This Friday past, I made my way to a local LR dealership for a small 2010 MY preview event, where they had a new LR4, Range Rover Sport, and Range Rover. It was great seeing the refreshed models in person, mainly because I wasn't quite sure how I felt the RR's updated grille/bumper was going to carry over in person... I was relieved to see that it carries over quite well, though - it's still a very handsome vehicle.
I know it seems trivial, but the updated headlights, taillights, and fog lights were fantastic! The example they showed was an Autobiography edition with the Bournville exterior with the new dark brown ("Arabica", methinks...) interior. The leather headliner might be a bit excessive, but it DID look great, nevertheless. Everything - the black lacquer wood, the leather on the doors, the dash and the ceiling, as well as the new finish on the center stack - felt great to the touch.
As far as the new gadgets and gizmos go, I was pleased with those, too. The virtualized instrument cluster was, of course, awesome. Everything was sharp, clear, and very easy to use with the new steering wheel controls. I wasn't able to plug in an iPod or iPhone, as the necessary (proprietary!) cable wasn't present IN the car. Speaking of portable devices, there are now two connectors located in the center console - one is your standard USB plug, and the other is designed especially for Apple equipment. The surround cameras were enabled, and I think they'd be very useful in reversing and parallel parking maneuvers, but I'm a bit unsure how they'll perform for seeing into blind intersections and around objects. The lights for the blind spot assist were just small, but easy to see, amber LED's embedded into the side mirrors.
Sadly, these vehicles were only for us to look at, sit in, and push buttons on - driving them wasn't an option! As the salesman with me explained, there are only something like 11 of the pre-production examples in the country, most of which were being used for dealer training. For that reason, I'm not qualified to say how it handled when compared to previous years' models. He DID tell me that a 2010 Supercharged RRS was able to go from 0-100mph and back to 0mph before the 2009 SC RRS could go from 0-100mph. (The video is somewhere on the RRS section of this board, if I'm not mistaken). His take on everything is that the new naturally-aspirated engines would perform very similarly to the outgoing supercharged units. I guess I'll have to wait until early August, when it's rumored that there'll be test-drivable models at dealerships.
The last thing I've got to say is that I was told by the same gentleman that customer vehicles would begin arriving late August or early September, with another batch to show up in October. That all sounds about right, according to what members in the RRS board have heard...
I can't wait to see how everything pans out!
Thanks!
-one20
I know it seems trivial, but the updated headlights, taillights, and fog lights were fantastic! The example they showed was an Autobiography edition with the Bournville exterior with the new dark brown ("Arabica", methinks...) interior. The leather headliner might be a bit excessive, but it DID look great, nevertheless. Everything - the black lacquer wood, the leather on the doors, the dash and the ceiling, as well as the new finish on the center stack - felt great to the touch.
As far as the new gadgets and gizmos go, I was pleased with those, too. The virtualized instrument cluster was, of course, awesome. Everything was sharp, clear, and very easy to use with the new steering wheel controls. I wasn't able to plug in an iPod or iPhone, as the necessary (proprietary!) cable wasn't present IN the car. Speaking of portable devices, there are now two connectors located in the center console - one is your standard USB plug, and the other is designed especially for Apple equipment. The surround cameras were enabled, and I think they'd be very useful in reversing and parallel parking maneuvers, but I'm a bit unsure how they'll perform for seeing into blind intersections and around objects. The lights for the blind spot assist were just small, but easy to see, amber LED's embedded into the side mirrors.
Sadly, these vehicles were only for us to look at, sit in, and push buttons on - driving them wasn't an option! As the salesman with me explained, there are only something like 11 of the pre-production examples in the country, most of which were being used for dealer training. For that reason, I'm not qualified to say how it handled when compared to previous years' models. He DID tell me that a 2010 Supercharged RRS was able to go from 0-100mph and back to 0mph before the 2009 SC RRS could go from 0-100mph. (The video is somewhere on the RRS section of this board, if I'm not mistaken). His take on everything is that the new naturally-aspirated engines would perform very similarly to the outgoing supercharged units. I guess I'll have to wait until early August, when it's rumored that there'll be test-drivable models at dealerships.
The last thing I've got to say is that I was told by the same gentleman that customer vehicles would begin arriving late August or early September, with another batch to show up in October. That all sounds about right, according to what members in the RRS board have heard...
I can't wait to see how everything pans out!
Thanks!
-one20
