Tag: Range Rover

New Range Rover vs. Old Range Rover

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date March 12, 2022

After a long break, Land Rover recently revealed its new-generation Range Rover. I previously covered the new Range Rover on my blog. The new model is better than the earlier generation, in terms of technologies, engines, and drive trains.

In terms of design, however, things are more complicated. You might already have spotted similarities between the new and old versions, especially at the front-end. As for me, I’ve been trying to notice any design differences between the two, and it’s challenging.

Both generations look exactly the same. Nevertheless, there are minor differences in the latest generation compared to the previous one.

From the side view, the new generation is not too different from its predecessor. The main difference is the door handles. The new generation has useless pop-out door handles, which tend to break down in harsh or cold weather conditions. However, it also has cleaner lines. This is an important reason why I prefer the new generation.

In terms of the rear-end, the two vehicles are entirely different. I’m still trying to get used to the look of the new generation’s rear-end, but it’s growing on me. Ultimately, it’s unique and creates an impression of a sculptured look.

I’m not an industrial designer or a car designer, and my views are just those of an enthusiastic car blogger. I hope Frank Stephenson will soon provide his review of the new Range Rover’s design.

Photos // Land Rover

Tags Land Rover, Range Rover

Cars

Is the New Range Rover Good?

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 5, 2021

Land Rover recently revealed its fifth-generation Range Rover. One of the most iconic SUVs in the market! We can’t ignore the fact that Range Rover created the luxury SUV segment, and other brands benefited.

Unlike the last Range Rover reveal, a picture of the new vehicle was leaked on Instagram days before the show. When even Apple can’t keep its upcoming devices secret, good luck, Land Rover!

The new Range Rover outperforms the previous generation. Land Rover’s engineers have fixed many of the old version’s problems and its lack of features. Now, the vehicle has a better infotainment system, improved interior design, and new driving assistance systems.

Despite all these efforts, the new Range Rover still lags behind the Mercedes GLE or BMW X7. Sadly, Land Rover can’t spend R&D cash like these German brands, which would otherwise allow it to top up the latest Range Rover with the latest gadgets.

For instance, the new Range Rover can’t scan the road surface and adjust the suspension firmness to eliminate the bumps. This feature is already offered by Mercedes-Benz GLE, GLS and Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Despite the limited features, the new Range Rover didn’t remove the low range gearbox and the rear-differential lock! However, this time they are mated with 23-inch wheels. Good luck with your off-road experiences.

The most shocking part about the new Range Rover is its exterior design. It resembles the previous generation too much. And I’m not surprised by this!

The last generation’s Range Rover was a cash cow, and Land Rover clearly didn’t want to do something too different and freak out its customers. With competitors like the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls Royce Cullinan competing for ugliest SUV, Range Rover needed to play it safe, and they did it well.

A similar strategy was used in the iconic design approach of the Porsche 911. Every Porsche 911 has looked exactly the same since the first one. Land Rover could be planning to implement this design strategy for future Range Rovers. So, do you expect the upcoming Range Rover to look the same? Maybe?

I’m not a designer. However, I still want to see meaningful design improvements with every new Range Rover. Despite my negative feelings towards the Range Rover due to its lack of technology, I still love the way its off-road abilities are wrapped up in luxury.

Would I buy one? Yes – and I’ll moan about it whenever I’m not off-roading.

Photos // Land Rover

Tags Land Rover, Range Rover

Cars

New Range Rover SV Coupe

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date March 26, 2018

Since the Range Rover was first introduced, we haven’t seen a coupe version recently, despite the fact that the initial Range Rover was a coupe. Why coupe? The answer is very simple. A short wheel base works better off-road. In particular, when you try to go over an obstacle, the shorter wheel base makes your life easier. That’s why the Lada Niva and the Mercedes G-Wagon are offered with short wheel base versions.

The reason why Land Rover offers a coupe Range Rover is not for improved off-roading. That’s very obvious given the standard 23-inch wheels! I really don’t know any other passenger vehicle with standard 23-inch wheels except buses and trucks.

Long story short, the Range Rover SV Coupe is just an expensive limited edition. Unfortunately the Land Rover team did not wish to revive the off-road DNA of the Range Rover with this coupe. The proof? The body is lowered by 8mm! When you add this up with the 23-inch wheels, the only off-roading you can do will be climbing the pavements in Mayfair, London. Just forget any other off-roading experience with this Range Rover.

The SV Coupe is powered by a 5-lt V8 Supercharged petrol engine with 565-HP and 700Nm. The transmission is an 8-speed ZF auto, and this monster needs 5.3-sec to reach 100 km/h! The top speed 257 km/h!

What about the technology? Like the original Range Rover, it offers nothing close to the Audi Q7, the Bentley Bentayga or the aging Mercedes GLE/GLS class! There are laser and LED headlights but the rest is outdated technology from 2012!

Overall, the Range Rover SV Coupe looks amazing, and has revived the real Range Rover. The performance is mind-blowing. The interior is the best interior in its class. However, the lack of driving assistance systems and semi-autonomous driving features just make this car outdated from the beginning.

Keep in mind that the SV Coupe is limited to 999 vehicles with a starting price tag of £240,000!

Photo Credit // Land Rover

Tags Land Rover, New Range Rover, Range Rover, Range Rover SV Coupe

Cars

The New Range Rover / Silent Luxury

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 13, 2017

The new Range Rover was recently announced, just a couple of hours ago. Actually, it is not a brand new car, only a facelift. As the Range Rover Velar introduced a new interior with new touch screens and more features, the rest of the Range Rover family had to be revised.

Now the new Range Rover looks more like an SUV from the 1990s, and, if you push hard enough, it can perfectly fit into the 1980s, especially with Miami Vice. If you have no idea what Miami Vice is, it was the coolest TV series in the 1980s.

The new Range Rover is using reductionism, basically the design director of Land Rover just changed his mind and contrasted it with his design of five years ago. The design team removed everything that was unnecessary, because they had placed too many unnecessary things into the design.

The interior of the new Range Rover is really well built, two large touch screens look cool but I do not know how functional they are. The steering wheel has the touch sensitive buttons and they will be a headache, because, they may assume you touched the buttons but you were just holding the steering wheel.

The interior features are really improved and moved far away from being an off-road vehicle. Actually, this is supported by the lack of a rear differential lock on the website. I could not find it, but I am sure, it is still offered for the V8 engines.

The driving assistance systems are improved but still a decade behind the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and two decades behind the new Audi A8. The Audi A8 is the pinnacle of driving assistance because, it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The exterior of the Range Rover looks better with the camouflage. I never liked the new design approach for the Range Rover products. They looked like jewellery more than an SUV. Range Rovers are designed for off-road conditions not for the roads of Mayfair, London.

I cannot visualise a Range Rover with flashing blue lights in a diplomatic convoy. That job is done perfectly by the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Overall, the new Range Rover is a really good car. However, it is not great due to its decade gap with the driving assistance system. It is really good, but an average Mercedes-Benz C-Class offers much better safety and assistance than the brand-new Range Rover. That is really important. Also, there is no semi-autonomous driving feature available. Instead, Land Rover has focused on the luxury benefits rather than the utility benefits. All these years, I moaned about the Range Rover and the main reason for this was that it did not satisfy my goal of technology. It solves a problem called boosting self-esteem and luxury experience. Unfortunately, the problems solved by the Range Rover are not my problems.

Photo Credit / Land Rover

Tags Land Rover, New Range Rover, Range Rover

Cars

Range Rover Velar and Ellie Goulding

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date July 5, 2017

The new Range Rover Velar, the SUV that sits between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport is here. We have been waiting for this. Really? Another new Range Rover based on the same platform as the higher end version? Lots of touch sensitive buttons, but still it can’t offer the same level of autonomous driving or even a night vision assist?

Basically, the Velar is just a new Range Rover that looks more expensive than the other ones. Yes, it does offer matrix LED laser headlights, and new driving assistance systems, and it does somehow offer autonomous driving. However, I couldn’t find any new technologies to talk about.

The best part of the Velar is that it is light, weighing between 1.8-1.9 tonnes depending on the engine option. The V8 has finally gone. Honestly, who offers V8 nowadays? BMW X5 and Volvo XC90, Audi Q7 have already dropped the V8 from their engine range. The V8 is gone.

Retractable door handle? Yes, that’s what the Velar offers. However, it is already available on the Tesla, and I really don’t see the point of it.

Good things with the Velar are that finally Land Rover has designed a new vehicle using a reductionism design approach. If any lines are unnecessary, just remove them from the design. That’s a really good approach and makes the design more appealing. They should have done it earlier.

The best aspect of the story is Ellie Goulding. She drove the new Range Rover Velar for a charity event in NYC.

Many people will say, Range Rover Velar offers this and that. However, what I really want to know is which driving assistance or pre-crash system is better than the German rivals or the Tesla?

I really love the Land Rover brand but I am not happy with the existing approach. Land Rover needs to focus on smaller engine size, pre-crash systems, autonomous driving and serious electrification. However, they should offer better technologies than their German competitors. They did it before, but now they are just trying to be posher.

Range Rover Velar and Ellie Goulding

Photo credit / Land Rover

Tags Ellie Goulding, Land Rover, Range Rover, Range Rover Velar

Cars

YouTube Interview with Gerry McGovern and the New Range Rover

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 12, 2015

Land Rover recently revealed a new video on YouTube, ‘45 years of Range Rover: Gerry McGovern discusses his design inspirations’. It is a short interview with Gerry McGovern, who designed the new Range Rover.

The new Range Rover is not good looking car. If I said it is ugly, it would be a bit unfair, but there is no hint of the Range Rover in this generation. In particular, the fake air vents and the departure from the ‘form equals function’ design philosophy. When I say form equals function, you may remember Frank Stephenson, as he is the designer who designed the previous generation of Range Rover, which I still love.

If you know me personally, you would be saying, ‘Frank is your friend and that’s why you love that Range Rover’. Absolutely not! The main reason for my emotional attachment to the previous generation is the clean design. Every design item on that previous generation of Range Rover had a role. The design wasn’t there to impress someone at Mayfair, London. It was there do a job.

However, Gerry McGovern moved away from this design philosophy and created fake air vents on both sides of the new Range Rover and moved away from the simple design to a poser design. Honestly, I would never associate the new Range Rover with an off-road experience; I would associate it with Prada sunglasses or a Fendi handbag. The Range Rover’s off-road DNA is gone, and with a 22-inch wheel, you can’t do off-road. It is that simple.

During the interview, Gerry McGovern mentioned that he loves the Patek Philippe Calatrava wristwatch for its simple and clean design, as every detail is simple and does a job. So, what was the role of the fake vents on the new Range Rover?

I know, I am focused on the air vents and have become very negative about the new Range Rover, but details make the difference, and I would really love to see a Range Rover that offers state-of-the-art technology and a design that reflects the DNA.

I know that many people from Jaguar Land Rover read my blog; however, that’s my personal view.

Photo Credit | Land Rover

Tags Gerry McGovern, Land Rover, New Range Rover, Range Rover

Cars

Range Rover Holland & Holland Edition | Canon 50 mm f 1.8

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date January 31, 2015

Range Rover Holland & Holland long-wheel base edition, I spotted this brand new Range Rover at Stratstone’s Mayfair, London dealer. And decided to approach from a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens. This lens provide a unique photography option even at low-ligh conditions. And with f 1.8 aperture value, you will get lots of blur background but you need to be careful with this.

Range Rover Holland & Holland edition is the most luxurious Range Rover ever made, it is made by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations. Despite being long-wheel base, Holland & Holland edition does not look that long. Inside the Range Rover, there are lots of leathers and all optional features are standard to improve luxury experience. The boot has a special storage! The best part of the Holland & Holland is the reclining seats at the rear. These seats can recline up to 17-degree, that’s a lot. Believe me and you can easily fall asleep. Actually, I really love reclining seats at the rear and it is really hard to get one! You can have it with Mercedes-Maybach, optional with Rolls Royce Phantom and standard with Range Rover Holland & Holland edition.

This comparison leads to price tag! Range Rover Holland & Holland edition is £180,000! And very expensive for an SUV, however if you are planning to buy Mercedes-Maybach or Rolls Royce, this price tag can be reasonable. However, you need to think again. If you wish to have all these luxury items without the Holland & Holland edition on a Range Rover long-wheel base, you will save around £40,000. And if you are planning to save money on a luxury car, you would probably will never buy a Range Rover.

Range Rover Holland & Holland long-wheel base edition’s technical details are; it is either powered by a 4.4-lt 334 HP SDV8 diesel engine or 5-lt 503 HP supercharged petrol engine with 8-speed automatic gearbox. And keep in mind, Range Rover’s are not light!

Tags Holland & Holland, London, Mayfair, New Range Rover, Range Rover, Stratstone

Cars

New Long Wheelbase Range Rover

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 28, 2013

New Long wheelbase Range Rover is recently revealed to public. After a very long time, Land Rover offered a vehicle with a long wheelbase option. The main reason for this decision is to compete with Mercedes S-Class, Bentley Flying Spur and some how Rolls Royce Ghost. Personally, it was very good decision to offer longer version, because some people willing to have more legs room at the rear.

However, longer vehicle does not mean that you suppose to offer wheel as big as a truck. Long wheelbase Range Rover is available with 21-inch and 22-inch wheels! And also Land Rover claims that longer Range Rover will have the same off-road capabilities with these huge wheels. Let me make this simple, if you are driving a vehicle with 21 or 22-inch wheels with low profile tyres, you have no chance to deal with adverse condition during an off-road journey. That’s why Mercedes G-Wagen and Toyota Land Cruiser offer high profile tyres to cope with rocks and mud. What Land Rover claims with the long wheelbase Range Rover with 22-inch wheels for off-road are similar to Christian Louboutin offers hiking experience with Monicarina Veau Velours boots.

Long wheelbase Range Rover offers very high level of luxury but still lack of the high technology of a German SUV. Unfortunately Range Rover cannot detect pedestrians at night like the new BMW X5! I know Range Rover offers a very high level of luxury but it needs more high-tech features.

And long wheelbase Range Rover cost more than £140,000. It is very expensive on each currency :) Keep in mind, Audi A8 offers four-wheel drive and the same level of luxury with a better price tag!

Photos Credits

Land Rover

Tags Christian Louboutin, New Range Rover, Range Rover

Cars

History of Mercedes G-Wagon Video

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 3, 2013

History of Mercedes G-Wagon. If you are reading my blog, you may have realised that I am not a great fan of Mercedes. Ten years ago, I really like the Mercedes in terms of design but as my ability to judgement evolved. And I found other brands better designed and built, consequently Mercedes is my least favourite German car brand, except one model. G-Wagon is very special for me. I still remember the day the first G-Wagon I saw, I think it was 1985 or 1986. I was four or five years old and the strong look, unique design and reflection of the character impressed me a lot. After that, I deeply loved G-Wagon.

I know G-Wagon is hard to drive, it is not designed for city driving and etc. Many people told me all these stories and their decision was to end up with Range Rover. Yes, Range Rover is very nicely built and drives excellently on road. However, that’s not a G-Wagon. Since 1979, G-Wagon has the same look and improved engineering. As a result of this, I think my brain accepted the G-Wagon like a wild animal and never found it ugly or out-dated. This may sound funny and you may not believe me but this is a scientific fact. We never perceive an animal out-dated!

Anyway, Mercedes UK released footage of G-Wagon to explain its evolution and history. I know myself, one day I will buy a G-Wagon and keep moaning for Mercedes. Because, I consider G-Wagon separately than the Mercedes.

Photos Credits

Mercedes

Tags G-Wagon, Mercedes, Range Rover

Cars

New Range Rover Experience

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date June 12, 2013

New Range Rover Experience! I decided to give another chance to the new Range Rover. As I expected my opinions did not change after the seconds visit. I still find it a bit interesting and needs more technological improvement. Especially, after the new Mercedes S-Class and upcoming Audi A8 and BMW 7-Series. The benchmark for high technology in automotive shifts into a different level.

And unfortunately, Range Rover does not offer these technologies. Such as, active lane assist with steering wheel correction. This is available in Ford Kuga but not in new Range Rover. However, not all the Range Rover customers are worried with these features. They want more luxury and glamour.

Interior of the new Range Rover is luxury and offers massage and individual rear seats. Also, very well made. I couldn’t find any mistake! However, I still find the exterior of Range Rover similar to a luxury fashion accessory like a sunglass. New Range Rover is too shinny for a Range Rover and lost its off road DNA from after this new design.

People like me always complain about radical changes, I really want to see the tough character of the Range Rover instead of Bond Street friendly look. However world is changing and design language is changing as well. It is impossible to satisfy everyone!

There is always a demand to Range Rover, because it is Range Rover. Status of achievement! You cannot have this psychological feeling with other SUVs. If you are successful, you should buy a Range Rover, thus other people will recognise your success.

If you are successful and do not wish to announce it, buy the Mercedes M-Class!

My suggestion for the new Range Rover: Replaces the screens with a higher density screens. Design a new user interface. Offer new pre crash technologies. And better plastic. The rest of the vehicle is really good!

Lastly, don’t get influence by my comments. New Range Rover is a very good car and visit a dealer before making a decision. Don’t be lazy and sit in front a screen to judge a car :)

Tags Land Rover, New Range Rover, Range Rover