Land Rover LR2

nyccarguy

BMW has some seriously aggressive lease deals on the X3. If you check out bimmerfest, you can actually view BMWFS money factors & residuals under the ask a dealer forum. The last time I checked they had set a 75% residual on a 24 month lease/ 15K per year lease (65%/36 month 15K) for an '07 X3.

I have no doubt that LR will make the LR2 a competitive vehicle in the market. Hopefully you'll be able to close some more deals and add some dough to your own bottom line. Thanks for keeping us updated.

lukretive

British Rover no more, at least for now. Ford is doing a number on the Land Rover line. The LR is being groomed with the likeness of the Ford Expedition.

billymay

I'd hope that $27K number is closer for the base version. The LR3 starts right around $40K, and a loaded up LR2 ought to be comfortably less.

Jeep is selling more Liberty SUVs than I can count, and Land Rover would do well to position themselves just a notch higher. $36K for an LR2 doesn't bode well for sales. At $30K, it should do very well.

british_rover

A LR3 for 2007 with the six cylinder and five passenger is going to start at nearly $44,000 with the cold climate package.

A V8 LR3 for 2007 is going to start at over $50,000 with the cold climate package. This is because for 2007 all V8 LR3s will have seven passenger and all of them will get, auto dimming interior mirror, rear PDC and fog lamps standard.

I think a base LR2 will come in around $30,000 with a more loaded one approaching $40,000. I see the main competitior to the LR2 being the X3. Typical options for a loaded X3, navigation, Leather, 5 speed automatic, heated seats, xenons and privacy glass push the MSRP up to nearly $44,000.

Land Rover has a tendancy to undercut BMWs pricing for a comparable vehicle by a little bit but at the same time offering more standard features for less money.

billymay

A base LR2 at $30K would be fine, especially if the base model includes a leather interior and if dealers will actually order some that aren't loaded to the gills (i.e., I don't need the cold climate package in San Diego.)

The preview brochure I got gives scant detail about anything, but fuel economy and towing capability (3500 lbs sounds low when the Liberty does 5000 lbs...) may sway my decision.

british_rover

I really wouldn't want to tow 5000 lbs with a liberty. That would be very painful. Keep in mind the liberty has low range and the LR2 does not so check and see if that 5,000 lbs tow rating is in low range only.

british_rover

We are going to order the first set of LR2s this month. Our order call for Oct. 24-25 will include 2008 LR2s for December production which makes me think we could get them as early as Late Feb. or early March.

That morning I should know what trim levels will be offered and what will be standard/optional on the various trim levels.

I still won't know pricing though.

british_rover

We got our LR2 marketing package on Friday. I have basicly all the information now except for pricing of course.

I will make a couple of posts sharing some additional details on monday. Anything I don't post about just ask and I will answer if it is in the packet.

lrguy44

There is a bulletin out - looks like one trim level. Options include Cold Climate, Lighting (Xenon, Adaptive front, Memory driver seat and mirrors, approach and puddle lights), Tec (Nav, Bluetooth, HK Sound, Sirius Radio, and rear seat audio controls), Pixel metalic interior and Narvik black paint. No firm pricing yet but rumour is 34-38k

british_rover

I really hope they start it closer to 30k but with only one trim level I would not be surprised if it was closer to 35k.

billymay

Thanks for posting all these updates, british_rover. Appreciate that. I assume you're a dealer?

I thought the LR2 has been around in Europe, and we're getting the Yank version of a proven vehicle. But then you mentioned pre-production models in your 9/26 post. How queasy should I be with a first-year model? And from LR, which doesn't really dominate the usual quality ratings here?

Pricing in the mid $30K range sounds OK. $40K seems like LR3 territory and at that point I'd be tempted to go back to Jeep when my current lease is done this summer. Low $30K = a winner here.

british_rover

Well the LR2 will go on sale in November for all of europe. The North American market will not get one till April of 2007. That gives them a good six months to get any kinks worked out in europe before it comes here.

We ordered five LR2s this past Tuesday and we will get those cars the first part of April.

Yesterday there was a grassroots meeting for Land Rover dealers and my GM got a chance to sit in and walk around the LR2.

In his words the quality of the materials and fit/finish of the vehicle nearly matches that of the Range Rover.

murphydog

OK, that sucked, there was NO LR2 on display. I was very much looking forward to seeing it in real life tonight. I even thought the LR page mentioned that the LR2 would be at the seattle show. I guess however since the LR2 won't even be state side for 6 more months they decided not to include a sample vehicle.

LAME! :mad: :confuse: :sick:

british_rover

We are not getting one for our auto show in Hartford either. They don't have enough in country right now for all of the auto shows so it is only going to major markets.

Right now there are only five in the whole country.

billymay

Looks like April till when get them in San Diego. The dealer is taking $1K deposits now to get on the list, but I'm in my current Jeep lease till summer '07 and opted to wait.

Apologies if it's already posted somewhere, but here are the color codes and options the dealer gave me when I stopped by today - I'm sure all this info is preliminary:

EXT COLOR EXT CODE
ZERMATT SILVER 798
TAMBORA FLAME 810
RIMINI RED 889
STORNOWAY GREY 907
BALTIC BLUE 912
NAZCA SAND 919
NARVIK BLACK 921
EBONY BLACK
WHISTLER WHITE 922

OPTIONS
CCP - Cold Climate Package
-Heated Front Seats -Heated Washer Jets
-Heated Windshield
LTP - Lighting Package
-Bi-Xenon Headlights -Memory Driver Seat & Mirrors
-Adaptive Front-Lighting System -Approach & Puddle Lights
TEC - Technology Package
-Navigation System (DVD based) -Dolby™ ProLogic II 7.1 Surround Sound System
-Sirius® Satellite Radio -Rear Seat Audio Controls
-Personal Telephone Integration System with Bluetooth Connectivity (no cradle)
MET - Pixel Metallic Interior (Ebony Black Interior Only )

Did I miss that cool orange met that's in the brochure?

british_rover

Thanks for compiling all of that. I had meant to do it days ago but it has been to busy at the end of the month.

Tambora Flame is the orange color that you missed.

We ordered one of those with every option including the Pixel Metallic interior.

murphydog

Any word when pricing will be attached to the above specs?

british_rover

No pricing will be released till the LA auto show the first week of December.

murphydog

Gotcha - Let us know as soon as you can.

BTW BR, Thank you for your posts, I see you in other forums as well and enjoy your stories.

british_rover

No problem you are welcome.

murphydog

The current issue of Car and Driver showed a picture of a possible Volvo XC60. The thinking is that it would share platforms with the LR2. I suppose it would not get all the off road features that a LR would have. Any word on this?

british_rover

Yeah it is supposed to share platforms but it won't get the terrain response, off-road nav or any other off-road bits.

Interior and exterior will be completly different and a 5 cylinder turbo will probably be offered as a base motor.

british_rover

First Drive is out...

LR2 first drive

billymay

Rover, did you drive one yet? I'm not shocked at a few rattles in a pre-production version.

I've found I've needed to make a lot of steering corrections in my last two Jeeps (GC and Liberty) during freeway driving. It is tiring. I wonder if the LR2 will be better, worse or more of the same.

It would be good to have more info on fuel economy. I suppose a first drive isn't enough for decent article.

british_rover

Haven't driven one yet. We were supposed to get one from the auto show but they changed their mind.... :confuse:

The steering correction thing seems odd and is probably just a pre-production thing. Modern Rovers don't have the permenant large neutral zone that previous rovers did. At low speeds off-road the steering rack uses variable ratios and various valves to try and mimic that neutral zone to cut down on bump steer.

It doesn't work as well as just having a large neutral zone but it does improve on road driving greatly.

british_rover

I have in my hand the pricing for the 2008 MY Land Rover LR2.

It is not as agressive as I would have liked for a starting MSRP but the options are less expensive then I thought.

Base MSRP $34,700

Tech Package $3,500

Lighting Package $1,050

Cold Climate Package $700

Narvik Black Paint $400

So a fully loaded black car tops out at $40,350 MSRP

I thought a Base LR2 would start a hair over $30,000 and then all the options would bring it up to right around $40,000.

I really wasn't expecting the base car to be so well equipped so I guess that explains the slightly higher starting price. I also thought the options would be more expensive but they seem like good values.

kyfdx

I'd compare it to the RDX.. that came in about $2K-$4K higher than expected, as well...

I think they'll need lease incentives, if they plan on moving a lot of them..

murphydog

Hmmm...if the descriptions were accurate I would want the lighting package and the cold climate package.

Any word if one package "requires" another?

british_rover

No.

We have ordered a mix of cars so far. Some with just the cold Climate package, some with cold climate and lighting and some with all three packages.

nyccarguy

the 3 different packages?

murphydog

BR,

I don't know of anybody else who works for/with Land Rover, so thanks to you for the dark chocolate stamped "LR2". It was very thoughtful

british_rover

Heheh glad you got that. I saw that there were sending out a marketing packet with the dark chocolate in it.

Glad to see it is working.

Funny thing is that part of my extended family actually owns a very large chocolate company.

nickelpete

Even though the LR2 is supposed to be on the lots in the UK, they still have the same stock photos on the Land Rover UK website and absolutely no specifications.

Does anybody have any dimension information on the LR2? I.E. Length, width, height, front/rear track, wheelbase, front seat headroom/legroom/shoulderroom, cargo space with seat up and seat down, yada, yada, yada?

Thanks.

british_rover

I have it somewhere I will track it down for you.

All of my stuff is preliminary and may not be 100% correct.

nickelpete

Whatever you can find is good. Better than what I know now.

I got the dark chocolate LR2 gift in the mail yesterday. Gave it to my wife; blatant bribery and conversation starter.

I'm hoping that the LR2 is very close in size to her '05 Escape Limited 4WD. She loves the size and shape and manuverability of the Escape (as do I), but admits it has a somewhat drab interior (especially for a near-$30K "Limited" model).

I would love to buy her an Rimini Red (same as her Escape color) LR2 next fall. A significant upgrade in technology, luxury, and safety.

nickelpete

And as soon as I start complaining about the lack of information, they update the UK Land Rover website with more LR2 information. Still no dimensions, but a ton more information than we had before. Ooooh, Aaaah, ...

british_rover

I have to find another copy of my preliminary brocure I think I gave my copy to someone who walked off with it.... :mad:

nickelpete

22,218 pounds sterling
(according the landover.com UK website)

43,687 US dollars
(based on an on-line currency converter)

I think the HSE model comes out at about $56,000.

Is this for real?
Can I not even think about buying the smallest Land Rover?

british_rover

You can't do a direct conversioni from pounds to USD it just doesn't work that way.

A loaded LR2 is only going to be aroune 40,000 even. Oh and the US is only getting LR2 SEs at least for now. I have a feeling that later on in the year or maybe for the 2009 MY a HSE trim LR2 will come out with some new stuff and maybe a new engine.

I had assumed a twin turbo version of the I6 would happen but now rumors point at the Yamaha V8 from Volvo.

marsha7

ago, the Volvo XC90 had (and still has) a V8 option, 300HP, that was going to be offered on a limited basis due to a short engine supply from Yamaha...

If it will be available in the LR2, does that imply that Yamaha has ramped up production of the V8 engine???

british_rover

Perhaps don't really know.

topgear91

I got these specs from www.whatcar.com

Length (mm) 4,500
Width (mm) 1,910
Height (mm) 1,740
Front headroom (mm) 980
Front legroom (mm) 1,040
Rear headroom (mm) 910
Rear kneeroom (mm) 660
Turning circle (m) 11.40
Towing weight (kg) 2,000
Kerb weight (kg) 1,770

Hope there of some help

nickelpete

Thanks for the specs. I converted them to inches and added them to my Escape-to-LR2 spreadsheet.

The only dimension I am concerned about now is the step-in height. The math (i.e. overall height minus the headroom) implies that the LR2 is 3 inches higher in that dimension. I hope I'm wrong about that, because my wife thinks the Escape is spot-on.

Someday soon, I will be able to sit inone and end all of the mystery.

nickelpete

Will we need to get Tech Package to get the Terrain Response system? Or will that be included in the "base" US model?

british_rover

Nope terrain response is standard.

serranot

Folks,

Saw the LR2 on the turntable at the DC Auto Show. Very, very nice.

Tom

british_rover

Hmhh

I should be able to drive a LR2 sometime in Feb. I will get some pictures and maybe Video if I can.

Also the LR2/Freelander 2 just won an award for Best small 4x4 in Europe. It managed to fend off the new CR-V and RAV4 to take its eighth win in the category.
Land Rover UK press release

Secodn press release

helmutroth

Tom,

I tried for 2 days without avail to find out whether the LR2 was at the Washington Auto Show. Thanks for your post. Sounds like you were not able to look inside. Right?

Thanks,
Helmut

serranot

Correct. I tried to whine my way inside, but it did not work.

british_rover

Second week in Feb. I will have pictures and hopefuly Video.

Our regional service rep is driving one now and will be into the dealership sometime that week.