. Love it! Theres a prototype RR in the photo and we are more interested in the black car in front!!!

    I dont think its an Audi, I have had a quick look on fleebay at the rear end of the latest A5,A6,A8 and none of them have a chrome arse piece.

  15. Parked next to this at Warwick services last wednesday morning – general look as per current range rover but glass house not as tall. Noted that he zebra tape covered what looked like vent panels in the front of the doors.

  16. The silver car in front of the black one is something new too. Seriously it’s such a tiny pic of the black car it could be anything, even just some old shed that someone had modded.

  17. “Noted that he zebra tape covered what looked like vent panels in the front of the doors.”

    Do the current ones not have that anyway?

  18. If you know about cars, you’ll notice the black car’s haunches, full width chrome strip and light configuration are loke nothing(combined) on the road right now.

  19. Struggling to see how it looks like a “big Evoque” – It looks just the same as the current car, which is exactly what you would expect.

  20. Well all i can see is a Black Saloon car with tail lights and a Chrome strip between them.
    Can make out the faint suggestion of a badge above the chrome strip, but the picture is so tiny it’ll be almost impossible to identify it.

    I mean we can all throw suggestions into the hat all day and never arrive at a definitive answer. Without a clearer picture then we’ll never know. I mean we might as well throw in guesses about what the silver car in front of it is too, they would only ever be guesses.

    I mean without a closer picture the Chrome strip might just be something that someone has stuck on it, yep people do modify cars you know.

  21. “cleverly designed to make us think the rear lights are slimmer than we think they should be”

    On the one i was looking at the rear lights were just plastic shells with DIY like LED arrays inside them, they were fairly loosely fitted too. Clearly they haven’t finalised the design for those.

  22. Firstly, the black saloon is a Volvo S80. Secondly, it’s a shame that we cannot see the front of the mule. The rear looks too similar to the current model, even with the camouflage, but the front is supposed to be altered a surprising amount; more rounded etc.

  23. Jaguar are working with Williams F1 (used to be WGPE in the good old days) to develop a flywheel based energy storage system I believe. Williams were developing a system as their take on KERS, but I think a standard system based on batteries is used in F1 since the reintroduction of KERS. I wonder how safe a flywheel spinning at 60k rpm is?

  24. Jaguar are working with Williams F1 (used to be WGPE in the good old days) to develop a flywheel based energy storage system I believe. Williams were developing a system as their take on KERS, but I think a standard system based on batteries is used in F1 since the reintroduction of KERS. I wonder how safe a flywheel spinning at 60k rpm is?

  25. “I wonder how safe a flywheel spinning at 60k rpm is?”

    I seem to recall an emergency backup power system for a major installation in France (maybe, it was a while ago) which used a flywheel. The wheel was suspended in magnetic bearings and was made of a very brittle carbon fibre, so if it became unbalanced and hit anything it would shatter into a powder.

    Installing that into a car, especially with the “Downtown Beirut circa 1978” approach to road maintenance that the uk is using at the moment, may be a little fraught.

  26. “Yes it’s usually much faster than the other two haha.”

    Just realised its an RR so it will never move over. In fact they may be testing the non-use of the left lane feature they all seem to be fitted with, along with the auto-tailgate feature and stealth indicators.

  27. “I wonder how safe a flywheel spinning at 60k rpm is?”

    Well a normal one flying apart at 10’000 RPM (achievable if you shifted into 2nd at 70mph) would make a mess not sure the extra damage at 60’000 would make a whole lot of difference. A little like crashing head first into a concrete slab at 100mph or 1000mph, same result.

    Next time you get on an aircraft though, you can have 4 massive engines running at even higher RPM right beside you.

  28. A flywheel will be safe at which speed it’s designed to run plus a safety of margin, so it’ll never explode in an overspeed situation.

    I don’t think the aero engines spin anywhere near 60k rpm. IIRC, the HP shaft runs at 11500 rpm for a RR Trent 500

  29. Re 39 Delorean’s Accountant – Have to agree totally with that,a cousin of mine works as test engineer at RR Aero Derby and explained to me testing of the blades in aero engines. Obviously a jet falling out of the sky isn’t a very good thing so the engines are tested well beyond their recommended RPM. I am all for making Fossil Fuel engines more efficient rather than just concentrating on electric cars.

  30. @40 There was a telly programme recently which showed film (probably on youtube somewhere) of testing of the containment ability of the engine casing, in the event of fan blade failure – it’s disappointingly undramatic!

  31. Having widened the m25 to 4 lanes between the m1 and m40 now, no one uses the left lane at all. Except me overtaking everything in the other 3 lanes.

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