Royal Treatment

From its sharp looks to its outstanding uphill and downhill performance, the 2004 Range Rover HSE gives you a taste of British brilliance.

November 1, 2004

It hasn't reached the iconic status of, say, a Porsche Carrera quite yet, but the unique lines of the Range Rover stand out beautifully from its competition in the super-luxe SUV market. Although the Range Rover's body has been tweaked a time or two over the years, its basic shape is unchanged and still unlike anything else on the road. And that's a good thing. There's something elegantly British Colonial about the Range Rover's lines, a sort of discordance between how the vehicle looks and what it's capable of, very similar to the way the British Army officers of old always looked sharp and spoke impeccably, even while they were storming into battle and causing general mayhem.

The dichotomy, at least in the case of the Range Rover, is real. It looks great and offers up the kind of luxury you'd expect from a vehicle carrying a $78,000 sticker price (well, $77,950 if you want to quibble). The interior, which Rover proudly proclaims is inspired by the unquestionably brilliant interiors of Riva's Aquariva (www.riva-yacht.com), wouldn't be at all out of place on any top-line luxury sedan. However, the cherry wood highlights on the dash seem oddly synthetic; every person who climbs in the Boating World test vehicle asks: "Is that real wood?"

The dubious look of the wood trim doesn't detract a bit from the driving experience, so most people won't give it a second thought. Around town, the Range Rover is a champ, enveloping you in plush silence. On the highway, same thing. A few people might ask for a little more road feel to come up through the steering wheel, but, for most, between the steering wheel and the suspension, the Range Rover delivers just the right amount of input regarding road conditions. The steering is calmly responsive, and there is less body roll than expected through corners.

The only beef with the interior, and it's a major one, is that the Range Rover is saddled with one of the worst in-dash navigation systems in existence. It's absolutely non-intuitive, designed so that you have to focus intently on it if you're simply trying to get the map to show up, and that's flat-out dangerous. There shouldn't be anything on a vehicle, especially one with this kind of price tag, that has a learning curve.

But when it comes to off-road or towing performance, the Range Rover doesn't have a learning curve. Need to work your way along a creek bed with a 45-degree side slope? The Rover can do it. In fact, it can do more things like that than most folks are brave enough to try. You get everything you need for off-road performance, from full-time four-wheel drive to massive low-end torque to get you up those scary inclines. There's even a brilliant downhill assist that actually walks the vehicle down those scary hills by pulsing the brakes so all you have to do is steer. Words don't do justice to the Rover's off-road chops - you really have to take a test drive with an experienced driver, and see and feel it for yourself.

It's nearly as impressive as a tow vehicle, with a capacity of more than 7,000 pounds, plenty enough to handle the family cruiser. The engine's beefy torque gets the load up and moving with aplomb, and the full-time four-wheel drive really helps out when you're dealing with wet or gravelly launch ramps.

That'll also give you the opportunity to feel the 4.4L V8's impressive torque and fairly decent - for a truck this size - acceleration. Sadly enough, the combination of a big body, big engine, and full-time four-wheel drive means that the Range Rover is a gas hog, getting just 12 miles per gallon in the city and 17 on the highway, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Of course, if you can afford an SUV that costs nearly $78,000, then you can most likely afford the gas bills that come along with it. Just think of it as the colonialist's burden.