My first ever blog...

Please before reading this bear in mind this is my very first blog and that I am doing this for a genuine love of all things Automotive. In places it may be sketchy but I hope overall my passion for cars will shine through and you will enjoy reading my reviews just as much as I enjoy writing them.

So for my very first review where should i start... something mundane like the new ford focus, or go exotic with the new 911 gt3.... well actually its neither of those things. I thought with it being my first ever blog I would write about my favourite car, and to me the most exciting car of 2011.... The KING of 4x4's The 2011 4.4 litre Range Rover.

Love it or hate its big bruiser looks, you can't help but be impressed by it. It has the status only  few other car manafacturers can match. This latest edition in its 40 year history could not be any more different to the original. Gone are the utititarian interiors and replaced with what can only be described as sheer luxury, that would not be out of place on a Rolls Royce. 2011 sees the introduction of the new 4.4 litre "super diesel". Cleverly blending an increase in power (15 %) over the outgoing 3.6 tdv8, but ultimately and perhaps more importantly in these £1.37p a litre days achieving better mpg (30.1 on a combined cycle).

Perhaps the best way to sum up the new Range Rover's good and bad points is to break it into sections.

Techinal achievements/ whats it like to drive:

The mighty new v8 twin turbo diesel is now mated to an all new eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Motorway cruising is seemingly effortless, with an 80 mph blast down the motorway, the mighty oil burner was barely touching 1500 rpm. Its also worth mentioning that the new engine meets the new Euro 5 regulations and CO2 g/km figure is reduced to 253g. Its twin turbos also help aid fuel economy, on light pulling away and sensible driving just one turbo is doing the work, its only when the driver is feeling its time to outrun the chav behind in his corsa that the twin turbos engage. Also to aid this shall we say "spirited" driving Land rover have fitted a "sport" setting to the gearbox and paddles behind the steering wheel to give the driver the choice of manual gear selection. And lets not forget the Range Rover's biggest ace up its sleeve, not only can it thunder down an Autobahn at  130 mph in absolute comfort, it can also out perform almost anything when the road eventually runs out and things start to get muddy. although arguably not many shiny new 70 thousand pound range rovers these days ever touch grass let alone navigate there way to a top of a mountain (something the range rover is very much capable of  doing). The Range Rover is perhaps in my mind the only "multi-purpose" luxury car that exists today, think of one other car that will cart a family around in safety, hammer down the motorway in luxury, and navigate almost any off road trial, yet still not look out of place outside a Chelsea restaurant on a Saturday night.

So what's not so good?

Well for one, without sounding like i'm stating the obvious but it really is a big car. I had the pleasure of being a passenger in one around London on New Years Eve in very heavy traffic and to be perfectly honest it was a nightmare to manoeuver and we could not find a single parking space that it would fit in. This car really does not belong in the city. Get it out on the open road or on a muddy field and enjoy it. Also, and this may only be just me, but I found the access to the rear seats acceptable at best, it's certainly not an easy machine to climb in and out of the back, as compared to that of a large German saloon. Reliability has also been something that has plagued many Range Rover owners since its launch in the 1970's, although the quality is far superior to that of the "classic" and the later p38 models, it's still not up there with the bulletproof feel of a Land Cruiser. However, despite these very small drawbacks, the Range Rover is still the undisputed "Daddy" of the 4x4 world, its luxury, its presence, and its price are all out of this world, but if you're one of the few who can afford to buy and run one, you will never regret it.

Enjoy these videos.

Any feedback or criticism is welcome.

                                Matthew Brown

  All images from Google search.