The king of the luxury 4WDs will go on a diet for it’s next generation, but it’s a diet plan that will take 15 years. A new lighter Range Rover is being proposed by Land Rover engineers for the 2012 model year, using stablemate Jaguar’s rivet-bonded aluminium monocoque chassis technology.
This construction technique will save the new L405 Range Rover nearly 500kg, improving it’s fuel consumption, power, and so many other variables. It will also have a shorter roof so that it’ll look less top heavy. A hybrid drivetrain is also in the works – we don’t really expect petrol prices to have improved much by 2012.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
light 4×4 ?
hmm…
does it make much difference ?
Much friendly to environment
Cool!
this would help it to sprint faster!
itell u, even with all the weight savings plan, come 2012 they will still manage to load it up to over 2 tonnes
OMG…this is truly a beauty new range rover…land rover is the best off-roaders in the world!!! i love land rover…but still a long way to go before it launched…PAUL, can you provide more pic of the front, interior and others? will this new model using the previous range rover's engines-4.2 SC, TDV8, TDV6, 4.4 V8?
all aluminium…. just like my LG handphone.. hahaha..
will it still be strong?
Aluminum is light and strong but not tough. Quite ok for Range Rover (it has become a luxury brand) because people tend to drive around town and city areas.
Our old Proton Saga much better, using the "Milo Tin" material… Muahahaha…
why not got for carbon fibre then? its lighter and proven to be more stronger than steel
It'll be extremely expensive if they use carbon fibre……T.T
15 years? Won't that make it 2021?? It'll be cool if they make the whole body unpainted aluminium, just like how DMC built Deloreans with a stainless steel body!
acbc, aluminum by itself is soft and weak. but with the proper engineering, it can can create a car chassis thats light, as well as very strong and stiff.
Paul, any idea if Jaguar's alloy chassis was developed by lotus? i believe the allow chassis in the aston martin is by lotus. so i'm guessing it must be.
but aluminium use is nothing new for land rover. even the old landrover series1 from 40 years ago uses aluminium body panels and continues with the landrover defender today.
wow wow wow… when talking bout this high end luxury 4wd, i only manage to wow only lar… not tat lucky to have a chance to own this masterpiece…
nice……sloping rooofline…go for the carbon fibre laa! just like the merc mclaren f1
Alu can be light, strong and TOUGH. There's more to it than pots and pans!
When alloyed by Mg,Ti, etc it can be as strong as "steel", and that is why it has been used for umpteen years on airplanes, armoured vehicles, sports ind. etc. Alu/alloys are used in the automotive industry for wide ranging parts, power, structural, panels etc. and in order to fulfil new legislation it can make cars even lighter and stronger. Even the GM Hummer uses an armour grade alu. The Range Rover is a superb car. Most popular vehicle with soccer stars in Britain.
Ugly! most likely won’t be purchasing a Range Rover after 2011 – if this is really what the 2012 model is set to look like.
range rover has gone babanananaas
one thing isdriving a 4×4 in the city from monday to friday, where the range rover smothness and luxury is really appreciated, and another is a really off-road terrain, where a regular one is excellent and 500 kilograms do make difference, even when it would be still 2TN, heavier than many other SUV…
so I think that a hybrid (without prius problems) would be demanded, it would be liek having two different cars…
Better late than never on this subject.
Unfortunately Land Rover is trying to satisfy everyone. They satisfy the wealthier client by making it luxurious; the urban drag racer by making it faster and more powerful, and the style queens by making it look like all the other cars on the road. Of course today, there are few individuals who know what a true off-road vehicle is, or even know how to handle one. Land Rover now makes their vehicles capable of going off-road for the mentally impaired when they have to maneuver through the shopping mall parking lot. Heaven forbid if they were actually forced to deal with a situation that might ruffle their ever widening behinds.
Believe it or not, Land Rover made the earlier models with aluminum bodies, so this is nothing new. Of course nobody in this crowd bought them then. I’ve owned three Land Rovers (one I drive daily today), starting with a 1969 which only had a 4 cylinder. It was a kidney killer, but man what an experience through New Mexico and Arizona.
You bought one when you wanted, or needed to get yourself out of the mud, or sand, or go through the brush, where it didn’t matter if the sides got scratched. They were all manual shift, and having to actually handle the vehicle made the experience even more meaningful. When you were through at the end of the day, you felt like you wrestled a bear, but the experience was exhilarating. Of course the well heeled crowd would never understand that kind of mentality; it might actually jostle their martini. The best Land Rover is the 110, but of course they don’t import them here anymore; only to other countries where people actually use them for what they were intended.
Range Rover 2012