Land Rover Range Stormer Concept
12-27-2003, 02:30 PM
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Range Stormer
Deranged Rover
our eyes haven't deceived you - this really is a sporty, high-performance Range Rover. What's more, something very close to this styling exercise will be launched in the spring of 2005. It's been designed to do battle in what Land Rover calls 'the booming high-performance SUV segment'. Although it will have serious off-road ability, it has also been engineered for high-speed road driving.
Dubbed Range Stormer, the production version will probably wear 'Range Rover Sport' badging and be launched as a five-door. Some of the more futuristic features won't make it either, including the trick doors, aluminium interior and the 22in wheels.
Under the bonnet is Land Rover's own version of Jaguar's 4.2-litre supercharged V8 and the car is built around the company's all-new T5 platform which will first be used for the new Discovery this April. The new chassis is said to combine 'the torsional rigidity of a monocoque with the strength and versatility of a body-on-frame chassis'. Reading between the lines, we expect that the T5 has a spaceframe-like upper body structure.
The car also showcases 'Terrain Response', an electronic integration of the chassis and powertrain systems which has six settings: Dynamic for high-speed tarmac, normal, grass/gravel/snow, sand, deep ruts and rocks. It changes the characteristics of the engine mapping, gearbox, air suspension, traction control and brakes. A six-speed ZF autobox is standard. Expect the real thing - a direct X5 rival - to be priced between £32,000 and £40,000.
Source: Autoexpress
01-05-2004, 09:07 AM
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Land Rover Range Stormer Concept
Range Rover Concept Hints at Future
The folks at Land Rover know their strengths and they play to them. Every Land Rover has superb off-road capabilities, and the efforts of the company's engineers are mainly directed at practical aspects of combining those capabilities with the best possible on-road behavior. Up till now, the practicalities had been more important than such things as concept vehicles, but now the SUV market - which the Range Rover created almost single-handedly - is changing, and Land Rover is changing with it. The Detroit Auto Show will see its first-ever concept, a high-performance SUV with the evocative name of Range Stormer.
It's a Range Rover, but it's certainly not as we know it. The bluff front and rear ends and the rear corners of the roof are unmistakable in their DNA, but the greenhouse of the concept has undergone the good ol' hotrodder's trick of chopping, or lowering. The result is a major reduction in the top volume in comparison with the lower part of the vehicle. The styling is that of an SUV coupe, and that impression is emphasized by the fact that the Range Stormer has only two doors.
The original Range Rover of 1970 also had just two doors, but not like those of the Stormer. In the concept, the doors open upwards and forwards, on hinges that have an action that has been compared to that of a penknife, coming to rest after completing an arc of 90 degrees. At the same time as the door is opening, a step descends from the doorsill to aid entry - the fact that the Stormer rides on 22-inch wheels makes this almost obligatory.
The big wheels, the doors, the aircraft step and the concept car interior - all natural aluminum and saddle leather - are unlikely to make it into production, but the Range Stormer will. The production version will take the Range Rover into the territory blazed by Porsche's Cayenne, that of the performance SUV. Power will come from a supercharged V-8 based on that used by Jaguar, and the technology will come from Land Rover's unparalleled experience.
Among the features displayed on the concept vehicle is a technology dubbed 'Terrain Response'. It provides the driver with six modes of operation, from 'Dynamic' for high-speed operation to 'Deep Ruts' for extreme off-roading. Once a mode is selected, the suspension and drive train settings are automatically adjusted to give optimum performance and grip.
Source: The Car Connection
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11-30-2004, 09:01 PM
#12
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i like the RS6 style fender flares
12-01-2004, 12:04 AM
#14
Land Rover's coming out with some pretty nice designs. I like the Range Rover, and even the new Discovery is looking good.
12-01-2004, 05:43 PM
#19
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by Black CL-S 4-Life
One of the few SUVs I like.
not bad at all!
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