Automotive Review 2010 Land Rover LR4
Slide behind the wheel of a sports car and you’ll experience an overwhelming urge to break speed limits, slide around corners and accelerate away from traffic lights like there’s an angry mob in the rearview mirror. Land Rovers produce a similar overwhelming urge, except this one involves spontaneous detours onto dirt lots, ski hills, the neighbor’s lawn or perhaps the entire state of Wyoming. You may never quite make it to the outskirts of Cheyenne in the new 2010 Land Rover LR4, but the knowledge that you could creates a distinctive “what if” sense of excitement nonetheless.
Land Rovers have always done that. Outside of the upper-crust Range Rover, though, most of the company’s vehicles have suffered from a shortage of performance and luxury for a brand considered to be among the world’s elite. That includes the LR4’s predecessor, the LR3, which was saddled with an overtaxed 4.4-liter V8 and a strictly utilitarian cabin ambience — acceptable when exploring the Sahara, but not so hot when compared to boulevard-cruising SUVs from Mercedes and Audi. With the redesigned LR4, however, Land Rover has refined and polished almost every aspect of the LR3, creating a well-rounded and thoroughly competitive vehicle.
A new 5.0-liter, 375-horsepower V8 helps the weighty LR4 overcome the laws of physics, while its overhauled cabin closes the formerly considerable luxury gap with the Range Rover. Not much has changed outside, but additional painted surfaces (rather than black plastic) and details inspired by the Range Rover Sport (the grille and side gills) result in a more sophisticated appearance. The brakes, on-road handling and off-road Terrain Response system have also been improved.
But perhaps the most appealing aspect of the 2010 Land Rover LR4 is that it’s a relative bargain. Comparably equipped, the LR4 costs $8,000 less than an Audi Q7 4.2, $15,000 less than a Toyota Land Cruiser and a whopping $18,000 less than a Mercedes-Benz GL450. The LR4 gives nothing away in terms of luxury to those models, offers more usable passenger space than all of them, matches all but the Mercedes in performance and aces all but the Land Cruiser off the beaten path. Only Land Rover’s shaky reputation for reliability should give you pause. Otherwise, the LR4 is a champion for many more reasons than just its sense of adventure.
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