Land Rover LR3
***Be sure to check our NY auto show gallery for way more pictures of the LR3
The new Land Rover LR3 is a new-generation vehicle. It represents what we think the Land Rover brand should stand for, the purest expression of 21st century Land Rover. Modern… high-technology… boldly designed…premium…a vehicle equally at home on the rough or on the smooth…a great driver’s car AND a great off-roader.
But don't just take my word for it – it is my pleasure and my privilege to introduce the new Land Rover LR3…
Unveil vehicle.
Thank you. I hope you can now begin to understand why we at Land Rover are incredibly excited by this new vehicle. It is the most important new model launch in our history.
So why are we launching it, here, in New York, geographically 3,000 miles from our home in England, but culturally a million miles from the perceived traditional heartland of Land Rover – which is surely more East Africa than Upper East Side?
Well we think that New York is the perfect location. For a start, North America will be the biggest market for Land Rover, worldwide, next year, once LR3 sales are up and running. New York is an excellent market for us: you have probably already noticed a number of Range Rovers and Discoverys around, looking quite at home. Just as at home in fact as they are out in the wild.
The dynamic versatility of our vehicles has always been one of their key strengths. Breadth of capability – that ability to be great on road and off – sets Land Rover apart from our rivals. LR3 expands this breadth even further.
Indeed, the LR3 introduces another new Land Rover technology, Terrain Response, first showcased on our Range Stormer concept car.
The LR3 is the first production vehicle to get Terrain Response. Over time, you’ll see it across the Land Rover range.
Like all Land Rover innovations, Terrain Response is smart technology. It’s easy to use, and makes the driver’s job simpler, not more baffling. It optimises driveability and comfort as well as maximising traction. The driver simply chooses one of five terrain settings via a rotary switch from on-road to extreme off-road.
Terrain Response then automatically selects the most appropriate settings for the vehicle's advanced electronic controls and traction aids – including ride height, engine torque response, hill descent control, electronic traction and transmission settings.
It's like having an expert alongside you, to help you get the best out of the vehicle whatever the conditions, on-road or off.
Add height-adjustable fully independent air suspension, high- and low-range transmission that is electronically selected, infinitely variable locking centre and rear diffs and we’re confident that the LR3 is the best off-roader in its sector.
But you would expect that from a Land Rover.
What’s perhaps more surprising is the way it goes on-road.
Well, great on-road refinement and performance was a priority for LR3.
A 300bhp 4.4-liter Jaguar-sourced V8 engine, specially adapted for Land Rover, is an excellent starting point for a great road car. Then add an all-new Integrated Body-Frame architecture to give it superb on-road refinement. Add a six-speed electronically controlled automatic gearbox.
Add fully independent cross-linked air suspension, which not only helps off-road, but greatly improves ride and handling on-road, too. Add a few more high-tech touches, like adaptive headlights that swivel with the steering.
Net result: it is a magnificent road car.
The LR3 is awash with clever technology, as you’ll see when you get a chance to pore over it in just a few minutes time.
It is fabulously versatile, too. Seven seats are offered, and even the rear pair are big enough for 95th percentile adults. And that includes me!
When you get a closer look you will see the easy entry and exit, and the sheer practicality of that cabin. The rear seats – all five of them – fold into the floor, creating an SUV with great load carrying capacity. We think it has the most spacious and versatile cabin in its class.
The cabin has been crucial in the design of this vehicle. Geoff Upex, Land Rover’s design director, who is here today, describes the LR3 as being designed from the inside out. He and his team started with the cabin priorities. The 'Command Driving Position' and 'Stadium Seating' to provide superb passenger environment and fantastic headroom. Form follows function. It is not a car artificially styled, to try to be something that it is not.
It has an asymmetric rear tailgate because that makes the load height lower and improves the reach-in distance when loading the trunk. It has a stepped roof because that gives more rear headroom.
It’s smart design.
It’s also a design of great conviction. It had to be recognised, instantly, as a Land Rover. Like all good designs, it barely changed during its gestation. The very first sketches, of the LR3, look just like the vehicle you see today.
For Europe I can also tell you that, on top of the Jaguar-derived V8, there is a new highly sophisticated common rail turbodiesel. This 2.7-liter V6 is one of the most advanced diesel engines in the world, offering superb performance and economy.
Ladies and gentlemen, the all-new LR3 – or Discovery 3 as it will be known outside North America- is the most technologically advanced and boldest Land Rover that the company has ever unveiled. It’s a car of engineering and design conviction that reflects the confidence that we have in this vehicle and in this company.
We’re convinced it will be a success. Just as we are brimming with confidence in the future of the great team and company that has conceived it.