Land Rover has got their latest generation flagship premium SUV the Range Rover into the Indian markets. This is the 5th generation of the Range Rover and the iconic car maker has gone all out with it. The Range Rover does not need any introduction for a SUV whose lineage goes five decades back. We were invited by Land Rover India for an Exclusive preview of their latest piece of art, we give you a quick rundown on the 2022 Range Rover Sport with our walk-around review here.
Watch our walk-around video review
Coming to the exteriors and design the basic key trademark design theme is very much still in place that the iconic Range Rover is known for. The basic silhouette is huge, prominent and imposing. There are two versions of the Range Rover – Long Wheel Base and the Short Wheel Base. We will speak of the LWB here. The design is simplistic , modern and classy. The traditional clamshell bonnet is in place, you get a all new large sized grille upfront finished in silver along with an all new bumper with silver inserts and a slim wide air dam. The head lamps are all LED lighting with high-definition Digital LED Headlights providing a beam range of up to 500 m. They create an exceptional design detail and feature Signature daytime running lights, animated indicators, Adaptive Front Lighting and Image Projection technology on start-up, making them the most advanced headlights ever fitted to a Land Rover. These headlamps come with 1.2 million micro mirrors that do the trick.
The sides get the trademark Range Rover fins in silver giving that traditional premium look. Door handles are flushed into the body that come out when you walk to it. Wheels are 22 inch in size which can be upgraded to 2 inches if needed. The glass are is huge with a strong waist line and blacked out roof. The running board gets a glossy black insert along with a silver insert on the C pillar. The side profile reminds you that of a boat in terms of the way it is shaped.
The rear profile is clean finished with hidden tail lights and turn lights that come to life when the car is unlocked until then they are disguised as glossy black design inserts. The twin opening tail gate is load bearing and can also be used for sitting which also gets a folding back rest and lights along with speakers for enjoying your evenings on a long drive.
On the insides the cabin of the Range Rover is totally new. The key highlight here is the boss seat that’s behind the front passenger seat which converts into a business class seat at a touch of a button. You can electrically fold down the centre arm rest and here you have the touch screen controls for all the rear seat settings. Touch the seat setting button and it reclines back extending a calf support and foot board too. You can heat or cool the seat and also choose between massage settings on this seat enhancing the comfort and premium levels. You also get a removable vanity mirror placed inside the centre arm rest along with HDMI and USB C ports. Cup holders are also electrically opened. You also get a 35 speaker Meridian Signature sound system included on the Range Rover’s package with some mind boggling advanced noise cancelling feature that cuts out the eternal road, tyre or ambience noise from the cabin intelligently supported by mics that are placed inside the fenders.
The front seats get cooling and heating function along with 24 electric settings. The dash gets an all new 13.1 inches curved floating AVN system running on Pivi Pro and an 11.4 inch HD screen as your instrument cluster. The rear seats also get two 8 inch screens for passengers behind. You get all the latest generation Land Rover Terrain Response 2 system, which harnesses the various chassis systems to automatically provide the perfect settings for the surroundings, from a choice of six driving modes, to minimize driver workload across all terrains. Alternatively, the driver can select the most appropriate setting manually or, use Configurable Terrain Response to create a bespoke chassis set-up.
Powering the 2023 Range Rover are three engine options – Top of the line 4.4litre V8 Turbo Petrol with 523hp and 750Nm of torque, then you have the 3.0litre 6 cylinder Diesel making 350hp and 3.0litre 6 cylinder Petrol making 395hp. Both these engines get a 40V mild hybrid system on them. Transmission options on all the engines is a 8-speed automatic from ZF.
Every New Range Rover features All-Wheel Steering for an effortless drive with heightened high-speed stability and improved maneuverability at low speeds, ensuring it is equally at home on the open road and negotiating tight urban streets.
Features on the 2022 Range Rover include all wheel steering that electrically operates the rear axle which provides up to seven degrees of steering angle and, at low speeds, turns out-of-phase of the front wheels, giving the New Range Rover a turning circle of less than 11 m1 – the smallest of any Land Rover. At higher speeds the rear axle turns in phase with the front wheels for enhanced stability and comfort.
Fully independent air suspension is also included on the SUV that helps isolates the cabin from surface imperfections more effectively than ever, for serene composure at all times with air springs volumes with twin-valve dampers – all managed by in-house-developed Adaptive Dynamics control software powering the Air Suspension.
The New Range Rover writes a new chapter in Jaguar Land Rover’s unique story of innovation and sets a design statement in the world of luxury SUVs and rightly takes ahead the iconic heritage that the massively premium palace on wheels is always associated with.