At the 2009 New York auto show, Land Rover showed off its new direction under the umbrella of current owner Tata Motors. The LR3 has been renamed as the LR4, noting its new engine choices and redesign, while the Range Rover retains its name, but gets a similar redesign.
Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Say goodbye to the LR3. Land Rover's midrange vehicle gets replaced by the new LR4. The new SUV has the same general shape as the outgoing model, but shows some different styling, a new engine, and new tech.
Land Rover fits the LR4 with an all new engine, a 5-liter V-8 making 375 horsepower and 375 pound-feet of torque. Although bigger than the LR3's 4.4-liter engine, the new engine gets the same fuel economy, qualifying the LR4 as an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle under California Air Resources Board regulations.
Land Rover smoothed out the body work, making for a less angular car than the old LR3, and added LED signal lights front and back. Automatic high-beams detect oncoming traffic and dip down to low-beams, to avoid blinding other drivers.
The dashboard and interior gets a much-needed redesign, doing away with acres of hard plastic and cliff-like drop-offs in favor of leather and soft materials. The navigation screen integrates audio and climate information, while the vehicle now includes iPod integration and HD radio.
Land Rover's Terrain Response controls, which makes it easy to adjust the vehicle's performance for different surfaces, moves up on the console to a more ergonomic position.
The Range Rover and Range Rover Sport get a similar redesign as the LR4 for the 2010 model year. The same 5-liter V-8 found in the LR4 is available, as is a supercharged version of that engine. The supercharged V-8 puts out 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque, and still gets the Range Rover an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle rating.
The interior has been redesigned, toning down the big aircraft-like center console from the previous version. New tech features include iPod integration and an around-view camera system.
