Range Rover Supercharged V8 (2006 onwards model)

It’s hard to believe, perhaps, but it’s almost 35 years since Land Rover stood the 4x4 world on its ear with the launch, way back in June 1970, of the original Range Rover – a concept they described at the time as ‘A car for All Reasons’.

At a stroke, by combining go-anywhere dynamics with car-like luxury, it changed the image of Land Rover from makers of rugged but very basic 4x4s to makers of one of the world’s most influential multi-purpose vehicles, while changing the old image of the off-roader from agricultural and military workhorse to must-have urban style icon. And even now, they freely admit that they totally underestimated just how significant the Range Rover concept would become, not only for themselves but for all the pretenders that have followed in the three and a half decades since.

Because the original Range Rover genuinely was that rarest of things, not just a new car but a completely new kind of car. But the Range Rover was never just froth. From the beginning it was the real deal – a massively capable rock-hopper that also happened to have the luxury and comfort of a saloon car, the performance and dynamics of something far more sporty than an army truck, plus that indefinable quality of style that really made it break all the rules. Now entering its fourth generation with the extensively revised 2006 model year versions, the Range Rover hasn’t deviated at all from its original ‘Tough Luxury’ concept - it has just got even more capable, even more luxurious and even more stylish.

It is still, in Land Rover’s own words, ‘designed without compromise’. And in this range-topping Supercharged V8 version of the latest generation, it is simply the most powerful, the most flexible and the best equipped Range Rover so far. The all-bells-and-whistles Supercharged V8 tops a range of nine models, starting with the six-cylinder 3-litre turbodiesel-powered TD6 which kicks in at £45,995, with five-speed automatic transmission, HDC Hill Descent Control, ETC Electronic Traction Control, DSC Dynamic Stability Control, electronic air suspension, 18-inch alloy wheels, eight airbags, climate control, powered leather seats, a six-disc CD changer and a 7-inch touch-screen information system including Range Rover’s brilliant 4x4 information feature, of which more later.

For £50,995 you can have the basic V8 petrol model with all of the above but six speeds instead of five. Then above those you can have the respective HSE, Vogue and the newly added Vogue SE versions of the TD6 and V8, with even more kit and appropriately higher prices. The HSE equipment list, for instance, adds £3500 and includes such niceties as an integrated telephone system, bi-xenon headlights, 19-inch alloys for the V8 petrol version, a reversing camera, heated front seats with memory settings, and ‘park heating’ that warms the car up even before you get into it.

The Vogue spec, adding another £7500 beyond the HSE’s (so £56,995 for the TD6 and £61,995 for the V8), adds to all that with even more luxurious contoured leather front seats, heated front and rear seats and a heated steering wheel for those cold mornings in the mountains, the heavily-featured Logic 7 hi-fi system, a TV and satellite navigation system, an electric sunroof, and ‘Venture Cam’ – of which, again, more in a minute.

And the new Vogue SE trim (at £62,995 for the TD6 and £68,495 for the V8) tops that out with 19-inch wheels for the TD6 diesel and 20-inch ones for the V8 petrol, plus even more up-market leather and wood trim options, adaptive headlights that respond to steering inputs, and a DVD entertainment system with two rear screens, mounted now in the backs of the front headrests rather than in the seat backs, and much more user friendly as a result. And if you think specs and prices like these are starting to sound ever so slightly scary, think again – because it’s a fact that Land Rover sell far more high-spec Range Rovers than they do basic ones, and that’s been another feature that’s rarely changed since the Range Rover first appeared.

Then, to top the lot, for a not insubstantial £72,995, there’s the Supercharged V8 Vogue SE, with everything already described plus substantially more power and torque, uprated suspension, steering and Brembo high performance brakes to suit, unique black-lacquered interior trim and nine-spoke 20-inch alloy wheels, plus enough distinctive exterior design touches to show it’s the flagship model – because Land Rover reckon that if you’re buying the best you’re fully entitled to flaunt it.

And there’s not much doubt, this really is the best. Like all the new models it has subtle exterior changes, around the nose and tail, the lights and the side vents – while retaining the Range Rover ‘signature’ styling features, including the distinctive proportions, the ‘floating’ roofline above the black roof pillars, and the trademark ‘castellated’ clamshell bonnet. So it’s every inch a Range Rover, but freshened again. And as intended, you’ll never mistake the Supercharged V8, with its expanded mesh grille and side vents and its unique ‘monochrome’ black and grey badges – a Land Rover first, easily distinguished from the usual green.

Trim options apart, it barely changes inside, but it didn’t have to, because the third generation (introduced in 2002) already had one of the most elegant cabins on the planet, and certainly the best in an off-roader, with beautiful shapes, masses of equipment and a real air of quality. But the biggest changes of all, especially in this range-topping Supercharged V8 Vogue SE, are under the skin, and they take the Range Rover’s capabilities to another new level. Some time ago, the Range Rover replaced the original, long-serving Rover V8 petrol engine with BMW’s big V8. Now, they replace that with an even more powerful engine from cousins Jaguar, and it suits the Range Rover down to the ground.

This is Range Rover’s own version of the supercharged 4.2-litre V8 already familiar in Jaguar’s high-performance ‘R’ models, but extensively modified to be as happy at extreme angles and in dust and mud as it was in a Jaguar on the city streets and fast autoroutes. It delivers 400bhp and a mighty 420lb ft of torque – respectively 35 per cent and 25 per cent more than Range Rover’s previous BMW V8 range topper, and with stunning refinement and driveability. On the road, even in around two-and-a-half tons of luxury and off-road ruggedness, that promises a top speed of 130mph, with 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds (or 0-100kph in 7.5). And as the saying goes, if you have to worry too much about a combined consumption of 17.7mpg and combined CO2 figure of 376g/km, it’s probably not for you. Looking on the bright side, anyway, the engine is Euro 4 emissions compliant for the first time, and the huge tank offers a reasonable cruising range of more than 400 miles. Oh, and coupled with the seamless six-speed automatic transmission that comes as standard, it’s as strong and refined as you could ever ask for, anywhere.

On the road, on standard air suspension with adaptive damping and automatic ride-height control, it is soft enough to be comfortable but stiff enough to be tightly controlled – with commendably little pitch or roll for such a tall, heavy car, even when you’re pressing on pretty hard. It steers beautifully too, with precision and feel, the big, new, all-ventilated Brembo brakes are amply powerful, and aside from having some intrusive wind noise around the front pillars it’s a car you could drive a very long way in without the slightest hesitation. And then there’s the added dimension, the bit that originally made the Range Rover stand out from the crowd and that still, for all practical purposes, buries virtually any luxury rival – the off-road ability.

With its combination of massive flexibility (and throttle control that shifts to a softer response when off-road settings are engaged) it is as docile as it is powerful. With the option of massive, adjustable ground clearance and typically Land Rover body geometry it takes ramps, dips and humps in its mighty stride. And with permanent four-wheel drive, high and low final-drive ratios, Hill Descent, Traction and Dynamic Stability Controls, plus the huge travel of that standard air-suspension, it climbs, wades, crosses and descends almost any challenge you can throw at it.

Beyond which it has those two features we said we’d come back to – the 4x4 information display and the VentureCam. The first switches the 7-inch display screen to show transmission mode and suspension settings, plus a fantastic 3D graphic of where the front wheels are pointing and how all four wheels are riding over the terrain, in real time. And of all the 4x4 information systems we’ve seen, it’s without a doubt the clearest and most useful. Then VentureCam adds the final refinement of an external camera that you can point almost anywhere, from watching any wheel or vulnerable corner to keeping an eye on a trailer hitch. That’s brilliant, too. So just another great Range Rover – which is no longer a surprise.