It is a remarkable car, the Range Rover. But then it needs to be to get anywhere near justifying a price tag that nudges £80k before you get close to the options list.
Judged purely as a tow car, it’s as good or better than the Discovery, utterly in control in extreme manoeuvres. No amount of bullying from What Car?’s road tester would provoke the Range Rover in the lane-change test, and despite leaning heavily when changing direction it always did whatever the driver asked of it.
The Range Rover was four-tenths quicker than the Discovery from 30-60mph. More significantly, the Range Rover stops better than the Disco, needing 2.2m less to come to a halt from 30mph – that’s partly down to the Range Rover’s significantly lower kerbweight.
If you don’t need the Discovery’s extra row of seats, the Range Rover offers lots of space to stretch out in the five-seat cabin, and the surroundings could hardly be more luxurious.
Our practicality judges found space for all our holiday luggage – just – and trailer stability control earned the Range Rover further marks.
Brilliant though it is, however, is the Range Rover £30k better than a Discovery? No matter how much we admire Land Rover’s new flagship, for us the answer is no.
