By Chris Russon on 2015-08-28 - The driving force behind Eurekar. Chris heads up a team of motoring correspondents under the Driving Force banner. Prior to Driving Force becoming independent in 2010 he was Chief Motoring Editor for Trinity Mirror Regional newspapers. Chris has been writing about cars for almost 40 years.
IT'S described as the most luxurious SUV on the planet and 45 years after it first made its mark on the new car scene the Range Rover is scaling new heights.
The current fourth generation model has just been upgraded making it even more technologically advanced and user friendly.
Hot on the heels of the unveiling of the new SVAutobiography flagship at the New York Auto Show in March, the Range Rover hit its 45 birthday on June 17 just two months after one became the six millionth Land Rover ever built.
Its history is legend with exploits including victory in the very first Dakar rally and becoming the first vehicle to cross the notorious Darien Gap, the swampy wilderness which joins the two Americas.
That blend of astonishing off road ability and absolute luxury has turned the Range Rover into an icon of British engineering and now it is enjoying fame as the world's first all-aluminium SUV complete with a diesel electric hybrid powertrain.
As such it costs a heady £108,000 for a long wheelbase version decked out in sumptuous hide and top class veneers.
There is nothing quite like it and as a hybrid it is also the most economical Range Rover so far produced returning 44 to the gallon with emissions of 169g/km.
Back in 1970 such engineering was the stuff of dreams and the original model could manage just 16.8mpg from its 3.5-litre V8 engine.
The new long wheelbase Range Rover Hybrid is a genuine VIP vehicle with masses of room inside and peerless levels of comfort.
Using a 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine mated to an electric motor it has 340ps on tap - almost three times more than the original petrol version - and packs so much torque it could almost move a mountain let alone climb it.
For a 2.5-tonne vehicle it is very quick at 6.5 seconds 0 to 60 and that is the same as the current V8 diesel variant but the hybrid has a greater top speed at 135mph and is 40 per cent more fuel efficient.
The hybrid first hit the scene in 2013 when three prototypes took part in a famous 10,000 mile Silk Trail expedition from Land Rover's factory in Solihull to Mumbai in India and now two years down the line it has been updated to give it more electric-only range and at higher speeds.
We managed to travel almost a mile in pure electric mode at 30mph before the diesel engine cut back in to share the workload.
Overall the new model feels much more refined than the original offering and in real world conditions it displayed an average of 37.2mpg.
Off road the hybrid is just as all conquering as any other Range Rover and is fitted with Land Rover's electronic all terrain controls to deliver maximum grip no matter what the conditions are.
There is no compromise on boot space either with the hybrid's luggage capacity ranging from 550 to 2,345 litres just like any other Range Rover.
New equipment includes a powered tailgate that can be operated hands-free making life much easier when it comes to loading. So does a system which automatically controls the vehicle's access height, lowering the suspension by up to two inches in just three seconds when the ignition is switched off.
Another change is a new surround-view camera system which can give an overhead display of the car and its immediate environs when manoeuvring.
On the techno front the Range Rover's connectivity set up now allows for remote control of a number of features including the door locks and the alarms via Land Rover's InControl apps.
There is also a locator function which can be operated from a smartphone which flashes the lights and gives a discreet beep of the alarm.
Unlike some other hybrid 4x4s where the electric motor is used to drive one set of wheels and the engine the other, the Land Rover configuration engages the combined drive continuously through the eight-speed automatic transmission - and it works fantastically well delivering optimum results.
On our drive in the Range Rover Hybrid from the Solihull factory where the car is built out through the lanes of Warwickshire we covered some 50 miles at average speeds and according to the trip computer the diesel engine was actually ‘off' for 25 per cent of the journey.
The displayed range at the start of the trip was 453 miles and at the end it was showing 411 miles - an increment of eight miles at an average speed of 30mph and that's a performance which would impress the driver of any large SUV.
With a 17.5 gallon tank it is capable of travelling the best part of 700 miles between fill ups making a Range Rover that is really true to the name.