Newest version of extended-length Range Rover offers ample space & more power for a price as high as the mountainous peaks it can reach.
Over the last several years, luxury SUVs have become such hot sellers that automakers who have never made them before have gotten in on the action. Names such as Levante and Cullinan are now part of the automotive lexicon. Those brands that are new to the market segment have a lot to learn about luxury SUV customers. Land Rover, on the other hand, has decades of knowledge about them. Its entire portfolio caters to high-end utility vehicle buyers. In this Roadshow video, host Emme Hall shares some of the most notable features of LR’s flagship model, the 2018 Range Rover LWB.
As its name implies, the LWB model is longer than a standard Range Rover. At 17 feet long, it’s an enormous vehicle with a 123-inch wheelbase that offers seven more inches of rear legroom than its shorter sibling.
A supercharged 5.0-liter V8 with 518 horsepower and 461 lb-ft of torque connected to an eight-speed automatic gets all of that mass up to speed. According to Land Rover, the model Hall tests can hit 60 mph in 5.2 seconds. Although Hall doesn’t find the full nav screen in the gauge cluster to be as cool as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit system, it does give her an easily legible view of the route ahead. If that route includes off-road driving, the RR is ready for it with an air suspension that increases ground clearance by three inches in its maximum off-road height setting. Wading depth tops out at nearly three feet.
The long-wheelbase 2018 Range Rover is available in three forms: Supercharged, Autobiography, and SVAutobiography. Hall’s Supercharged tester carries a base price of $108,895; as equipped, it has a sticker price of more than $126,000. She calls her evaluation vehicle an “English Elephant.” We’ve never heard of that breed, but we’ve seen plenty of its kind around us. We have a feeling we’ll continue to do so for decades to come.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
