'Baby' Landie Storms In

By Chris Thorp

07th January 2004

Its mission is to get SUV buyers used to the idea of a high-performance road-biased Landie ahead of the car's launch in 2005. And it has looks that will certainly turn heads. Alongside the massive 22-inch wheels, four exhausts and chrome air vents, the Range Stormer's most striking features are its doors. The radical scissor set-up hinges first forwards and upwards, just like that fitted to the Lamborghini Murci΃©lago.

However, the prototype has another trick - the bottom section of the door drops to form a step, making for easy access to the cabin. Due to costs, the production car will feature conventionally hinged doors, but bosses are open about their intentions for the car.

Managing director Matthew Taylor told Auto Express: "The Range Stormer is a high performer on the road, and is class-leading off-road. The showroom vehicle that follows will share many of its styling and technical innovations."

To give this all-round ability, the car has a complex new 4x4 system called Terrain Response. This allows the driver to choose from six settings - from 'dynamic' to 'deep ruts' - which automatically adjust the vehicle's suspension, powertrain, throttle and traction control to give the optimum set-up.

The 4WD technology was revealed by Auto Express in issue 769, and will debut in the new Discovery in November. But some features of the Stormer will be left at concept stage - and the interior is likely to be one of them. The car has ultra-thin lightweight seats, with leather padding mounted on alloy frames. The narrow chairs mean excellent front and rear legroom, while the floor is covered in easy-to-clean leather rather than carpet.

Meanwhile, the cabin has a roomy, airy feel, thanks to its full-length glass roof. To add versatility, the rear seats are mounted on runners, so they can be slid forwards to free up extra boot space. For easy access, the electrically operated split tailgate has a bottom section that disappears down into the bumper.

The rest of the interior is dominated by natural materials, with a rolled aluminium dash and centre console, oak-rimmed steering wheel and ivory leather door trims and headlining. To match the Stormer's striking paintjob, the instrument dials are backlit in orange.

Other distinctive features include an electronic handbrake similar to that in Jaguar's S-Type, plus an aircraft throttle-style gearshift for the six-speed auto box. The Range Stormer name is unlikely ΃ ΃ to be used by the showroom model, however. It is expected to be called the Range Sport, which reflects its position in the line-up - below the flagship Range Rover but above the Discovery.

Our exclusive spy shots, in issue 787, illustrated how the final version of the new model, codenamed L320, will look similar to the hugely successful Rangie, but with a lower roofline and front end styling believed to be virtually identical to that of this show car. The wing and bonnet vents will also appear on the production edition.

Under the skin, it will be drastically different to the Range Rover, though, and will actually share its major components with the next Discovery. This means using a separate chassis, rather than the seemingly more modern monocoque build of the Range Rover.

Land Rover says this isn't the backward step it may seem, revealing the alloy structure - called T5 - will form the backbone of all future Land Rovers above the Freelander. Besides offering strength and production cost savings, it can accommodate complex electronics and multi-adjustable air-suspension.

Engines will also be shared with the next Discovery, although there will be a couple of high-powered units, including the concept's supercharged V8, which will be retained exclusively for the Sport.

Diesels will account for the majority of sales in Europe, and buyers will be able to choose from Jaguar's 204bhp 2.7-litre V6 or an all-new 4.0 V8, developing more than 400bhp. Petrol units will also be based on current V6s and V8s used in the XJ, while there is talk of a V12 using a heavily modified Aston Martin DB9 unit. And that's sure to be more like a hurricane than a storm!

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