Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Convertible Concept

We've come a long way from the cloth-top Defender. 

Many people thought the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet was a fluke, but it could actually signal the beginning of a crossover convertible trend. Land Rover is using the Geneva auto show to roll out a droptop Evoque concept. Rendered in a charcoal hue with 21-inch wheels and a two-tone, ivory-and-gray four-seat interior, the right-hand-drive Range Rover concept can be seen as the masculine yang to Nissan’s feminine yin.

The Evoque convertible concept is based on the Evoque coupe (i.e., the three-door version) and features a fabric top, a drop-down tailgate, pop-up rollover protection, and, of course, Land Rover’s Terrain Response system. The concept also includes an eight-inch touch screen in the center stack, a Meridian audio system, and surround-view cameras.

Land Rover claims that the roof-ectomy was achieved with “minimal changes to weight and torsional rigidity,” both big challenges for chop jobs like this. Most companies wouldn’t make those points about something they didn’t plan to actually produce. Indeed, close inspection of the car reveals details that suggest this is less a concept car than a production-intent prototype, including flaps ahead of the tonneau cover to accommodate the top structure, front-seatbelt anchor points, and even the split-folding rear seatback. Certainly, it is further developed than the DC100 concepts that Land Rover has been floating around recently.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/land-rover-range-rover-evoque-convertible-concept-news

Chicago Land Rover 

2012 Annual Auto Issue: The most fun to drive cars for 2012

We all want a car to be safe, reliable, and perform well, but since we all spend too much time behind the wheel (and making payments!), it might as well be fun to drive, too. Our automotive engineers have combined their test data and notes to come up with the cars they have found to be the most fun to drive.

Of course, “fun to drive” is a somewhat subjective measure—an elusive quality that can mean different things to different people. From our experience, a car can have a very powerful engine and accelerate quickly, but without handling agility, it's not much fun.

For us, fun is a combination of factors—such as handling response, sound, and the nature of the power delivery—that lead to grin-inducing satisfaction. To come up with our list of the most fun cars to drive, we first took a slice according to our scores for handling, steering feel, and body control. Then we looked at acceleration, but found most cars today have plenty of power. Of course, a weak link in the fun chain, such as a poor shifter, would be counted against a candidate. Finally, we took a secret ballot to give our testers a chance to capture those elusive subjective qualities, including sounds and overall engagement.

Below is the list of the Jaguars we consider the most fun to drive.

Category	Most fun
Convertibles	Jaguar XK
Luxury sedans	Jaguar XJ

Look for the 2012 Annual Auto Issue of Consumer Reports to be posted online midday Tuesday, February 28th.

Read More: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/02/2012-annual-auto-issue-the-most-fun-to-drive-cars-for-2012.html

Jaguar Considering Track-Focused Special-Edition XKR-S Coupe

Jaguar is considering building a handful of special-edition XKR-S coupes—of course, with just 100 of the super coupes being built each of the next three years, the “non-special” car already will be a rare sight.

Frank Klaas, Jaguar’s global head of communications who describes the XKR-S as an “ambassador of the brand,” said that the proposed special-edition model would appeal to the guy who wants to drive to the track, lap or race to his heart’s content, and drive home. As such, the car might lose its rear seats and gain lighter stereo and HVAC units for the touch-screen-based systems, hard-core racing seats, a fire-suppression system, unique gauges, and track-focused aero addenda. A roll cage may or may not be part of the package, depending on the markets in which the car is sold. (If the examples of various track-ready Porsche 911s are anything to go by, ours would be one of the markets to do without the cage.)



As with the standard XKR-S, this variant—which could be named after the Nürburgring, where production-grade XKR-S models have allegedly posted sub-eight-minute lap times—would be built by Jaguar’s in-house Engineered To Order (ETO) group. (If the XKR-S is an ambassador for the brand, consider ETO the consulate. Klaas promises that the ETO team, which quietly fulfills requests for bespoke cars for high-value customers, will play a more prominent role in Jaguar marketing in the future.)

We weren’t told whether the special-edition coupes would add to the annual 100-car XKR-S allotment, but Klaas did say that a harder-core version of the convertible is not being considered at this point. Watch for a vehicle to be floated out to gauge interest at either next month’s Geneva auto show, or, more likely, the Paris auto show in the fall.

Read More: http://blog.caranddriver.com/jaguar-considering-track-focused-special-edition-xkr-s-coupe/

Jaguar Dealers

Range_e Plug-in Hybrid Prototype: First Drive Report

At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Land Rover unveiled its first ever plug-in hybrid concept vehicle, the Land Rover Range_e Diesel Plug-in Hybrid.

Then in October last year -- purely by chance -- we bumped into one of Land Rover’s five engineering test Range_e prototypes in a shopping mall parking lot the weekend before it was due to take part in the annual RAC Green Car Challenge from Brighton to London, U.K.

Like the rest of the automotive press however, we had to wait until last Friday to get behind the wheel at a special Land Rover Jaguar joint press day.

Regular Range Rover Sport -- With A Plug

From a distance, the Range_e plug-in hybrid prototype looks identical to the 2011 Range Rover Sport.
Get closer, and it becomes obvious that the Range_e isn’t just another gas-guzzling SUV.

On the rear right quarter panel, there’s the usual fuel filler flap -- but move to the

Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1072440_range-e-plug-in-hybrid-prototype-first-drive-report