Discovery Vision Concept and Range Rover Long wheelbase Hybrid show up in Beijing

These just popped up on the Land Rover Media site.  The Discovery Vision Concept looks to just be computer animated, same as the other official pictures.  The Taklamakan Orange presented here makes that more apparent with a little zooming.vision-concept-version2-large

It looks better in these tweets from the Beijing show:

And here’s a Range Rover Long Wheelbase Hybrid:

lwb-hybrid-large

The Asian shows always get fun and different colors from Jaguar Land Rover.

JLR_Beijing_2014_008JLR_Beijing_2014_025JLR_Beijing_2014_009JLR_Beijing_2014_024JLR_Beijing_2014_007

2014-04-20T12:28:25-04:00April 19, 2014|

A 2014 Range Rover Rant, or How you’ll always know if you’re listening to a Pop or Rock station; always.

I’ve been ranting about the utility of 12.3” TFT LCD screen that Range Rover has used for its virtual gauges since 2010.  When I drove a 2013 model for the first time, it was the first thing I was hoping to see.  There was audio info and even navigational cues in the once black void between the two “gauges”.  Now having a full week in with my 2014.5, I can say it’s missing the last bit of polish.  I’m not going to address the frustratingly slow interfaces yet, this rant is specifically calling out the display of song information(or lack thereof) on both the digital gauge screen and the center touchscreen.  Here we go…

The gauge display when playing a Sirius Satellite Radio song:sat-gauge1:

It shows us that it’s Sirius, SAT 1 shows us that it’s a channel on the first screen of SAT presets, not that I care.  Seriously, does wasting that space with SAT 1 help anyone?  Does anyone care that it’s the first page of SAT presets?  Anyone?  “Bridge” is the channel name and the Channel number is 32.  Notice it does not display the song name or artist name.  So let’s look to the 8” touchscreen and its default Home menu for the information we’re seeking – notice the information to the right of the “Audio/Video” button.maindisp-home

Here we see again it’s SAT 1, the preset page(can anyone explain why I should care?).  It’s playing Channel 32, Bridge.  But this time we get a new and totally amazing piece of information – is it the song title?  Is it the artist?? No, it’s the genre of the station currently playing.  Then below that they kill more space with the Meridian logo because that’s the mode I have it in.  So yes the music sounds great but by default, we still don’t know what we’re listening to. But we know it’s a Rock station, so that really, really makes up for it.

So let’s be daring and hit the Audio/Video button, maybe the information we seek is there…maindisp-av
Great!  Finally, we really get some more info, well just one new piece of glance-able info – the artist’s name.  If we want more info, then you’ve got to press that “i” button.

So maybe you’re thinking it’s just a Satellite Radio issue, it’s got to be better when playing from an iPod.  Right?  We’ll do this one in reverse.  Audio/Video display for iPod song – Album/Artist/Track all displayed!!maindisp-av-ipod

Home menu shows us the Song Title – it would be nice if they lost the Meridian logo and gave us Artist too.  As the driver, I couldn’t care less about any marketing deals they’ve made.  There are Meridian logos on the physical speakers in the car, I don’t need a digital one too.  And yes, you could pick Dolby or DTS and the appropriate logo is shown but who really cares?  It’s a waste of very limited visual space.

maindisp-home-ipod

The gauge display, again a little more info but still plenty of useless redundancy.  So the Music: iPod line tells us it’s playing from the iPod.  The second line with iPod is showing the name of my iPod, which is just “iPod”.  Then the final line we get Track number and Song title.

gauge-ipod1

The name of my iPod just exacerbates the issue but it also proves a point, why is there such redundancy?  Yes we need to know the source, I’m fine with that but why not place the iPod’s name on the first line and use the new, now empty space for the Artist name?  It’s better than Satellite Radio but still needs improvement.

It’s these frustrating little details that take an almost perfect vehicle and make it less so.  And the worst part is that these are all features that are constantly in your face, you’re looking at one of these screens and always missing key info that could very easily be displayed – a frustrating reminder of what could be. 

How much of this is regulations and contracts and how much is actual design?

But hey, at least we know it’s a Rock station…

2014-05-11T02:16:55-04:00April 19, 2014|

So it is going to be called the Discovery Sport!

discovery_sport_name

  • Land Rover Discovery Sport announced as first new member of Discovery family

  • All-new premium compact SUV will go on sale in 2015

  • First production model to take cues and features from the Discovery Vision Concept car unveiled at New York International Auto Show

Land Rover has today confirmed that the first member of the all-new Discovery family will be the Discovery Sport premium compact SUV.

The announcement was made by Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Design Director and Chief Creative Officer, during his speech at the 2014 New York International Auto Show:

"I am proud to confirm the nameplate that will make Discovery a family of vehicles for the first time. It will be called Discovery Sport and will go on sale in 2015.

"This will be the most versatile and capable SUV in its segment and is the first expression of the Discovery Vision Concept unveiled here in New York."

2014-04-16T17:43:36-04:00April 16, 2014|

2015 Land Rover LR2 / Freelander 2 – clock’s a tickin’

LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_01LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_04_Lux

LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_02_LUX

LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_04_Sport

LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_05LR_Freelander_15MY_Location_06_19inch

Land Rover Introduces New HSE Luxury and XS Specifications For Freelander 2

  • HSE Luxury specification available for the first time globally on Freelander 2
  • Dynamic Exterior Pack adds further sporting design for 2015 Model Year.
  • New XS specification offers a range of exterior and interior upgrades
  • Exterior updates include new headlamp design across the Freelander 2 range

Whitley, UK, 3 March 2014 – Land Rover’s Freelander 2 is now available in a premium HSE Luxury specification, offering a series of exterior and interior upgrades, increased visual appeal and a more luxurious cabin.

(more…)

2014-04-13T23:13:45-04:00April 15, 2014|

Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept is real and it’s spectacular

Land-Rover-Discovery-Vision-Concept-(15)

Land Rover has promised us that a lot of new vehicles were on the way and they weren’t just teasing.  After a successful Range Rover Evoque launch and then completely new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, it’s time to move on to the next part of the three family Land Rover plan – Leisure.Bgu8A_nCcAAy09G[1]

Discovery will be the start of a new full line of Land Rover vehicles, some of the Land Rovers have been neglected for a while but now it’s time to change that.

I’m never a huge fan of concept cars, everything is so over the top and we rarely see the amazing technology or extreme design make through to production.  But Land Rover is usually different when it comes to their concepts of which there haven’t been too many.

Range Stormer it’s production counterpart the Range Rover Sportstormer-rrs

Land Rover LRX and the Range Rover Evoquelrx-rre

And while we’ll never see all of the things listed in the PR below make it into production, I still think quite a few will become reality in the next few years.  It’s great to see Land Rover keeping right on top of innovation (for the most part, haha)

Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (1)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (2)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (3)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (5)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (16)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (7)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (4)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (8)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (9)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (11)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (12)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (13)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (10)Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept (14)

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY VISION CONCEPT

(MAHWAH, N.J.) – April 14, 2014 – The Land Rover Discovery has carved an enviable reputation for itself – from deserts, jungles and barren peaks, where its extraordinary capabilities have seen it through the harshest terrains.

From 2015 onwards, the Discovery nameplate will be born by not just a single model but a distinct range of vehicles that symbolize the essence of the premium SUV: modern, versatile, practical and desirable, with the unmistakable DNA of Land Rover at its core. The future Discovery range is set to take on the adventures of life.

(more…)

2014-04-13T12:37:34-04:00April 14, 2014|
Go to Top