The interior in the 2011 Land Rover Range Rover HSE is flat-out stunning in terms of looks, materials and initial build quality. This is by far the best SUV interior on the market, and one of the best in the overall market. The exterior is timeless, and the engine-trans-chassis combo is one of the few in the car business that would allow you to slowly pick your way through the jungle all day and afterward hose it off and drive it to the symphony that evening. Really, in how many cars can you do that? I think there is only one.
While I love the supercharged engine available, this normally aspirated V8 is not exactly a slouch. It's quiet and powerful and the shifts from the transmission are smooth to the point of being unnoticeable. The car drives well. It's comfortable with a little roll, but the ride soaks up Detroit streets like none other.
I like it a lot. Again, I love the supercharged model, but the regular V8 would do just fine, too.
I agree with Wes that the interior on this car is simply beautiful. The wood trim looks like something you'd see in a men's club. The interior is quite comfortable with nice little touches, such as the ability to adjust the height of the armrest, is just one of the ways Land Rover has paid attention to details. At freeway speed, this thing is amazingly quiet.
There are other things that frustrated me. All of the doors lock after putting the transmission in gear, and you cannot open them without using the central locking button, a small button located on the dash beneath the flashers. Or with the key fob. Speaking of which, do you really need something that big? (“Is that a Land Rover key fob, or are you happy to see me?”) Having to carry something that large around with you all of the time would be a pain.
I tried unsuccessfully to use the USB/iPod interface. It seems that, in order to attach an iPod, you need to have a special Land Rover iPod cable. You cannot connect via the USB port.
Overall, this is a great-riding, comfortable, capable sport-ute. And after spending a weekend behind the wheel, I think I'd still opt for a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's just as capable, and maybe the wood trim isn't quite as nice, but it's just as comfortable, and with the Pentastar six-cylinder, it gets way better fuel economy. And I'd have $40,000 more left in my pocket.
Because I grew up driving on gravel back roads that would've made automaker torture tests look like child's play, I intuitively drive potholed roads in a manner that minimizes the jostling by taking the best of the bad choices. But in the 2011 Land Rover Range Rover HSE, I forgot about the bumps and more than once I deliberately aimed the vehicle directly at the potholes, just to see what would happen. Nothing, that's what. This big brute ute is so capable of smoothing out road surfaces that it's almost hard to find a normal pothole that registers all the way through the chassis to your seat. It's easy to see why vehicles of this brand and ilk have been the transportation of choice on many a harrowing backcountry expedition over the years.
I can see where the Range Rover is massively capable of hauling itself through just about anything Mother Earth could throw at it--snow, mud, water, sand. From my experience with this and its siblings, I'm quite sure it's up to the task. At the same time, the vehicle is pure luxury on the beaten path, riding high and mighty with nary a trace of odd chassis roll or steering wander. The vehicle is simply steady as she goes. Though this isn't the wicked supercharged Sport, this engine still packs a decent amount of power for the package.
Inside, the leather seats are firm and comfortable, the wood trims are exquisite, and even the parlor tricks such as the instrument panel's skyline-at-sundown display when you shut down the ignition are special. I'm all for “real” gauges, but having seen the clarity and icy-cool appearance of these new virtual LCD readouts on this and the Lamborghini Aventador, I am wholeheartedly embracing this future. I'm not quite so happy with the navigation/audio interface and while I hate to admit it, but this vehicle might actually benefit from some kind of iDrive-like controller for all of this stuff. But that might directly conflict with the Terrain Response Control knob occupying that real estate in the center console. Something has to be better than this touch screen/buttons setup, though.
In a week in which I had a couple of very interactive, sporty coupes, the 2011 Land Rover Range Rover HSE was my favorite test car simply for its relaxing cabin and sumptuous power from the V8. It's potent, and it takes off on the expressway. I really like the steering as well. It has a light feel, yet there's a lot of feedback and response. The black middle clock reminds of a vintage watch I considered buying.
The interior is well laid out, and the materials present in luxurious fashion. The wood, the leather, the accents--it's all here. Plus the road view is outstanding. It's a quiet setting, and the digital gauges are gorgeous and colorful. They remind me a bit of the setup in the Jaguar XJ.
