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2012 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged review notes

20.06.13

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: It's hard to get one's head around the concept of “agility” in a nearly 3-ton, 6-foot, monster Earth-crushing SUV. But that's a fair descriptor for the 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged .

It's a pricey piece at $102,000, but it's a head-turner just sitting still—and even more stunning inside where everything is done up in leather and piping, chrome and wood trim.

But the best part comes when the super-refined engine fires up and you punch the right pedal for power. Though you're riding high, you'd swear there's a sports car buried somewhere down in the chassis by the way this beast hunkers down and positively hammers. Getting up to speed is a thrill ride, in a good way, as the Range Rover Supercharged whines up (yes, intentional) and launches with the kind of acceleration you just don't expect—or see very often—in vehicles of this heft.

Once rolling, the Range Rover Supercharged is a sharp knife posing as a blunt instrument, carving up traffic with the kind of laser precision, stability and control that bears zero resemblance to its size and stature. And unlike too many big powerful utes and pickups out there, the RR Supercharged brakes are up to the task of slowing this mighty machine quicker than you can say “whoa Nellie.” I particularly enjoyed slapping the auto trans into manual mode and cycling through the ratios, keeping the revs up and the powertrain taut in traffic. How many SUVs encourage that behavior? This one does.

Source: AutoWeek