LIKES
- Power in any form
- Off-road prowess
- Elegance personified
- Smooth as silk
- Personalization options
DISLIKES
- Six figures to start
- Thirsty V-8
- Tire noise
BUYING TIP
The 2023 Land Rover Range Rover pushes the envelope for SUV luxury and capability.
What kind of vehicle is the 2023 Land Rover Range Rover? What does it compare to?
The original luxury SUV, the Land Rover Range Rover continues to set the standard for automotive capability and comfort. It faces a variety of challengers, including the BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, Cadillac Escalade, and Lexus LX. The Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan also aim for the higher end of the Range Rover’s market.
Is the 2023 Land Rover Range Rover a good SUV?
The Range Rover does it all. It offers a smooth ride, billy goat off-road capability, and lots of power with any engine, all while wrapping up to seven in exemplary luxury. That earns it a high TCC rating of 7.8 out of 10.
What's new for the 2023 Land Rover Range Rover?
Everything, sort of. The fifth-generation Range Rover starts from scratch, but it was new for a short three-month run as a 2022 model. The 2023 model carries over with the new styling. It takes on a familiar profile but shaves much of the extraneous detail for a design that looks like it was carved from a billet of aluminum. It’s as elegant as ever, and it lacks chrome trim in favor of smooth surfaces and tight tolerances.
Inside, the Range Rover drips with as much luxury as ever while adding more technology. A 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster comes standard, as does a 13.1-inch center touchscreen. Rear-seat passengers can get a pair of rear infotainment screens as large as 13.1 inches. An Executive Class Comfort Plus package for the long wheelbase cuts rear capacity to two while adding an 8.0-inch control screen and making the right rear seat a first-class lounge.
Land Rover offers the Range Rover in SE, Autobiography, First Edition, and SV models.
Every Range Rover comes with an air suspension, adaptive dampers, and rear-axle steering. Engine choices start with a 395-hp turbo-6, and buyers can also get a V-8, now a 523-hp engine sourced from BMW. Both engines are teamed with an 8-speed automatic transmission and standard all-wheel drive that comes with low-range gearing and a Terrain Response system with settings for all kinds of on- and off-road surfaces. A plug-in hybrid version of the inline-6 is coming this year; an electric Range Rover is due in 2024.
How much does the 2023 Land Rover Range Rover cost?
Land Rover loads up the Range Rover with features, but charges a minimum of $105,850 to play. That’s for a short-wheelbase body with the mild-hybrid inline-6. The long wheelbase costs $6,000 more and the V-8 adds another or $17,500. For that money, buyers get leather upholstery, 20-way power-adjustable heated front seats, a power-adjustable steering column, a 14-speaker Meridian sound system, soft-close doors, a panoramic sunroof, and 21-inch alloy wheels.
Buyers can get many more features, as well as a variety of color and trim choices to personalize their vehicles on the $194,450 SV model.
Range Rover also provides plenty of safety features, including automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, front and rear parking sensors, and automatic high beams.
In the U.K.
Styling
The new Range Rover has an elegant look to go with its interior luxury.
Is the Land Rover Range Rover a good-looking car?
Yes it is. The new design distills classic Range Rover traits down to their basics while stripping away any fluff. The result is smoothly styled, brawny, stately, and recognizable. We give it a 9 here, adding two extra points each for the iconic exterior and beautiful and elegant interior.
The Range Rover’s basic profile is unchanged, but it’s stripped of so much ornament and the surfaces fit so flush that the look is quite new. Land Rover eliminates the top drip rails, and fits the panels together so tightly that the Range Rover looks like it’s carved from a block of aluminum. Some of the details change. The hockey stick design that started behind the front wheels and ran into the rear fenders becomes simple aluminum trim that approximates the look of gills, and the sides are smoothed out rather than etched with character lines.
Inside, the Range Rover blends luxury with technology and function. Wrapped in leather and covered in wood and aluminum trim, the Range Rover cabin has the look of a modern, upscale study. A standard 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 13.1-inch center screen that floats above the surface of the dash add the tech, while a variety of controls on the center console turn on the many off-road functions. Range Rover offers a range of leather and trim colors, including black or white ceramic trim for the control knobs, so buyers can personalize their luxo-SUVs.
Performance
Every Land Rover is fast and supremely capable off-road.
Is the Land Rover Range Rover AWD?
Land Rover stakes its reputation on all-wheel drive with off-road capability and the Range Rover delivers in spades. Its AWD system has standard center and rear locking differentials and low-range gearing. It also comes with a Trail Response system to adapt to any type of terrain.
It starts out quick and just gets quicker from there.
The base engine is a mild-hybrid turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 that spins up 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, which enables a 0-60 mph sprint of 5.8 seconds. It’s a smooth engine that stays in the background until pushed hard, and it provides all the power anyone really needs.
However, the step-up BMW-sourced 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 appeals for its stronger, easy power. It makes 523 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, which drops the 0-60 mph sprint to 4.4 seconds—amazing for such a big beast. The V-8 has a more noticeable growl that never intrudes on interior conversation. The V-8 is tuned for smooth starts and only feels as strong as it really is when pushed hard or the transmission is put into Sport mode. Both engines work well with the Range Rover’s 8-speed automatic transmission that delivers smooth shifts in all situations.
Coming later this year is a plug-in hybrid version of the inline-6 that makes 434 hp and is rated to deliver 62 miles of electric driving range.
The Range Rover sits high and weighs almost 6,000 lb, but it boasts controlled ride motions thanks to a standard air suspension and active anti-roll bars. The air suspension sets the standard ground clearance at 8.7 inches, which is typical of an SUV, but allows it to drop to 6.7 inches for loading and unloading, and raise to 10.3 and 11.6 inches in two off-road settings. It also drops 0.6 inch for better aerodynamics on the highway, and it can automatically raise to 13.8 inches to get the vehicle unstuck in extreme off-road conditions.
The air suspension and standard 4WD are the keys to the Range Rover its traditional off-road capability. Setting the Off-Road 2 ride height of 11.6 inches lets the Range Rover clear many off-road obstacles, unlocks almost three feet of water fording capability, and enables generous approach, breakover, and departure angles. The 4WD system’s low-range gearing 4WD and an off-road cruise control system help the driver pick a safe line on steep uphill and downhill stretches or when the trail narrows. Trail Response optimizes several vehicle systems to best handle different surfaces and also controls the ride height. The Range Rover is supremely capable off-road despite the fact it doesn’t use knobby tires.
The active anti-roll bars firm up to keep this big SUV from flopping over in turns, and the result is a pleasant driving experience without undue body motions but also without the hunkered down, sporty feeling that you can get in the related Range Rover Sport. Even with the available 23-inch wheels and tires, the ride is smooth, and the only issue is some tire noise that can disturb an otherwise serene cabin.
Comfort & Quality
The Range Rover has one of the best cabins in the automotive business.
The Range Rover’s interior combines useful space for up to seven with high-quality materials. A new long-wheelbase body style enables a third row or a first-class second row. We rate this cabin a perfect 10.
Front-seat occupants sit on comfortable thrones draped in so much leather that it covers the lower seat sides. Standard 20-way power adjustments and plenty of room in every direction make the front row a luxury pod of its own.
The second row in the standard body style has good space as well, and those seats are also comfortable, though rear leg room starts to get tight with long-legged drivers up front. Without anyone in the back seat of the three-row model, second-row leg room is plentiful, but putting passengers in the third row requires tradeoffs to accommodate occupants in all rows. The third row also has low seat bottoms and head room runs out for anyone over 6 feet tall. Adults can fit back there, but they won’t like it. However, adults will love the stretch-out space of the four-passenger version of the long-wheelbase body style, which has enough room for the right side rider to recline with their legs up on a power legrest.
Despite the generous space, owners will be more pleased with the interior materials. The Range Rover comes standard with walnut wood trim offset by aluminum trim and scads of leather that extends from the seats to the doors, dash, armrests, and center console. The leather only gets softer on higher-line models, and it can even cover the headliner. The SV models get ceramic accents on some of the controls that’s expensive to make but looks too much like plastic.
Safety
It’s yet to be determined.
How safe is the Land Rover Range Rover?
Crash-test ratings are not yet in, but Land Rover outfits the Range Rover with plenty of standard safety features. It comes with automatic high beams, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, front and rear parking sensors, and rear cross-path detection. Automatic parking is also available.
Features
The Range Rover starts out loaded, and it can be personalized at the top of the lineup.
The Range Rover runs the gamut from expensive to ultra expensive. With a six-figure starting price, it comes loaded, and it can soar to supercar prices. It has all the luxury and amenities buyers should expect, but a lack of free maintenance and the overall value proposition prevent it from a perfect score and earn it an 8 here.
The 2023 Land Rover Range Rover comes in base SE, Autobiography, First Edition, and SV trim levels.
Which Land Rover Range Rover should I buy?
How much is a fully loaded Land Rover Range Rover?
At the top of the lineup, the SV model costs $194,450. It gets features from the Autobiography and First Edition trims, plus equipment and styling cues of its own. The features from the middle trim levels include 24-way adjustable front seats that add cooling and massage, a heated steering wheel, heated and cooled power-adjustable second-row captain’s chairs with a rear control screen, an auto-folding rear cargo cover, a refrigerated front center console, a 34-speaker Meridian sound system, a head-up display, a rear camera mirror, a suspension system that can read the road ahead and prepare the vehicle for road imperfections and reduce body lean using active anti-roll bars, and a Tailgate Event Suite with rear leather cushions, tailgate speakers, and rear lighting. The SV touches consist of unique interior and exterior styling elements, 22-inch wheels, a leather headliner, ceramic trim on some interior controls, ebony semi-aniline leather upholstery, uniquely sculpted and patterned seats, and a rear-seat entertainment system with larger 13.1-inch screens. More importantly, buyers can choose from a variety of interior and exterior paint and trim colors to build the Range Rover of their dreams.
Every Range Rover gets a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.
Land Rover infotainment systems have been a source of frustration for years, but the latest version of Pivi Pro looks like a winner. It has a large 13.1-inch center touchscreen with eight configurable panels that drivers can move around to make common controls the most accessible. It has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa commands and the Spotify music app are integrated. The system has over-the-air update capability, so it shouldn’t fall behind the times. It also offers a wi-fi hotspot (with the purchase of a data pack) for up to eight devices. Now it just needs to not lock up like we’ve experienced with previous Land Rovers.
Fuel Economy
The big Range Rover doesn’t drink too much gas for a luxo barge.
Is the Land Rover Range Rover good on gas?
We base our 4 rating on the 20 mpg city, 27 highway, 22 mpg combined rating of the V-8, which should account for the majority of sales.
The base inline-6 would qualify for the same rating with its 21/26/23 mpg rating. The ratings for both engines are unchanged for the short- and long-wheelbase models.
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