Gear Sports

Land Rover’s marketing boffins would like you to think of the all-new 2008 Land Rover LR2 as a true Land Rover in a concentrated package. Smaller, lighter and more affordable than the LR3, the LR2 appeals to drivers who are downsizing from traditional sport-utility vehicles into the crossover segment of carlike compact-utility vehicles.

This new Land Rover won’t go on sale in the United States until May 2007, but we recently had an opportunity to drive the European version. Its price in the U.S. is expected to begin at about $33,000, although the details won’t be announced until the vehicle’s official unveiling at the Los Angeles auto show. We think the LR2 will fall into a segment of compact yet high-style European utilities defined by the BMW X3 and the forthcoming Volvo XC50.

A high-style, carlike cabin:
The carlike design themes of the LR2’s exterior are carried through into the interior. The bluff, utilitarian feel of the LR3’s dash has given way to a softer design that combines the look of an SUV with that of a traditional sedan. The quality of the presentation is a huge step forward from the Freelander, but the wood trim doesn’t look right and there were some squeaks and rattles in the interior of the preproduction vehicles we drove.

For the U.S., the LR2 will come in only one, fully optioned model, with such things as leather upholstery and a massive twin-element sunroof as standard equipment. Also standard will be full-time all-wheel drive with Land Rover’s unique, electrically controlled Terrain Response, which allows you to choose among different combinations of ride height, throttle response, transmission setting, traction control and Land Rover’s Hill Descent according to driving conditions. Many typical Land Rover features will be on the LR2’s options list, including DVD-based satellite navigation.

The LR2 is far more spacious than the old Freelander, yet you’re never left in doubt that this is a compact-utility vehicle. We discovered that four 6-foot adults could find room inside, but a BMW X3 feels more commodious. Land Rover tells us that there are 59 cubic feet of cargo volume when the rear seat is folded flat, but the 26.5 cubic feet of volume when the second seat is fully upright seemed only adequate to us.

Engine:
A DOHC 3.2.-liter inline-6 is mounted transversely under the LR2’s hood. Derived from the latest version of the inline-6 recently introduced by the forthcoming Volvo S80, this engine has been adapted to all-terrain use with a high-mounted air intake, presumably so the LR2 can ford those tropical rivers Land Rover drivers always seem to be encountering in television commercials.

The LR2’s six-cylinder develops 230 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 234 pound-feet of torque at 3,200 rpm, and it’s designed to deliver a broad power band thanks to variable valve timing, plus a unique Land Rover technology that permits the engine to switch between two different profiles for the intake camshaft. Land Rover says this is enough to propel the LR2 from zero to 60 mph in 8.4 seconds and then on to 124 mph. An Aisin-Warner-built six-speed automatic transmission is standard, and has a sport mode that lets you manually shift through the gears.

The new engine is impressively smooth and proves an ideal foil for the transmission. Our only significant criticism concerns the engine’s lack of torque low in the rpm range. The LR2 weighs 4,255 pounds, so this inline-6 needs to be worked hard to deliver its best, which will inevitably compromise the fuel consumption.

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