NO matter what other manufacturers field you cannot deny that the Range Rover is a masterpiece of automotive engineering. The twin-turbo V8 diesel powered Vogue SE model I drove recently certainly hammered this point home because in the elevated armchair driving position of this great British design you certainly do feel king of the road. There has been much said of the high cost of vehicles such as this but let's put it into perspective. The model I drove costs £69,495 - expensive to some. But when you think that a top-end BMW 5 Series Touring model can set you back nearly the same money or a Mercedes-Benz CLS Coupe can cost around £75,000 then the Range Rover suddenly does not seem that over the top. It has defied its critics and is still at the top of the hill in terms of combining luxury and sheer off-road grunt. There are very few vehicles in the world that can come anywhere near it for image and sheer ability. But what really astonishes me about the Range Rover is how it can look so shatteringly modern when it is such an old basic design. You have to understand that the development work on it started in 1966 when Rover's design chief Spen King put pen to paper. The Range Rover has come under a lot of fire from the environmentalists in recent times being branded a gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor by some. So is it that bad on fuel? I took the car on a seven hour drive to Cornwall and at a steady legal maximum on the motorway was, at one point achieving 30mpg. But in normal driving you can expect between 21 and 25mpg. So the diesel model is not the greatest gas guzzling ogre that some people make it out to be. The actual driving experience of this vehicle is awesome. It can do 124mph and accelerate like a sports saloon. Despite its height it is beautifully poised and offers astonishing long range luxury. For an extra £2,400 you can even have a rear seat DVD entertainment systems. And if parked with the brakes on the driver can even watch TV. Not that I was able to take this particular vehicle off road, but I have driven Range Rovers through some very wild areas and they demonstrate time and time again that they are up to just about anything. For instance, its water wading capability is 700mm and its obstacle clearance is up to 275mm. But above all Range Rover does it all in style and I have a feeling it will still be around for decades to come. FAST FACTS Range Rover TDV8 Vogue SE Price : £69,495 Mechanical : 271bhp, 3,630cc, 8cyl diesel engine driving four wheels via 6spd automatic gearbox Max-speed : 124mph 0-62mph : 9.2 secs Combined mpg : 25.1 Insurance group : 17 CO2 emissions : 299g/km BiK rating : 35% Warranty : 3yrs/ unlimited mileage, 6yrs anti-rust | 
Special reports | News | Manufacturers | New cars | Used cars | Views | Dealers | Insurance
