2012 & 2011 Landrover SUV Reviews & Ratings

As the Jeep is central to US motoring culture, so the Land Rover is to the British. A hard working, no frills, off road workhorse that could be found in every corner of the British Commonwealth from Africa to Australia.

Since these early days, the Land Rover has developed into a fully fledged SUV, where driver and passenger comforts are at their highest level, while the vehicle's remarkable performance and road holding capacities under the most testing of conditions have remained as strong as ever.

Land Rover, now members of the Tata Group of India, who also Own Jaguar Cars, have developed their SUVs no with a choice of four, each filling a niche in this ever popular market.

The opening model in the range is the Land Rover LR2, which is a hard working SUV, more than capable of handling itself in testing on and off road conditions, and carrying its five passengers in comfort and safety, with rear seats that split 60/40 as well as cargo capacity of close to sixty cubic feet. Sitting more than eight inches of the ground, as well as being fitted with Land Rover's standard Terrain Response system that allows the vehicle to adjust to any terrain, the LR2 will get you anywhere, anytime.

Powered by a 3.2 liter V6 engine generating 230 horsepower paired with a six speed automatic transmission, the Land River LR2 looks solid, drives well and provides as high a level of passenger comfort as you could expect, with all the latest technological advances taking in DVD satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity among many others.

The next one up in the Land Rover SUV family is the Land Rover LR4 which bears a very strong resemblance to its "little brother" the LR2, but so much bigger. It has to be because the LR4 has been designed and constructed to sit seven, and this it does with considerable aplomb. As comfortable off the road as it is on it, the LR4 sits high, while never forsaking for a moment its heritage as a people carrier of the highest quality, carrying its passengers in complete security.

The LR4 is a big, heavy and tough piece of motoring apparatus and thus needs a pretty powerful engine to provide it with the power it needs, and this it gets through a Jaguar developed, 5.0 liter V-8 engine generating 375 horsepower and 375 pounds per feet of torque, paired with a six speed manual gearbox. Power is one thing and comfort is another, and the Land Rover LR4 SUV does not come lacking with an exceptionally high standard of finish, and all of the latest in technology and opulence that you would expect from a SUV of this class and price tag.

The Range Rover was really Land Rover's first step into the SUV market and has been around for several decades already, and now in its third series. Nothing much has changed, externally and even internally since the first Range Rover's hit to road in the late sixties. Solid as a rock, and as reliable as Big Ben, The Range River has been hauling people, on and off the roads of the World in comfort and safety for as long as SUVs have been existence. And looks like being around for a long time to come, without too many face lifts. The main changes to the 2012 Range Rover Series is under the hood, where an entry level 5.0 liter V8 producing 375 horsepower sets the wheels in motion. If these wheels are not going fast enough, there is always the option to go for the supercharged version which harnesses the power of 510 horses. Either engine variation takes its power from a six speed automatic transmission that can also be controlled manually.

Last but far from least, is Land Rover's most recent addition to their SUV stable, the Range Rover Evoque. The Evoque was developed by Land Rover to answer a demand for a semi compact SUV with a little more exterior flair than some of its slightly blandly designed stable mates, and where the other models in the range might be described as "comfortably classical" the Evoque has more of the sleek lines of a Jaguar to it, even offering a coupe version.

Taking its power from a 2.0 liter four cylinder turbo charged engine rated generating 240 horsepower, the Evoque is equal in power and comfort to the LR2, yet is guaranteed to turn a lot more heads.