Land Rover is legendary for its off-road vehicles. Motors went to Edinburgh to test the refreshed 2012 range and put the latest Discovery, Defender, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover through their paces. The newly crowned Irish Motoring Writers' Association Continental Irish Executive/Luxury Car of the Year 2012, the Range Rover Evoque, wasn't present as it is brand spanking new.
First up on day one we headed into the Scottish countryside in the seven-seat Discovery TDV6 that now produces less CO2, while delivering its power more smoothly through an eight-speed gearbox. On-road 'Disco' is hard to fault and when we strayed off-road through boggy ground the Disco, with all its driving aids, did the hard work while we only had to worry about the go and stop pedals and the odd bit of steering! Discovery is truly a complete car.
The iconic Land Rover Defender was next and it gets a new 2.2-litre diesel engine that is greener and quicker than the 2.4 it replaces. Top speed is an unremarkable 90mph (up from 83mph) but Defender has never been about speed.
Defender is one of the coolest cars out there, despite being boxy, cramped and generally hard work to drive compared to its stable mates. Defender is simply so capable when the going gets tough that you not only forgive the many refinement shortcomings but embrace them.
Motors has done a few extreme Land Rover off-road courses but the 2012 model Defender test was different – it was done in darkness! The most impressive driving aid that Defender has is the anti-stall device, which does what it says on the tin. When you couple this feature with the brilliant hill descent control, anybody can be an off- road legend in this car. With its pure manually operated four-wheel drive system, high and low gearbox and diff lock, you can take this car anywhere.
The most exhilarating part of the course took us down a steep bank into a muddy river where the water came up to the windscreen. What they forget to say was that you are plunged into total darkness when the headlights go underwater! Thankfully, I had a good idea of where the river exit was and slowly emerged from the murky depths in second gear, pushing a nice bow wave and back up the bank without a hiccup or wet feet!
Day two of the test was Range Rover time. The Range Rover Sport is effortless to drive but these days hard to justify despite dropping a CO2 tax band (annual road tax €1,050). With seating for five, Range Rover Sport feels the least improved of the 2012 range. Don't get me wrong for a second: it is a beautiful machine but Discovery made the biggest impression on me and, of course, the big Range Rover itself impressed more as the ultimate in luxury.
The 'full-fat' Range Rover (sorry, Land Rover, but the nickname is descriptive) remains the king of the road. We took the low (Sport) and full fat Range Rovers off-road and were blown away yet again by their competence. The ability to simply turn off the tarmac and descend into a river valley on road tyres and climb up and out again without so much as a puncture is simply fantastic.
If money was no object, the 4.4 V8 diesel Range Rover is the off-roader to have, but the seven-seat Discovery isn't far behind and is more versatile. Defender would, however, be the first of the Land Rover product range that I'd add to my collection.
Michael Sheridan
