26th and it is the Rangie Sport

Official photos at

:o)

Martin

Martin wrote in reply to...

Well bugger me, that site also has exactly what I've been looking for, a list of models and engines from 1948.

Excellent, thanks.

On or around Fri, 26 Nov 2004 10:51:16 -0000, "Martin Lewis" enlightened us thusly:

oooh, shiny!

it do look pretty on that orange colour, I have to say.

Looks better than the new Disco, which i have to say is growing on me....slowly!. Still looks like a Transit van from some angles though!. Have seen some of the Range Rover sport prototypes being thrashed round where I live and have to say they go well!.

Dom J

So Dom J was, like

Does anyone else think it looks a bit like a P38a as modified by Max Power - lowered, with lots of shiny extras? I think it looks OK (for what it is) - better than the current RR or the new Disco, at least.

I think it looks great. The dash is slightly modified from the Disco3 and the floorpan and mechanicals are also Ford/Disco. The engines for the initial batch appear to be limited to Jaguar supercharged petrol AFAICS. Should be fun.

Huw

Its defo got P38a styling in it. Id agree with that.

I think I saw a silver one heading south on the M5 this morning, closely followed by a Porsche Cayenne. Looked very nice

Seems a bit early for magazines to be reviewing/comparing though, so I've no idea where it could have been heading

I might get a peek on Anglesey as fifth gear seen to like thrashing things round the Anglesey racetrack. Tiff Nedell is almost a local now!!

On or around Wed, 1 Dec 2004 00:23:09 -0000, "StaffBull" enlightened us thusly:

bad luck... :-)

Are they available now then?

If so then i might have seen one. I thought to myself 'that rangerover looks funny and small' as it went past the other way. I wasnt really paying attention though, and didnt think about it till after it was out of sight

On or around Wed, 01 Dec 2004 19:39:32 +0000, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

Prototypes are out and about. Actually, it looks bloody good - better looking IMHO than the X5, Cayenne etc. Whether it can truly compete with the Cayenne, in particular, I dunno - the clever people at Porsche are

*really* clever - they've had years of experience of making VW beetles driveable with 300 BHP and 150+ mph,

I believe they'll be launched at the Detroit motor show in Jan and on sale in May. Lots of press coverage this week - articles in latest AutoExpress, Autocar, What Car and Test Drive

Starting at £35k for the diesel though if it weighs anything like the Disco3 I don't see how that can provide the "Grand Tourer" experience they're talking about - fully intend to find out though

So Richard Brookman was, like

Scanning the magazines in a motorway service area yesterday, there was an edition of a magazine called "4x4 and MPV Driver" (WTF is that?), half-hidden behind another mag so only the top half was visible. On the front cover was an orange P38 Rangie, or so I thought. I wondered why they would put an out-of-production car on the cover and had a closer look. Of course it was the new RR Sport. Looking closely, the roofline, roof pillars and bodywork down to the door handles are almost identical to the P38 - even the clamshell bonnet looks similar, although without the castellations, and the mirrors look strangely familiar.

I really do think if you took a P38, lowered it, fitted wide(r) wheels and added a few Halfords shiny styling gizmos, this is what it would look like. So what's the point of taking an vehicle with great off-road ability, removing the ground clearance and giving it 150mph performance? It becomes a 100% road car, never mind the Terrain Response, HDC etc, which I am sure are only there because buyers will expect to have them. The concept reminds me of those ghastly drag racers based on a Ford Model T - looks like one thing, but is another.

Having said all that, I think it looks OK. But it ain't a Land Rover, and I won't be putting my name down for one, even on a fantasy wish-list.

Folks say the same about the Cayenne, but I'm told by a man who knows that they are pretty impressive offroad.

There is a market for high-speed, touring family vehicles that can also cut it when towing a horsebox over a wet field, driving snowy or icy roads or so on. Not all off-roading requires big clearance or axle travel.

I'd say that most people who are in the market for one of these will only cover slippy ground occasionally (say twice per year). But only getting stuck twice a year is not a great prospect, so it could well take market share from people who would otherwise look at a big executive and don't like the Range Rover because it's a bit slow and woolly in the corners.

Same logic as the Freelander I suppose, just with bigger numbers....

I had much the same reaction when I discovered a modern Jeep Wrangler huddled next to my Lightweight in the Tesco carpark. It had something called the Sahara package. Now, trying to be fair, it looked like it would be OK off-road, but a bit low slung. Next to the Lightweight it looked like one of those toddlers whose mummy is into fashion, holding grandad's hand, and asking "Am I going to get muddy?"

I suppose the point of it is to compete with Porsche, VW etc. Some people will want the same type of vehicle but with a LandRover badge instead. Just read it in LRO, quite like it. Richard

On or around Fri, 10 Dec 2004 11:24:39 +0000, Tim Hobbs enlightened us thusly:

There's a thing where you can go on holiday to the desert (in Saudi, ISTR) and play in the sand with Cayennes. sounds fun. One of the magazines did this, and reckoned that it was fun, also that the Cayenne was amazingly competent for what it is.