In the 1980’s, a Range Rover 4×4 was an agricultural vehicle. It was luxurious and well-appointed, but it was a farmer’s car. o where does this leave the new Vogue HSE?
Enter the 1990s and suddenly the `Rangey’ became the limo of choice for politicians and record company bosses. It was a bit of a bland box, but that was fine, because a Range Rover was supposed to be a gentle declaration to the world; an understated press release that a person had made solid decisions at appropriate times and that life was treating them well.
Then footballers started buying them. Range Rovers are everywhere here in Europe, and sadly they are always modified with ostentatious Bling. No personalized number plate is too wacky, no alloy wheel too massive, no exhaust too loud except the process of car body repairs in Perth.
A tricked-up Range Rover is the automotive equivalent of a Venezuelan prostitute; eye-catching from a distance but too much lipstick when viewed up close. Couple this with Land Rover’s less-than-perfect reputation for reliability and you soon have a recipe for a possible sales disaster.
Jaguar Land Rover Sales Success
Yet remarkably, Jaguar Land Rover returned to profit last year with some terrific numbers, despite a lack of capital and in defiance to the worldwide recession. The Toyota Land Cruiser has a better reputation for solidity, a Jeep Cherokee is a fraction of the cost, and a BMW X5 drives more crisply on the road.
Ultimately, there is nothing quite like Range Rover. Piloting a fully-kitted Vogue HSE through a busy but quaint village is a life-changing experience. It is like being the driver of a monster truck and the captain of a private yacht at the same time. Passengers positively tower over other traffic as they keep one eye on the DVD hologram flip-screen, whilst all the time the pale-faced peasantry glower and scowl at them through your tinted, double-glazed privacy glass.
Most cars sold pack the new 3.6-liter twin-turbo diesel block. Petrol V8s are now listed in the Land Rover catalog purely for the consideration of those who sell oil. For the real world, the diesel is the only true option. In truth, this is a stunning engine; tonnes of torque, a jealousy-inducing bellow and an incredibly parsimonious thirst for fuel. Despite having to haul two-and-a-half tonnes of heavy metal, the power-plant is able to offer fuel economy better than many lightweight petrol sports cars. It produces a simply colossal 640Nm at a little over idle.
Range Rover Vogue HSE Performance
It is not slow either. The high seating position and propensity to lean fore and aft under acceleration and braking simply add to the sensation of thrust. The automatic shift is smooth enough to mask gaps during changes, meaning that the jerky feeling of most quickly-driven 4x4s is banished almost entirely.
Yes, a Land Cruiser is a safer bet for carrying ten days worth of food and water across the Sahara, but then this is not going to be an issue for a typical buyer. Despite the frontiersman aspirations of the Land Rover car marketing material, the rear compartment of a typical Vogue is likely to be filled with a set of Callaway golf clubs rather than a shotgun and a deer carcass.
In chasing greater sales volume, the British marque now offers the Range Rover Sport model, which is a much cheaper and more road-biased version. What particular sport a person would be doing that requires this level of equipment and overly-sculpted body styling is open to debate, but for just over half the cost of a top-of-the-range Vogue, buyers could join the Range Rover set for a considerably lesser outlay. The Vogue HSE then is the top-of-the-tree option in an inconceivably expensive forest.