Are all new Land Rovers the same?

[SpudHeadTed]

Controversial perhaps? …Genuinely interested to know what everyone thinks…

Are all new Land Rover models basically the same?
Range Rover, Discovery, Defender… Three slightly differently shaped luxury SUV clones?

Equally capable on and off road?
All on same platform? Same tech? Same suspension? Similar size.
All very expense high-tech urban centric yet bush capable vehicles?

Honestly I’m confused. Does it really matter which one you buy?

[Homestar]

They all look the same that’s for sure [emoji56] - well the new Defender looks ok but all the others seem to be quite difficult to tell apart IMO.

At a passing glance there isn’t much difference (apart from size) between a Velar, Evoque, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

The Disco 5 and Disco sport look the same at the front as well - Land Rover have certainly taken a lead from Porsche on the ‘Can’t be arsed paying designers any more’ train of thought.

[windsock]

I cannot tell the new ones apart and have to try to catch a glance at the bonnet name plate or the name across the back of the vehicle to tell if I am even looking at a land rover sometimes. No character (same same) so limited interest so no effort to learn differences.

[bigwhistle]

[prelude]

They have all become unafordable (down here anyway) and all ride on air suspension, which most people write off as not bush worthy. I'm hoping it is since I plan to take my P38 far and about :) but yeah. They all do look alike and personally I do not believe there is much soul left in them.

-P

[V8Ian]

https://youtu.be/oU2qLnqCXik

[spudfan]

My wife was getting in to the 2.4 Puma one day when another woman in a new Discovery started talking to her. She said her Discovery was a hybrid but if she forgot to plug it in at night the fuel consumption (don't know if it's diesel or petrol) was pretty bad. Probably from carting all of that battery weight around. The irony is that prior to this she had a Range Rover, one of the real big ones. She was very disappointed in her new one.

[Homestar]

They have all become unafordable (down here anyway) and all ride on air suspension, which most people write off as not bush worthy. I'm hoping it is since I plan to take my P38 far and about :) but yeah. They all do look alike and personally I do not believe there is much soul left in them.

-P

The P38 is the vehicle that started the thought process that air suspension wasn’t suitable for off road as it did have a number of issues - pretty much all sorted these days and the known issues with the P38 can be overcome.

You can get the new Defender with coil springs as an option.

[NavyDiver]

We will see some very different versions soon it seems.

"Jaguar Land Rover is developing a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle based on the new Defender SUV, and plans to begin testing the prototype next year.The prototype program, known as Project Zeus, is part of JLR’s larger aim to only produce zero-tailpipe emissions vehicles by 2036. JLR has also made a commitment to have zero carbon emissions across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039."

My pick is the Hydrogen assuming supply at service stations for Trucking allows coverage to enable real world travel.

The BEV versions are JLR's "Reimagine strategy will see Land Rover's smallest cars swapped onto new EMA platform, shunning pure combustion" hybrid and Battery only. [bigwhistle][bigwhistle]

Then happily some will just go our own way and follow the leader in tricking up our current drives with options as they become available and affordable.

[DieselLSE]

They have all become unafordable (down here anyway) and all ride on air suspension, which most people write off as not bush worthy. I'm hoping it is since I plan to take my P38 far and about :) but yeah. They all do look alike and personally I do not believe there is much soul left in them.

-P
Despite being a well thought out and worthy upgrade from the Classic, I agree that the P38 just lacked something intangible. I could never quite put my finger on it. The Series Landrovers were full of character and the Classics had, literally, layers and layers of technology added on over the decades until it couldn't take any more. But, gee, they just felt like home. The P38 was efficient, comfortable, did everything well, was good in the bush and quite straightforward to work on, particularly the EAS. But it was never somehow "your" car.
But I genuinely love the D4. It is actually a progression from the P38 in functionality and can be readily modified with aftermarket stuff for touring, towing or expedition requirements so that you can tailor it like a bespoke suit. So, I would argue the D4 does have that elusive quality of character.

[3toes]

The hydrogen version is interesting. London has a movement tax based on emissions. Other parts of the country have emissions zones that are grandfathered to end when emissions reduce below a set level.

Taxi drivers initially moved to hybrid to reduce cost. Tax on hybrid movement went up on most hybrid so a move to battery. Problem with battery is the recharge time which is down time. Could not make them pay due to time off road recharging so now moving to hydrogen power which is supported by 6 hydrogen refuelling stations in London with more proposed. Hydrogen takes same amount of time to refuel as diesel or petrol and is green as made on site from water with solar and wind power for the electricity

[jonesfam]

My big things with the design of new cars it the "Squashed Roofline" look.
One of the best things about older Land Rovers is the big, high glasshouse.
Jonesfam

[3toes]

If you look around the rising window line from the front windscreen to the back is a trend across the industry. Bit like the coke bottle styling trend from a few decades ago

Land Rover has just gone the most extreme in theirs. You cannot see out the side or back of some of them now due to this style trend

The command driving position is one of the features I look for in a Land Rover. Shame it is not there in the current crop. Was in a VW Tiguan the other day and it felt more like the command driving position than current Land Rover range offers. Perhaps a new head of design might bring it back

[SpudHeadTed]

Does Land Rover have a new Head of Design?

…What? No more lilac Gerry? …Who apparently, “insists that his greatest achievement to date was to convince a bunch of hardcore engineers and mechanics at Land Rover to ditch their Henry Ford mindset of mass production, and accept the craft of infusing artistic beauty in vehicles.”

…art? guffaw …Land Rover has never been more mass produced! He ditched one of the worlds design classics in favour of a series of babushka doll-like mini-me Range Rovers. ….more like generic Gerry.

The Chief Design Officer of Land Rover: Gerry McGovern | The Culture Embassy – Curating the Finer Things in Life (https://www.thecultureembassy.com/the-chief-design-officer-of-land-rover-gerry-mcgovern/)

[SpudHeadTed]

Deleted double post

[rar110]

Does Land Rover have a new Head of Design?

…What? No more lilac Gerry? …Who apparently, “insists that his greatest achievement to date was to convince a bunch of hardcore engineers and mechanics at Land Rover to ditch their Henry Ford mindset of mass production, and accept the craft of infusing artistic beauty in vehicles.”

…art? guffaw …Land Rover has never been more mass produced! He ditched one of the worlds design classics in favour of a series of babushka doll-like mini-me Range Rovers. ….more like generic Gerry.

The Chief Design Officer of Land Rover: Gerry McGovern | The Culture Embassy – Curating the Finer Things in Life (https://www.thecultureembassy.com/the-chief-design-officer-of-land-rover-gerry-mcgovern/)

I think Gerry may have written the article himself and supplied the photos.