Every now and again I get asked what I think the best car in the world is?
And, usually, I’ll respond with the suggestion that there’s no better car than a Range Rover.
The recent launch of the new Range Rover, as with the one that went before it, left fans of the brand feeling a little nervous as nobody wanted Land Rover to ruin what has been such an excellent and successful car.
On the face of it, the news isn’t good when you take a stroll round the 2013 model.
For starters it costs more. That probably won’t come as a big surprise, but it’s also lost some of its ‘bling’, it’s lighter and a little bit bigger than it was before. Have they ruined it?
Take a closer look and it’s not that different to the old model, but the few areas where it has been changed are problems that had been identified by owners of the last incarnation, in an attempt to create the perfect Range Rover.
So, far from ruining it, the improvements have actually turned the ‘best car in the world’ in to something even better.
The lighter weight, which is largely the result of a new aluminium structure and body panels, is obvious out on the road and improved suspension and steering also help smarten up the driving experience. Which was already excellent. Happily, the new Range Rover still has a car-like feel that belies its huge size.
The other big changes have happened under the bonnet. The V6 diesel option that was, for many, the poor relation against the diesel V8 and the supercharged petrol engine, has been overhauled completely with more power, better fuel economy and – a first for the brand – stop/start technology. Even its smaller, ultra modern sibling the Evoque hasn’t been blessed with this yet.
This means that even the base model, with the least expensive engine choice, is likely to be the most sensible buy. Thirstier V8 options, though well-suited to a Range Rover, don’t add enough into the mix to justify their purchase price and running costs.
The new interior feels like a carefully adopted evolution and, while its improvements take some finding, they soon become obvious and it’s still every bit as practical and comfortable as a Range Rover cabin should be.
All the gadgets you’ve come to expect from a Range Rover are still there, plus a few more, including self-parking and a novel ‘queue assist’ mode and there’s still space around the pedals to drive it in wellies.
For the few of us that will venture off the tarmac in a Range Rover, there are a few surprises in store including an automatic driving setup, which switches through the settings of the now familiar Terrain Response system for you.
The infotainment system, with its multitude of cameras and twin-view TV system that allows a passenger to see a different screen to the driver, looks very similar but it’s been improved and is now easier to use.
The sleeker roof line hasn’t done anything to affect the Range Rover’s practicality and coloured ambient lighting and other modern touches bring the experience of stepping into the cabin bang up to date.
There’s also more exterior colour options than ever before, including an £8,000 pearlescent paintjob. Choice like this is seldom seen so high up in the market.
The base-model V6 Vogue, in standard trim, starts at just over £70,000 but choose one with a petrol or diesel V8, tick a few boxes, and it’s easy to build yourself a £100,000 car.
But while the changes made to the fourth incarnation of the might be the least radical that have been seen during its fascinating evolution, they’re arguably the most useful and appropriate. Not that there was really that much to fault with the predecessor.
But is it still the best car in the world? I think so. And you don’t have to drive it for long to realise that the best just got even better.
Gareth Butterfield – Driven by a passion for cars that harks back to the age of six, when he was given his first motoring magazine, 33-year-old Gareth Butterfield will drive anything he can get a set of keys for.
As a qualified news reporter, it was inevitable that one day his job and his hobby would one day converge and his first forays into motoring journalism began by writing motoring news and road tests for his employers, Staffordshire Newspapers.
Now he’s becoming a familiar face at motoring events and car launches and is usually testing an interesting new car each week and writing for a string of magazines, newspapers and websites.
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