The new LR2

URL?

Why are you interested in this? If you want to off-road a vehicle, then you need a lot more than just electronics, you need decent tyres and decent ground clearance at least, both of which you won't get on a vehicle like the freelander.

You can't tackle mud and rocky ground with a computer, you need the right metal first and foremost and a road-going 4x4 just doesn't have that. An intelligent traction control system can help once you've got the right metal, but you need the metal first.

If you want to go off-road then try a vehicle designed for it, which sadly land rover don't do any more other than the Defender, the current other model line-up just isn't up to it, no matter how many computers they put in them. They're too low to the ground, too long, or too heavy.

People say that you'd be surprised what a freelander can do off-road, that's not true though if you've done off-roading in a more capable machine. I've seen them off-road and they're not impressive.

If you want to buy one then buy one, but don't worry about the terrain response feature, it's largely irrelevant. It can't make it into a good off-roader.

It looks, to me, like a steaming pile of horseshit! What a watse of time & effort really. I'm sure it will sell well enough ffs.

Don't hold back mate - say what you really think.

Its quite different from the rest of the range as its the replacement for the Freelander and a also little larger there is a full report in LRO July edition or some info at the website

this link is Land Rover's release info supply your own (large) pinch of salt. Personally I'm quite impressed it should free up a lot of Disco's as the footballers WAG's change over round these parts.Derek

& effort really. I'm sure it

Looks like a Honda CRV to me, which you don't have to wait until 2007 to have and is already tried and tested. Probably comes with a free horse too. ;-)

Steve

"Demo" video available, showing it parked in front of lots of nice scenery, then driving along flat ground through more scenery. Impressive off-roading whizz-bang computer thingy in action ;-)

Well there's money in pretending I suppose, not so much money to be made in doing it for real, being as really doing things seems to be out of fashion in favour of pretending to do things.

Indeed. We get to see it ..... errr ..... drive in a straight line along a flat road. I smell Nige's horse!

Steve

And 'off road' at the sea-side.

Did you see the way it tackled those pebbles! Amazing.

Here's one - let me see if I can find the URL where I saw a group of them.

I think Maria looks *beautiful* - and I think she'll be an excellent spokeswoman for Land Rover - she's very "it girl" when it comes to tennis right now (she did very well at Wimbledon, too!) - and...I think she seems to match up with the car well. I could totally see her driving one, I actually think she drives one herself anyway, actually? I also especially love how her dress matches the car. ;) I'll have to check out the LR2 in person when I can. I wonder if they can match one to *my* dress? :)

I still think the Terrain response feature is pretty nifty and innovative, and the thing is, I'd never really offroad that hardcore with one anyway - and iirc, I think the Terrain Response will actually adjust the chassis, etc, depending on what you're on - I feel like that would help a lot. And, I just think that's neat. I think the brilliance, from a marketing perspective, of the LR2 is that it is meant appeal to people beyond a, shall we say, offroading base. I think the LR2 is going to be one of those vehicles that would get people to buy the Land Rover brand who might necessarily never have found one appealing before - people who lieve in cities or urban areas who want an SUV that can do actual SUV type things if they need or want it to, but still works in an urban enviroment. I especially like all the extra high tech features of it (keyless entry, Bluetooth, sat nav with a DVD quality screen, etc) too. I think it will do very well. I'd like to check one out myself, definitely, when they are out.

|| I especially like all the extra high tech features of it (keyless || entry, etc) too.

Let's hope they get it better than Nissan did. I worked with a lady who had a Micra, one of the newer ones that look like a squashed frog. She was in the habit of checking the doors were locked before she left the car. So she's get out and walk away, and the doors would lock. She'd go back towards the car to check, and they would unlock again. She could never be 100% sure the car was locked. It *should* have been, but...

It would drive me utterly mad. That one feature alone would stop me buying the vehicle. As for Terrain Response (tm), if all it does is to reassure city drivers that they *could* drive over ruts and mud if they wanted (oh, and sand, mustn't forget sand), then why not just install a really shiny tough looking knob on the transmission tunnel, label it Terrain Response (tm) and leave it at that. It would save Land Rover thousands, and who would ever know?

What I was trying to say is that the terrain response won't make much of a difference, it would be like trying to make a car go faster by attaching a small propeller to the back and cranking it by hand.

The "chassis" won't be adjusted by anything other than the rocks that whack it, you don't adjust chassis, all it can do is possibly raise the suspension and put brakes on when a wheel starts spinning. That helps a little but it won't make it a good off-roader.

That's the selling point, it's "neat", if almost entirely useless. It's a gimmick, and that seems to sell to some people.

OK, if you want the electronics then go for it, but don't worry about the off-roading gimmicks, it's not an off-roader at all so just concentrate on the other stuff that you're likely to use.

I'd like to see how it performs after spending all day on the rough stuf= f =

and rolling around in the mud.

oh f'chris'sake, give it it a rest woman - this gushing marketing drivel= =

is making me sick.

URL?

I think you just described the 924 of off-roaders.

blow-wave with your rinse ma'am?

In other words, as someone said about the original Freelander, "it's a Land Rover for people who don't want a Land Rover".

Richard

Is this a wind-up? This reads more like a viral marketing campaign that a sensible post. Oh, Helena is in marketing - hence the incontinent stream of steaming verbage above.

You're talking to the wrong people luv. It's a bit like trying to sell Yamahas to Harley fans.

What is an SUV? Is it an acronym that we want to use here?