2009 Range Rover Supercharged

High luxury for off-road enthusiasts

By Nina Russin

2009 Range Rover

I’m sure there are people with the financial means to take a hundred-thousand dollar car through quicksand and not think twice about it. I don’t happen to be one of them. As I drive the supercharged Range Rover on a crowded Phoenix highway, I try not to imagine a rock jumping off a dirt hauler.

This isn’t to say that the Range Rover can’t take on the most extreme off-road terrain. Its standard terrain-response system, automatically locking center and rear differentials plus permanent four-wheel drive give it the ability to climb up the side of a Mayan ruin.

The engine bay is completely sealed to prevent water intrusion, in case the driver wants to take his Rover through a stream, though I wouldn’t recommend anything deeper than several feet. At 5,842 pounds, I doubt it floats.

But it seems a terrible shame to risk scratching the car’s Santorini black paint: a metal flake that’s especially lovely in the bright Phoenix sun. Ditto for the standard 20-inch alloy wheels.

Fortunately the Range Rover is as much fun to drive on paved roads as it is off-road. The supercharged V8 engine on the test car produces 400 horsepower and 420 foot-pounds of torque. Despite its hefty curb weight, the Range Rover accelerates from zero-to-sixty in 7.1 seconds and has a top speed of 130 miles-per-hour. Read the rest of this entry »