First Drive: Land Rover Range Rover
The Modern Mystique of the 2023 Range Rover Lives On
The new Range Rover will be made into an electric version coming in 2024.
The 2022 Range Rover projects an aura of steely resolve — and what we expect of Land Rover’s flagship model. Range Rovers are a lavish, material reward that wrap up passengers in a well-suited, sturdy cocoon. I spent a few days basking in Range Rover glory in its natural environment — California wine country. Range Rovers exude expensive toughness. The mystique of the Range Rover has gone far beyond the actual vehicle to an idea that represents the unattainable in the zeitgeist.
“I Love My Range Rover”
In Kendrick Lamar’s heartbreaking new song “Mother Sober” about family fears, secrets, and generational trauma, it is the material seduction of a Range Rover that is a coping mechanism to avoid talking about his problems.
My mother's mother followed me for years in her afterlife/ Starin' at me on back of some buses, I wake up at night/ Loved her dearly, traded in my tears for a Range Rover/ Transformation, you ain't felt grief 'til you felt it sober
“Loved her dearly, traded in my tears for a Range Rover”
In “Hold My Liquor” Kanye West quips, “When I parked my Range Rover, slightly scratched your Corolla.” Then there’s Drake’s 2016 line “Sell my secrets for a Range Rover” or the more straight-forward stunt: “That Range Rover Came with Steps” via DJ Khaled in 2017. Nicki Minaj was definitive in her 2012 track on reference to a gendered vehicle in the track “I Love My Range Rover.” She calls out the seduction of powerful handling by engine type, performance and fit and finish Need I repeat, she got more horses, than a Western/ You know she beat weight, so she don't eat late/ A vegetarian, she sipping on that V-eight/ They try to gas her, they try to put it in her/ You can't pass her, she faster than a TV dinner./ Her lip gloss poppin', we call it Armor All. In a search I found about 90 songs that use Range Rover in the title. It’s no wonder that Range Rovers can seem mysterious, decadent, and extravagant.
Defying tHE STATUS QUO
Implicit in rap’s reverence is that Range Rovers have to maintain this regard for excellence. It’s one reason why new Range Rovers don’t come along very often, because it’s prudent the execution is right. The first Range Rover emerged in the turbulent year 1969, the second in 1994, the third in 2001, and the last ten years ago in 2012, the same year Nicki Minaj released her ode. The new Range Rover I drove in early May is only the fifth new body style in the brand’s 74 year history, and deductive reasoning suggests it may be the last made with an internal combustion engine — and indeed the battery-powered model is coming soon.
The new Range Rover arrives at a time when the industry is at a crossroads. Gas prices are sky high, and yet people still love their full-size SUVs. At the top of the year, Land Rover reported an order list of 30,000 Range Rovers — a record breaking number for the brand that averaged under 20,000 vehicles sold per year in recent times. I spent a few days driving and riding in the 2022 model to see how it measures up.
DRIVING SENSATION
I admire Land Rover’s commitment to performance on and off the road. I have stories for days about defying the odds in Range Rovers in rough terrain — it’s a selling point that if you want to go there, you certainly can. Its Active Terrain Response is exactly what you want if you ever decide to escape from polite suburban corridors, which is a constant in each model, and the tech is keeping up with its engineering variation. Adjustable air suspension gives the ride a gliding sensation, which is the part that’s likely to earn it 90 more mentions in musical odes. It’s impressive to drive and to ride.
The new Range Rover is different from previous models in the tech advances and integrations beneath the surface. " We’ve been on a really big journey,” said Nick Collins, the Vehicle Line Director for the entire Jaguar Land Rover product line. “On this car we have over 63 control units that we can update software over the air, the little individual control computers in the car. And that covers all the infotainment, the control system, navigation, all the major controls of the car.” The Range Rover‘s in car abilities will change over time via these software updates.
THE MANY FACES AND SPACES OF THE PROLIFIC RANGE ROVER LINEUP
There’s a Range Rover for every extravagant price range and personal reference, which means taking the time to understand the differences in the lineup — the SE, HSE, Autobiography, First Edition and SV for 2022. For shoppers new to the Land Rover brand, it’s also worth noting that the Range Rover Sport, Velar, and Evoque are totally different vehicles than the straight-up Range Rover.
Let’s begin with the base model, which is certainly no slouch for a starting price of $104,500. Starting with this model all receive a 13.1-inch curved infotainment installed with Pivi Pro — Land Rover’s branded interface. Wireless smartphone charging, wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant are standard. As one might expect, modern safety features are standard including automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control.
Then there’s plug-in hybrid base model that produces 62 miles on a charge — enough for grocery getting on all electric batteries. The next package up on the price sheet is the Autobiography edition, focused on sound excellence including a 1600-watt 35-speaker Meridian sound system and active noise cancellation piped through the headrests.
The key difference in the long wheel base is the version that has a third row that so many families seek out. Then there’s the five-seat just plain long. The fanciest, model is the the SV Signature Suite, which gets the champagne-cooler yacht treatment, swathed in ceramic controls. Rich leather is a given, but there’s now a vegan-friendly cloth option. Of course the price tag on the upper echelon fully loaded is steep — hovering close to $200,000 — unattainable status doesn’t come cheap.