With the introduction of the 2008 Land Rover LR2, the brand finally has a solid across-the-board lineup of SUVs that need no excuses.
Well, one excuse: They’re expensive.
Land Rover has tried twice, failed twice to introduce a proper entry-level (for it, anyway) model to the U.S. market. First came the Discovery, a delightful midsize SUV that worked very well, when it worked at all. There are customers who love the Discovery, but there are more who have lost count of the things that have gone wrong with it. The Discovery wasn’t absurdly expensive when new, but its resale value has been battered.
Then came the smaller, less expensive Freelander. The Freelander sold reasonably well in Europe, but by the time Land Rover finally brought it to the U.S., it was already dated. And to customers here, it wasn’t considered a real Rover.
Likely realizing that with three strikes, you’re out, Land Rover, and parent company Ford, knew that the next entry-level Rover had to be good.
And the 2008 LR2 is good, and then some. It is, in fact, one of the most pleasant surprises of the past year.
Three main reasons: First, it looks right, with a nice sense of family to the larger LR3 and the Range Rover models. Second, the powertrain is excellent: It has a 3.2-liter, 230-horsepower, inline six-cylinder engine shared with Volvo that is undeniably one of the best engines in the Ford stable. And it’s mated to an excellent six-speed automatic transmission.
And third, the interior is very nicely done. There is plenty of room for four adults, adequate room for five. Overall length is 177.1 inches — just 2 inches longer than the Freelander was — but the LR2 seems much larger, and I mean that as a compliment.
Actually, there’s a fourth reason why the LR2 works so well: The suspension soaks up bumps as it should, but it’s firm enough to let the LR2 corner as well as any SUV this size. It never feels tipsy, as the Discovery used to.
The 2008 LR2 starts at $33,985, and the test model listed for $39,950, but it had every option except black paint. The base LR2 has plenty of equipment, including leather upholstery, all-wheel-drive, seven air bags, stability control, anti-lock disc brakes and full power-operated equipment. The options included a cold-weather package, a lighting package and a pricey technology package that added a navigation system, an upgraded stereo, Sirius satellite radio and Blue- tooth. Really, there’s nothing in the $5,250 worth of options that I would have missed. The LR3, by the way, starts at $41,435, so there’s quite a bit of separation between the two least-expensive Rover models.
On the road, the LR2 rides and handles far better than I was expecting. I prefer it to its central competition, the BMW X3, though the new X3 is much improved over the previous generation. Off-road, the LR2 is a typical Land Rover, meaning it’s a mountain goat. Too bad only a handful of Rover customers ever venture into the backwoods. But at these prices, I understand.
Land Rover really got the LR2 right. It’s about time.
