Range Rover Vogue Supercharged 2007 Review

Road Test

Long before the world of luxury SUVs was populated by the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Audi there was the Range Rover. A product designed for the British aristocracy to enable them to follow the hounds and horses on the weekend and still not be out of place parked in London's financial district during the week, Land Rover's flagship was a truly original concept.

And for a very long time, 'the Rangie' had the market to itself resulting in upgraded models being few and far between. The current generation, launched in 2002, is only the third in its 35-year-plus history. All-new, it ushered in a number of significant changes -- not the least of which was a switch from a frame chassis to monocoque construction.

In part, the changes were influenced by BMW's ownership of Land Rover during the vehicle's development with the German maker wanting to develop a product that could share components with its own X5. In 2005, now under Ford ownership, it received an upgrade and again earlier this year, the car came in for another update with a redesigned interior, an improved 'Terrain Response' all-wheel-drive system with lockable electronically-controlled centre and rear differentials and the first-time availability of a new twin-turbo diesel V8 engine.

In order to differentiate the flagship SUV from the smaller Range Rover Sport, the big fella is now badged as Range Rover Vogue. It is also now only offered with a choice of two engines with the naturally-aspirated BMW-sourced 4.4-litre V8 petrol engine having been dropped. This leaves the abovementioned 3.6-litre V8 diesel and range-topping supercharged 4.2-litre V8 petrol.

The range starts with the $142,900 V8 diesel with a mid-range luxury version of the diesel priced from $166,900. For Carsales Network's week-long test, however, we opted for the range topping Supercharged (petrol) which hits the showrooms priced from $185,900.

From the minute you lay eyes on the Range Rover, you get the feeling that it is a very serious vehicle. Unlike many of its rivals over recent years, Land Rover has stuck to its relatively boxy styling theme that denotes a vehicle of serious intent -- whether it be for luxury prestige or tackling some challenging offroad adventures.

It is also a very big vehicle and climbing up into the spacious cabin, you have a superbly commanding view. As a five-seater town car, there is ample room inside. For a family of four hitting the 'unbeaten' track there's plenty of space thanks to a generous rear luggage area.

As the range topper, the car lacks for nothing in the comfort and convenience stakes and comes fully loaded with the only options being metallic paint for $1500 and a four-zone (as opposed to the standard dual-zone) climate control for $3200.

Up front, the comfy and supportive leather-trimmed seats are electrically adjustable and feature a dual-zone heating and ventilation system that allows you to warm or cool the backrest or seat squab separately. Even the steering wheel is heated for those particularly cold winter mornings, however, while the climate control was powerful enough for the task of heating and cooling the vast cabin, the complexity of the system meant it was difficult to master.

That said, the layout of the new dash is bold and clear with everything placed for easy and logical access. Climate control, audio (a superb harman/kardon six-stack CD system) satnav and a number of other functions are all accessed via the central touch-screen display.

In the rear, keeping the kids entertained is easy with a six-stack DVD player projecting movies via two screens mounted in the rear of the front head restraints with sound via a couple of sets of wireless headphones.

As the name suggests, this model uses a supercharged version of the Jaguar-sourced 4.2-litre V8 powerplant. It generates peak outputs of 291kW and a very impressive 560Nm. Like the rest of the range, power is put to all four wheels permanently via a six-speed automatic transmission.

Despite weighing in at nearly 2.7 tonnes, the supercharged V8 is more than adequate at getting the Range Rover off the line. Land Rover quotes a 0-100km/h time of 7.5sec which feels achievable. Acceleration is strong and the progression as the six-speed automatic transmission silently and seamlessly shifts through the ratios is smooth and refined.

Riding on an adaptive air suspension, the ride quality on roads of all conditions is superb with a great degree of comfort and barely a ripple penetrating the quiet calm of the cabin or affecting the well-composed attitude of the car.

Head onto tarmac a little more curvaceous, and the vehicle still retains a fairly solid composure with plenty of grip from all four wheels. But despite the competence of the adaptive air springs, it just can't hide the fact that it is a tall, boxy and very heavy vehicle and at higher speeds, there is a fair degree of lean through corners.

It's not wildly alarming or of the sort requiring everyone to brace, but it is long way short of the sort of flat cornering you find in the latest generation BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne. Still the Vogue does still sit very solidly on the road and there is never any concern that it is likely to let go. Just as well -- you would be unlikely to have any warning as the steering feels quite dead and lifeless.

The weight of the vehicle is probably no better felt than in the hip pocket, however. Over the week-long test we racked up about 830km of which 600km was on a country run to The Grampians in western Victoria. Even with a light foot and the open road we only averaged 17.3lt/100km according to the trip computer. Driving around the city, we struggled to get that figure under 20lt/100km.

The Range Rover was originally designed to meet some serious offroad needs and despite its substantial increase in luxury appointments over the years, it is still arguably the most competent offroader in the luxury segment.

With the Land Rover's new Terrain Response system it is simply a matter of selecting one of five preset programs that automatically adjusts ride-height, gear selection, differentials and suspension settings for the conditions you face. You can also adjust things manually but on our brief trek through some fairly rough, muddy and rock-strewn tracks the appropriate preset proved perfectly adequate.

It's just a simple case of dialling up the right setting, applying gentle throttle pressure and watching where you steer and allowing the car to use its strong torque and low gearing, locking diffs and adaptive springs to get you through without a worry.

The Range Rover Vogue may not be the most urban or carbon-friendly vehicle given its size, styling and in petrol guise, enormous thirst, but for the country squire who needs real offroad ability to get to the top paddock (or a 3.5-tonne towing capacity) with all the luxury features and ride comfort of a high end sedan, it is unique.

For the sake of the planet or even your own pocket, however, best opt for the diesel.

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