Imagine a house. It’s a beautiful house, perched on a corner lot in some bougie neighborhood with its many rooms outfitted from floorboards to crown moldings with Restoration Hardware furniture. It’s a grand place, except that a few times a month at completely random intervals, the doorbell rings while the lights flash on and off. Other times, the smoke alarms sound off for no reason whatsoever. Would the rest be worth it?

The Range Rover is like that house. Undeniably desirable and eminently versatile, the luxury SUV is as adept towing a race car or moving an apartment full of furnishings as it is wafting down the arteries of the country’s top-earning zip codes. Need a date-night chariot? Something in which to schlep dogs to the vet? One of our editors even threw a mean, one-eyed groundhog he trapped in his backyard, cage and all, into the cargo area to set free near our office. It surely was the most luxurious experience that woodland creature has ever had, and the Rover’s rubber cargo mat ensured that the smelly varmint’s brief ride didn’t rub off on the interior. More regularly, staffers road-tripped their families all over the country in it.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Due to its popularity, the Rover cleared 40,000 miles in just 54 weeks, a few months sooner than is our average for a long-term test. This diesel-powered example even averaged a nearly unbelievable 26 mpg. Inside and out, no matter what you looked at or touched, the Land Rover reaffirmed its superiority . . .

. . . Except for those Electronics

In our tainted-house metaphor, it’s the ones and zeros behind the Range Rover’s electronics that give us pause. Throughout the test, drivers and passengers were frustrated by finicky electronic snits, most of which centered on functions managed through the 8.0-inch touchscreen in the center of the dashboard.

The display’s pixelated graphics are more abacus than Apple, and its response to touch inputs is consistently inconsistent. Whether listening to satellite radio or Bluetooth audio, the displayed song details often fell behind the actual music playing by several tracks, sometimes freezing altogether, forever stuck showing one song as the audio for another continued on unabated. Worse was the wonky navigation behavior or total screen blackouts. Other Jaguar Land Rover products, such as our own long-term Jaguar XE sedan, have begun receiving a newer touchscreen setup with sharper graphics and supposedly better software. We’d say it couldn’t come soon enough to our Range Rover—it was added to this model for 2017—but only if JLR fixes that buggy, at-times-unresponsive system, too.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

At just under 34,000 miles, the digital gauge cluster joined the touchscreen in boycotting functionality. The screen went dark with the Rover plodding down the highway at 80 mph—in the dark. A few minutes of dashboard swatting on our part brought critical readouts (such as the car’s speed) flickering back to life. Three thousand miles later, the same thing happened to a different driver. Electronic hiccups are one thing. Those that come and go, so that they don’t stick around long enough to be shown to a dealership technician during service visits, are worse. We’ve said it before: The Rover’s electronic issues would actually be better were they catastrophic failures. Then at least we could replace the components and hope for better.

Non-electronics-focused complaints were few. Some testers didn’t shine to the softly tuned air suspension’s allowance of body roll, brake dive, and squat under hard acceleration. Indeed, the tall, heavy Range Rover is no dynamic star. If you can deal with the sensation of sailing the high seas, the payoff is a quiet, comfortable ride quality.

There was the day that, despite the suspension performing just fine, the Range Rover nonetheless displayed a suspension-error message that sent us packing for the dealer. Our Rover’s chassis-control module was given an electronic update, and the air-spring silencer (a muffler for the valve that releases air from the compressor pump to decrease ride height) was replaced. The error message disappeared, and the work was covered under Land Rover’s warranty.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Oh Yeah, It’s a Diesel!

That we’re only now touching on the Rover’s diesel engine should be telling. Aside from an annoying low-speed accelerator delay, the turbocharged V-6 went largely unnoticed and provided good passing power once underway. It has more than enough torque to tow and haul people and their stuff, and it sips fuel on the highway more like a mouse than an elephant. From inside the car, the diesel is barely audible, its clatter indiscernible from that of many gasoline-fueled, direct-injected engines.

The Td6 engine’s emissions equipment is less praiseworthy. To clean up the diesel V-6’s gaseous byproducts, Land Rover equips it with a urea-injection aftertreatment system. Given its long, 16,000-mile service intervals, the Range Rover is all but guaranteed to need diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) additions to a tank under the hood between scheduled dealership visits. This is no problem for owners who heed several stages of dashboard warning messages that appear as the tank nears empty. Land Rover figures most owners will see the messages and bring their cars into their local dealers for a DEF top off. Easy peasy?

Not so fast. The warnings flash across the gauge cluster only briefly each time the engine is started and are easy to miss if you’re not looking for them. (We chronicled each warning in a separate test in which we ran the DEF tank completely dry to see what would happen.) Should the DEF run out, the computers prevent the engine from restarting until the fluid is replenished, to avoid running afoul of emissions regulations. Uh-oh!

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

This zero-sum result makes checking the fluid’s level critical, regardless of whether you end up going to the dealer or filling the DEF tank yourself. Land Rover makes the process neither intuitive nor obvious, as we explained in an earlier update. Whereas our diesel-powered long-term Nissan Titan XD pickup gives drivers an easy-to-read digital DEF gauge, the Rover forces owners to navigate a fiddly gauge-cluster menu that appears only when the vehicle is in its accessory power mode. Even then, the readout shows only miles to empty, not a more useful gallon figure, which would make it easier to gauge (pun intended) how much fluid to purchase and add to the tank.

Our diesel’s low-effort life on the open road kept its DEF consumption to just 23.2 gallons over 40,000 miles. This rate is well below Land Rover’s estimate that most owners will use 1.5 gallons per 2000 miles, or 30 gallons over 40,000 miles. A half-gallon bottle of the stuff costs about $14 from the Land Rover dealer, and generic brands cost less. At least the Rover required little else. The aforementioned suspension issue was resolved under warranty at 23,356 miles, and our two scheduled service visits came to $1183. Shortly before our test concluded, in late spring, late-night revelers in a pickup truck sideswiped the parked Range Rover’s right-rear quarter-panel. The hit-and-run tore off the corner of the bumper, shattered the taillight, and grooved the aluminum body aft of the wheel opening. A cool $3802 later (picked up by insurance), we had the Rover back in our lot, shiny and repaired, just in time for its departure.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

So?

Choosing either the Range Rover’s standard gas-fueled, supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 that is entirely acceptable and quicker—or the optional supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that is a notch or ten above acceptable—solves the DEF issue. Unfortunately, checking boxes on a Land Rover order sheet can’t fix the SUV’s electronic gremlins. We aren’t generalizing here. It isn’t an isolated problem. Nearly every Jaguar Land Rover product that passes through our parking lot suffers from similar touchscreen maladies and curious fritz-prone electronics. It is the only catch, the unavoidable blemish on the Range Rover’s dreamy aura. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that everyone’s favorite features, the tall seating position and huge windows on all sides, also make it easy to spot Land Rover dealerships.

Months in Fleet: 12 months Final Mileage: 40,040 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 23.5 gal Fuel Range: 610 miles

Service: $1183 Normal Wear: $132 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $3802 Urea-Solution Additions: 23.2 gal

WHAT WE LIKE: As winter hangs over our Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters, our long-term Range Rover has bucked the usual seasonal slowdown in mileage accumulation, so we’re rapidly closing in on our 40,000-mile test goal. Credit the full-size SUV’s winter-conquering features, from its toasty heated seats and no-gloves-required heated steering wheel to its all-wheel-drive traction and the Pirelli Scorpion winter tires we fitted back in December. (Recent unseasonably warm weather has helped, too.)

Staff members who lack garages appreciate the Range Rover’s heated windshield, which makes snow and ice simply melt off of the tall, gigantic windscreen. The alternative, of course, is to wield a (preferably extendable) snow brush like a peasant who has no business owning a Range Rover.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

In fine Michigan tradition, the roads are slowly disintegrating as spring approaches. We’re happy that we exercised restraint when ordering our Rover with the base 20-inch wheels and their relatively tall-sidewall tires. Had we splurged on fancier, larger-diameter rims with their attendant thinner-profile tires, we surely would have bent a wheel or bubbled a sidewall by now. As it is, the Rover glides over even the gnarliest potholes and cracks.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: As senior online editor Mike Sutton succinctly puts it, the Range Rover is “a remote starter away from the ultimate winter vehicle.” Okay, so the lack of remote engine-starting capability ranks fairly low on our list of complaints (think of it as headlining our wish list), but the feature would alleviate our impatience with the diesel engine’s lethargic warm-up in cold weather. It can take many minutes before the cabin starts receiving warm air, and the diesel V-6, which is quiet in regular use, is clattery until it’s up to temperature. Also during warm-up, some have complained of a diesel-exhaust scent seeping into the cabin at idle in cold weather. Mostly, though, what we don’t like is the Range Rover’s glitch-prone electronics, detailed below.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Nothing went awry enough to warrant a visit to the dealer since our last update. Still, many on our staff aren’t convinced that Jaguar Land Rover has completely shaken its reputation for building finicky cars with issues that prove elusive to diagnose. Aside from the Rover requiring repair to its air-spring suspension controls—which was covered under warranty and reported in our previous update—many drivers have encountered persnickety, intermittent electronic episodes.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Most of these issues have to do with the dashboard’s touchscreen, which can demand multiple finger stabs to register an input. Other times, the screen has locked entirely, only to return to normal later or after the engine is restarted. Senior technical editor K.C. Colwell had the infotainment system boot his Bluetooth-connected phone for no apparent reason, while others have struggled to pair their phones at all. It is worth pointing out that the Range Rover’s touchscreen is Jaguar Land Rover’s older unit; a newer, larger screen that’s allegedly more reliable and easier to use graces our long-term Jaguar XE. However, even that new system has frozen or blacked out multiple times and suffered similar issues, so this continues to be a dark area—pun intended—for JLR.

Separately, but along similar lines, this editor experienced a total blackout of the digital gauge cluster while motoring down I-94 toward Chicago at 80 mph in the dark. With the head-up display turned off at the time, we were forced to tuck in behind other traffic while pounding on the top of the dashboard in hope of reawakening the cluster. (We’d normally seek a more genteel or technical solution, but this seemed like the best option at the time.) We could have pulled over and tried cycling the engine—rebooting the electronics usually restores function when these systems wander off the reservation—but we were curious to see whether, like other electronic snafus, this one would solve itself. Sure enough, about two minutes later the digital display flickered back to life as if nothing had happened. The intermittent nature of these things is the most frustrating aspect of all, since no problem ever sticks around long enough to show it to the service technicians. We wish the screen had fizzled out entirely so that we could have the dealer take definitive action.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

WHERE WE WENT: Electronic gremlins notwithstanding, the Rover’s positives—cushy ride quality, luxurious interior, and spacious cargo bay—have kept it hoofing around the country. Since our last update 10,000 miles ago, the Range Rover has journeyed to Chicago, Nashville, northwestern Indiana, Vermont, and far northern Michigan. We also visited the Land Rover dealer only once, at 31,664 miles for the Range Rover’s second routine maintenance. The visit cost $407 and included an oil change, an ECU update performed under recall, and new pollen and engine-air filters. Meanwhile, our diesel Rangie has required 7.0 gallons of diesel-exhaust fluid since our last update, which combined with the 8.1 gallons previously added brings our total DEF consumption to just over 15 gallons. That rate is well below Land Rover’s estimated consumption of 1.5 gallons per 2000 miles (which would equate to about 25 gallons total by this mileage), a feat we attribute to the Range Rover’s light-duty life on the open road.

Months in Fleet: 10 months Current Mileage: 33,632 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 23.5 gal Fuel Range: 610 miles

Service: $1183 Normal Wear: $132 Repair: $0

Urea-Solution Additions: 15.1 gal

WHAT WE LIKE: Like so many rail cars hitched to a locomotive, our Range Rover’s logbook contains a long chain of associations made between the SUV and a train. Staffers continue to be impressed by the Rover’s straight-ahead stability and willingness to draw itself toward the horizon, the diesel engine chugging along silently while being relatively miserly with fuel. Our recorded fuel economy hasn’t changed since our last report and remains an impressive (at least for something this big and heavy) 26 mpg, which, combined with the 23.5-gallon fuel tank, is good for more than 600 miles of range per fill-up.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: The Land Rover may be trainlike when traveling in a straight line, but it goes catawampus when dealing with any steering inputs. The softly tuned suspension, complete with air springs, fails to keep the Rover’s tall body in check during aggressive lane changes, or when coming to a hard stop or accelerating with any verve. As deputy editor Daniel Pund remarked, the SUV is “such a floppy tater.” Other comments have doubled down on this line of criticisms, noting extreme dive under braking and almost nautical levels of squat when the go pedal is floored.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

That rightmost pedal continues to draw flak for its languid response to driver inputs, which gives the sensation that the torquey diesel V-6 engine is incapable of waking up unless you really give it the boot. Also, the fuel-saving auto stop/start function has drawn ire for its lack of smoothness during engine cranking.

Getting into the really nitty-gritty stuff, the parking sensors and attendant beeping alert calling attention to the Rover’s proximity to other vehicles can annoyingly go off in stop-and-go traffic, even when no collision is imminent. And one editor wondered about the $1850 Meridian sound system’s lack of loudness when listened to from outside of the Rover while tailgating. There is no word on whether he was tailgating at the East Coast Open polo match or the Harvard–Yale Regatta.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Shortly after the Range Rover’s first scheduled service, called for at the 16,000-mile mark, the driver-information screen began intermittently showing a suspension error message. Although nothing about the suspension seemed amiss, we took the SUV to the dealer anyway, just to be sure. A quick update to the chassis control module and an air-spring silencer (a muffler of sorts for the blowoff valve that releases pressure to lower the suspension), both performed under warranty, cured the ill. During the same visit, we replaced the wiper blades for an eye-watering $132. Tallying that with the $777 bill for the 16,000-mile service (tire rotation, oil change, pollen-filter replacement, fuel-filter replacement, and diesel exhaust fluid top-off; we also had a warranty fix performed at the same time to remedy an inoperative 12-volt power socket in the center console) gives a steep total, but it’s not as bad as it seems when you consider that most cars will have seen at least two full services by this mileage.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

WHERE WE WENT: The Range Rover took a long trip to Cape Cod and continued to rack up visits to northern and western Michigan, as well as a few jaunts to Ohio. Translation: The SUV’s rapid pace of mileage accumulation hasn’t let up even as summer-road-trip season wound down, and just six months after the Rover showed up at our office, the odometer read 23,356 miles.

Months in Fleet: 6 months Final Mileage: 23,356 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 23.5 gal Fuel Range: 610 miles

Service: $777 Normal Wear: $132 Repair: $0

Urea-Solution Additions: 8.1 gal

WHAT WE LIKE: Everyone continues to appreciate our 2016 Land Rover Range Rover Td6’s style, luxurious cabin, and sumptuous ride quality. Some editors have joked that this SUV is the perfect long-term test vehicle, as it combines a cool, brag-worthy vibe with family-friendly space, long-distance comfort, and the ability to tow our various jalopies, boats, and campers behind it.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: Our biggest complaint with the Range Rover is self-inflicted and conditional. Thanks to the Land Rover’s appeal, it is nigh on impossible for staffers to regularly get behind its leather-wrapped steering wheel, to the point where some have taken to calling it the phantom Range Rover. The popular SUV simply isn’t often found in our office parking lot, because it is constantly signed out for long trips, vacations, and even to serve as a stable-riding platform for our photographers to hang out of while shooting other cars. Four months into its stay, it has accumulated miles at a blistering pace, with the odometer already nudging 13,000 miles.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Several actual quibbles have bubbled to the surface, as well. For starters, in heavy traffic or during low-speed maneuvers near other cars or guardrails, the parking sensors and sometimes the ultra-sensitive forward-collision warning suddenly erupt with beeps and flashing lights when no collision is imminent. The diesel engine’s laggardly acceleration when moving away from a stop continues to garner flak—at higher speeds, the engine is more responsive, though, so this complaint hasn’t deterred anyone set on road-tripping the diesel Range Rover. Other logbook commenters have thrown barbs at the glitchy navigation system and the frustrating, unintuitive driver-information display’s mixture of controls on the steering wheel and the turn-signal stalk.

WHAT WENT WRONG: So far, outside of the loss of the Range Rover’s trailer-hitch cover and its electronics filing a request for better-quality diesel exhaust fluid—the chemical used to scrub the engine exhaust clean—early in its stay with us, nothing has gone “wrong.” Still, the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) has emerged as noteworthy. The fluid, a urea and water solution injected into the diesel engine’s exhaust reduces nitrogen oxide to harmless nitrogen and water vapor, is an effective (and necessary) way to reduce the Range Rover Td6’s emissions. Without the DEF, the Rover’ diesel V-6 doesn’t comply with U.S. emissions regulations, so Land Rover (like other diesel manufacturers) builds in programming that won’t let the engine restart after the fluid runs out. While that’s all fine, what doesn’t make sense is how little feedback the Range Rover gives drivers when it comes time to refill the fluid.

The Rover begins to warn of “low” DEF levels before the fluid runs dry, but these warnings, which appear in the driver-information display between the gauges, flash for only a moment each time the engine is started and then disappear. The owner’s manual even quantifies the brief warning time, stating that when there are multiple warnings (including reminders to buckle your seatbelt or that a door is still open), each is shown for two seconds. The manual does not specify that “low” DEF warnings begin with about 1500 miles to go (we found that info on a U.K. Land Rover website; Land Rover says these numbers are dependent on driving style and conditions) nor does it say how to find the distance-to-empty readout for the DEF in the gauge-cluster menus. A second warning will sound when there are 515 miles until the DEF runs out—it just says the level is “too low”—and thankfully that warning stays in the cluster along with a mile countdown until the engine won’t be allowed to restart.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Online copy chief Rusty Blackwell was in the middle of a 1500-mile round trip to Alabama when the first low-fluid warning appeared with about 10,000 miles on the odometer. Unsure of how to proceed—or how long he had until the fluid ran out—Blackwell detoured to a Land Rover dealer and purchased two half-gallon bottles of AdBlue-branded DEF. After adding one bottle, the warning went away. Upon returning to C/D HQ, the warning was back, and another two gallons of AdBlue were added, fully topping off the 4.75-gallon tank.

Not for lack of trying, Blackwell couldn’t find the range-to-empty readout for the DEF tank, and it became clear why when we eventually figured out the process. Checking the distance-to-empty range requires tapping the starter button to enter the vehicle’s accessory-power mode (but only while the engine is off) and then selecting a “Service Menu” in the driver-information display that doesn’t appear when the engine is running. In that menu, one selects the “Next Service” heading, and the distance to empty for the DEF is listed below the countdown to the next service interval. Nowhere is this process detailed in the owner’s manual. Since we fiddle with cars all day, our hunch that the DEF level could be checked somewhere in the “Service Menu” paid off, but how many owners might figure that out? Even then, they would need to have spied the small note in the manual stating that the Service Menu is accessible only when the car is in accessory mode.

Since running out of DEF has the same effect as running out of diesel fuel—car no go!—this situation clearly leaves room for improvement. Perhaps Land Rover wants owners to visit the dealer soon after the first DEF warning—and it’s probable that most owners will do that—but the company also says the fluid likely will need to be topped off between the Rover’s 16,000-mile service intervals. The 500-mile countdown, which appears with the more serious “too low” warning, strikes us as being too short for a vehicle that boasts long driving range (as much as 610 miles between fill-ups in our experience) and is likely to be used for extended journeys. After all, it’s not hard to find yourself more than 500 miles away from a Land Rover dealership in America.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Topping off the fluid yourself requires popping the hood and unscrewing a cap near the left fender, screwing on an upside-down bottle of DEF, and pushing down on the bottle to release the fluid into the reservoir. The fluid can be purchased at gas stations, truck stops, and auto-parts stores for less money than at the Land Rover dealer, and doing it yourself avoids a labor charge. It’s not hard, but truck stops, fiddling under the hood with chemicals, and $100,000 luxury SUVs are things that don’t seem congruent. Will owners find the hassle (or extra dealer visits) worth the fuel-economy payoff? We’re averaging 26 mpg so far, astounding for a vehicle of this size and capability, and we’re still not so sure.

WHERE WE WENT: It’s easier to say that the Range Rover hasn’t been at our office very often, but we’ll elaborate. The Land Rover Td6 went to Alabama, Chicago, and the western and northern reaches of Michigan (repeatedly).

Months in Fleet: 4 months Current Mileage: 12,913 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 23.5 gal Fuel Range: 610 miles

Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Urea-Solution Additions: 4.6 gal

It may seem like a strange time to adopt a diesel-powered vehicle for a 40,000-mile test, what with Volkswagen being bent over a barrel for skirting emissions laws with its TDI cars. Yet we maintain that diesels, at least those without cheaty devices for giving the EPA the runaround, offer an excellent mix of torque and efficiency for most American drivers—particularly in larger SUVs and trucks. When Land Rover redesigned the Range Rover for 2013, we were smitten, and that emotion was joined by intrigue when a diesel option was added to the available U.S. lineup of supercharged gas engines for 2016.

Here, we figured, was the missing link in the redesigned Range Rover story. After shedding hundreds of pounds by switching to an all-aluminum unibody, the Rover was still barely more efficient than its truckier predecessors, thanks to its powerful gas engines. The diesel—dubbed “Td6” by Land Rover and offered for years overseas—on the other hand promises lofty EPA fuel economy of 22 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway. After more than 5000 miles of highway-biased driving so far, we’re averaging 26 mpg.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

The efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of performance. While the turbocharged diesel 3.0-liter V-6 produces 254 horsepower, the smallest figure in the Range Rover stable (excluding the four-cylinder Evoque), it also stirs up 443 lb-ft of torque at just 1750 rpm. That torque figure is 18 lb-ft shy of the 461 lb-ft shoved out by the Range Rover’s 510-hp 5.0-liter supercharged gasoline V-8, and it peaks at 750 fewer rpm. Land Rover pairs the diesel with the same eight-speed automatic transmission that’s standard across the full-size Range Rover family, which shuttles torque to the ground via the same all-wheel-drive system with multiple terrain settings.

British Understatement

Although it can’t be paired with either the long-wheelbase body style or the higher-zoot Autobiography trim level, the diesel can be had on the humbler base Range Rover or the HSE model. Our long-term test selection started with the $94,945 HSE, which comes standard with 20-inch wheels, four-corner adjustable air springs, 14-way power front seats, a power-adjustable steering column, a heated steering wheel, tri-zone automatic climate control, a panoramic sunroof, navigation, front and rear parking sensors, a power-opening split tailgate, and a 380-watt Meridian sound system.

We’d consider an un-optioned HSE to be perfectly adequate, but this is a Range Rover, and its option sheet presents too many enticing goodies to ignore. To kick things up a notch, we added the $2900 Four Zone Climate Comfort package, which separates the rear-seat climate control into left- and right-side zones, fits a massage function to the front seats and power adjustability to the rear seats, and adds a cooling system to the center-console bin. The $2500 Vision Assist package brought fog lights, bixenon headlights with automatic high-beam control, interior mood lighting, blind-spot monitoring, All Terrain Progress Control (Jaguar Land Rover’s low-speed traction-control function), and an enhanced Terrain Response system. Our final large option group, the $2900 Driver Assistance package, added lane-departure warning, traffic-sign recognition, a self-parking system, a 360-degree parking camera, a head-up display, and pre-wiring for onboard Wi-Fi. Because we plan on taking advantage of our Rover’s 7716-pound towing capacity, we opted for the $900 Tow package for its tow-hitch receiver, seven-pin connector, and full-size spare tire.

Since an 825-watt Meridian sound system is surely more entertaining than the standard 380-watt setup, we ordered that $1850 goody. Adaptive cruise control added $1295, “shadow walnut” wood trim added $1510 and looks great, and painting the roof a contrasting Santorini black hue cost $650. We resisted adding the optional 22-inch wheels—even though they look fantastic, we foresaw only tire-repair or -replacement bills springing from every Michigan pothole, so we stuck with the basic, and likely better riding, 20s. (Imagine that: a vehicle that can make 20-inch wheels seem small.) To ensure our Rover emits a subtle old-money luxury feel, we opted for Aintree Green paint and an Espresso and Almond interior color scheme.

View Photos ALEX CONLEY , MICHAEL SIMARI

Who’d Have Guessed, It’s Popular!

With its fancy duds and its generous room for four—and for staffers with kids, even a middle rear seat that’s habitable for medium-size youths—the Range Rover has been a popular sign-out choice since it first landed in our parking lot. Praise has been doled out for the rig’s cushy ride, sumptuous leather, and obvious curb appeal. The Rover was even called upon to tow our LeMons racer to Denver, the rig’s towing capacity proving more than adequate for transporting a 1988 Honda Prelude aboard a steel trailer.

Disappointingly, an electric snafu sidelined the Land Rover just days after its arrival. The instrument-cluster display announced that the urea/water fluid (which lowers the diesel’s emissions to acceptable levels) was of insufficient quality, despite the fluid having been filled at the factory. This warning was accompanied by a mandated countdown: After 530 miles of driving, the computer wouldn’t allow the engine to be started until the supposedly faulty fluid was replaced. We took the vehicle to the dealer, where some fluid was added and a 50-mile shakedown test performed, both of which led to the warning’s disappearance at zero cost to us.

A few editors have expressed frustration at the Range Rover’s confusing driver-information display in the gauge cluster, which is operated by a small button on the end of the turn-signal stalk. The unit divides information like trip mileage and fuel economy such that they can’t be displayed simultaneously, forcing the driver to tap-tap-tap through individual nuggets of info until he or she finds the desired data. The diesel’s lazy accelerator-pedal response has come under fire, as well, with momentary delays between inputs and the engine actually moving the Land Rover from a stop—despite the engine’s torque peak hitting just off idle. (The transmission’s Sport mode doesn’t solve the problem, either.) Finally, the SUV’s buttery-soft ride comes at the expense of body control, a particularly noticeable demerit given the driver’s high seating position. Steer the Rover into a corner, and the suspension does little to quell body roll (or dive or squat when braking or accelerating)—one driver felt compelled to warn his passengers of an impending highway off-ramp with the command: “Brace yerselves, scalawags! We’re a-listin’!”

We have recorded zero capsizing events so far, and the suspension’s squish has had little effect on the Range Rover’s forward progress, either literally or figuratively. The Rover is so popular at the sign-out board, in fact, that we needed to wrangle the keys away from vacationing staffers just to photograph the thing.

Months in Fleet: 2 months Mileage: 5,956 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 23.5 gal Fuel Range: 610 miles

Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Specifications VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $110,006 (base price: $94,945)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve diesel V-6, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 183 cu in, 2993 cc

Power: 254 hp @ 3500 rpm

Torque: 443 lb-ft @ 1750 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 115.0 in

Length: 196.8 in

Width: 78.1 in Height: 72.3 in

Passenger volume: 113 cu ft

Cargo volume: 32 cu ft

Curb weight: 5515 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 7.5 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 22.4 sec

Zero to 110 mph: 43.0 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 8.4 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 4.2 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 5.8 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 15.8 sec @ 87 mph

Top speed (drag limited): 132 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 179 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.75 g

PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 7.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 22.9 sec

Zero to 110 mph: 30.2 sec

Street start, 5-60 mph: 8.7 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 4.1 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 5.7 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 16.1 sec @ 86 mph

Top speed (drag limited): 132 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 181 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.76 g

FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway: 22/29 mpg

C/D observed: 26 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:

4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper;

6 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

4 years/50,000 miles roadside assistance



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