Good News for Range Rover Fans

[OkieRover]

One of my contractor's best friends works for Land Rover. He told me that the friend was working on the 2010 Range Rover. So if they produce it...well you know the rest of the story.

I told him to tell his buddy we need a diesel version. Diesels for all the versions...and to tell his friend screw California and their emissions!!!

[RageRover]

That'd be sweet!! A RR Diesel! Wonder what name they'll give this RR, like from the Mk. III?

That is sweet man!

[Funrover]

Sweet man!!!!

[Badger1]

Yes we NEED diesels here..................and the Defender!!!!!!!!

[Bene]

I'm confident we'll get the next Defender.

[OkieRover]

Yeah we'll get the next Defender....
With a lovely 4.4 gas engine and it's wonderful 8mpg City / 11mpg highway.

[Funrover]

Originally Posted by OkieRover

Yeah we'll get the next Defender....
With a lovely 4.4 gas engine and it's wonderful 8mpg City / 11mpg highway.

A bit more optimism man!!GEEZ.....LMAO.. It will get 9 and 12 LOL

[AAXD]

I hope they come to their senses soon and realize that people are not going to want thirsty V8's forever. Diesel technology now is at the point where they could easily create a diesel that rivals the V8 in power, and gets awesome economy. It worked in the UK with the TDi. I would kill to have 30 MPG in my rover, and the simplicity of a 4 cyl diesel. I'm surprised that they are not moving forward with hybrid technology since the Ford takeover. Now that the US has surpassed the UK as Land Rovers single biggest market maybe they will start to cater to more of us, like they do in the UK, by offering the entire lineup, including defender. If the new defender turns out to be 1/4 as complex and upscale as the rest of the range, I fear they will have lost their heritage almost completely. The fact that they are focusing more attention in the US now means they will focus less and less on producing the type of vehicle like the defender, which carries with it over 50 years of working heritage all over the world. If the new defender can not cope with the niche that the current defender fills around the world, they will become just like all the other once proud automotive names who have lost touch with their roots.

[RageRover]

Man, I would be in awe if they brought the Defender over here, and care less what MPG's it gets, or maybe put their diesel in it as well.

[AAXD]

The defender, in all its splendor is still basically a series rover with more power and better suspension. I was looking at dads 110 and my series 3 the other day and besides the suspension and drivetrain, they were almost the same truck. Because of this, they drive better, and coil suspension makes them better off road, but deep down they have the same character as a series rover. Last night I was cruising up I495 at about 80 mph in my vw and I passed a softtop D90 puttering along in the slow lane. I couldn't help but feel bad for the driver who probably used it as a daily driver. As much as I'd love to have one, I think I could get the same, if not more enjoyment out of driving an 88 as a daily driver. They have the aerodynamics of a brick and the fuel economy of a bus. When I go from driving dads 110 to my discovery, the difference is like night and day. Would I rather have a Defender? Sure if the price was right, but right now I can't justify the price of an NAS 90. In the age of microprocessor controlled cars, I can't picture the new Defenders being nearly as mechanically friendly or cheap to repair.

[RageRover]

Yeah I see your point, AAXD. I would primarily want one as my trail rig. Because of their short wheel base on the D90, it is more capable off-road, IMO. Plus I just want one.

[AAXD]

To each his own. I'm content, and actually happier having a series rover that I can work on on my own without specialist tools. In the 6 years I have been actively playing with rovers, I've watched the prices on series rovers skyrocket, and the prices on older NAS rigs like RRC's and now D1's plummet. I think with the amount of new technology being put into cars now, some people are realizing that the upkeep for these cars as they age is going to continue to climb. Both vehicles use proven technology that works well, and both are equally prone to failure. The difference lies with the complexity of the technology used to make a certian system do its job. A year ago I was quoted $100 to have my check engine light read and reset by a reputable rover shop. That was before any work was even done. Today I have a handheld OBDII code reader that does it for me as many times as I need it to, and cost half what the shop qouted me for a one time check.(incidentally, the guy at the shop that did the work on my rover hooked me up for free, read the code and cleared it. The check engine light came back on 5 minutes later) Imagine if I had paid what they were asking to read it. Keep in mind that in 1993, a top spec range rover county lwb was $53000. In 2001, the same truck would have sold for no more than $13000, in almost new condition. Today the average LWB in top condition sells for no more than $9000, and some as low as 1500 for a running driving truck. In almost every way, the 93 LWB was the Range Rover MKIII of its day. If history teaches us anything, we should be able to pick up a 10 year old MKIII in 2014 for the equivelant(taking into account inflation) of the $10000 the average LWB sold for in 2003. I'm not trying to predict the future or anything, but I read a quote last night that makes a lot of sense in this discussion. It said something like" If you want to try to predict the future, you need to help create it" Going back to what i said earlier about series rover prices climbing, more and more people are realizing that a simple rig will outlast a complex one in the long run. Even if the design is almost 60 years old.