Land Rover LR4 Makes No Apologies for Its Heritage
Instantly recognizable for its size and stature, the 2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE seems a contradiction as a midsize luxury sport utility vehicle.
If it’s possible to be hated and envied at the same time, you might understand what it’s like to drive a Land Rover in our month of storms.
Instantly recognizable for its size and stature, the 2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE seems a contradiction as a midsize luxury sport utility vehicle.
Showing off squared corners that harken back to the old Discovery in a land of curves and swooped shapes now found on LR’s Evoque and Range Rover Sport, the old world styling is both welcomed and outdated given the changes by new company owner Tata.
As a turnkey SUV, Rovers will go where others dare not tread beyond a recycling center’s dirt road. There’s leather, the latest electronic connectivity, a two-speed transfer case with active locking center and rear differentials on a heavy duty package, and a new Meridian sound system that improves the daily drive be it through the mounds of snow, pooled waters on Morrissey Boulevard after torrential rains, or the mud pits in Mundo Maya.
Especially helpful during out test week was the high seating position that allowed sight lines over the mountains of snow and ahead down the road over smaller and equally expensive SUVs.
Derived from square, tall, and top-heavy Discoveries of yesteryear, the LR4 never felt top heavy and offers great vision with its uber-tall greenhouse and large windows. Slim door panels expand interior space but allow rain or snow to easily drop into either of the first two rows of leathered seats. The 36-inch optional third row seat is best left for children.
Access and storage is copious after opening the large two-piece rear hatch.
Traditional styling on the outside covers an updated powerplant under the bonnet, or hood, with a 3.0-liter supercharged 340 hp, V-6 engine that mates to a ZF eight-speed electronic automatic transmission that adds two more gears than before. Paddle shifters permit manual shifts. In another attempt to boost mpgs, Rover added a balky start-stop feature to conserve fuel at stop lights. However well intentioned, its jarring nature in city drives is disconcerting.
Like Jaguar’s sedans, the LR4’s transmission knob rises from the console, allowing you to pick the gear.
A new standard system uses a single-speed transfer case, or drivers can opt for the two-speed transfer case featuring a mechanical Torsen® center differential that provides a 42:58 front-rear torque split. Without any changes, you’re in constant four-wheel-drive like the soft-roaders it competes with.
The two-speed transfer case is part of the new optional Heavy Duty Package ($1,350) that gives the LR4 with an active locking center, rear differentials, and a full-size spare tire tucked underneath the backside, all designed to leave others behind. A two-speed case offers high and low range, with an electronically controlled, infinitely variable, locking center differential for the most demanding off-road conditions that most suburbanites will never see.
The testament to any Rover’s ability is found at a road course where inclines, declines, and side hills show off its machinations best.
The LR4’s girth registers 5,655 pounds and counters the competition’s economy numbers with 14/19. During my week behind the wheel, I regularly registered 15.2 mpgs with prudent pedal pushing. If the LR4 is used to pull with its 7,716-lb towing capacity, expect a precipitous drop.
Another feature I loved were the large, round, rubber-covered knobs that made securing your temperature or features a snap. There’s the required center dash screen, but the upgrade for 2015 includes touch-screen tablet features that everyone expects today.
Despite its size, the LR4 is more refined under way, agile in parking lots, and relatively road-noise free (no mean feat given the LR’s stature and beefy 255/55R19 tires). The ride is compliant upon a four-wheel-independent, height adjustable, air suspension.
Can you get a more nimble, worthy off-road SUV?
Jeep’s Grand Cherokee springs to mind, but I haven’t switched from pavement to a torturous off-road ride in the Cherokee as I have in the Range Rover Sport, so I’ve got to reserve judgment.
Rover has two real dirt devils: The Range Rover Sport that was new last year and started at $65,000 for nearly what this tested LR4 ($64,725) finished at.
The Evoque can also rock and roll off-road albeit in a smaller footprint. The soon-to-be-released Discovery Sport will fit the bill for fiscal conservatives and soft-roaders as there’s no separate low-range for slow, rock/trail crawling. These are true wash-and-wear SUVs that like to get dirty—in true off-road fashion the others can only dream of—and wash up well enough to be parked next to the high-end cars whose names end in vowels and are parked in the front row of valet parking areas.
The LR4 and the Range Rovers have capabilities and technologies that the average driver doesn’t and can’t imagine how to use. That’s too bad. To use them is to understand what runs in their DNA and why.
In a time when everything seems to have morphed into a design of several other stable mates or competitors, it’s nice to see a vehicle that’s true to its roots and heritage.
2014 Land Rover LR4 HSE
THE BASICS
Price, base/as tested (with destination): $49,700/$64,725. Fuel economy, EPA estimated: 14 city/19 highway/16 combined. Fuel economy, Globe observed: 15.7 mpgs. Drivetrain: 3.0-liter supercharged V-6, automatic transmission, 4-wheel-drive. Body: 7-passenger midsize luxury SUV.
THE SPECIFICS
Horsepower: 340. Torque: 332 lb.-ft. Overall length: 190.1 in. Wheelbase: 113.6 in. Height: 74.1.1 in. Width: 85.7 in. Curb weight: 5,665 lbs.
THE GOOD
Interior room, versatility, off-road abilities.
THE BAD
Poor fuel economy, in-flight refueling would be nice.
THE BOTTOM LINE
A true on/off-roader that can match its hype and leave the rest in the dirt.
ALSO CONSIDER
Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, Range Rover Sport.
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