By Dan Strong

08th July 2004

Our spies caught this Range Rover on test in Germany. The revised 4x4 is set to be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in January, and will appear in UK showrooms the following autumn.

Bigger and more powerful lamp clusters are the most significant external change, while the radiator grille is expected to lose at least two of its bars in a bid improve engine cooling. But that's not all - there will also be fresh engines and uprated suspension.

The revised Range Rover will mark the end of the off-roader's reliance on BMW for powerplants, replacing them with Jaguar-sourced V8 petrol and V6 diesels. Entry-level cars will offer the 190bhp V6 already confirmed for the next Discovery, while large-capacity V8s will power the flagship models.

A new 300bhp 4.4-litre unit will be used, and a still-secret 450bhp supercharged V8 is also under development. However, plans for a luxury V12 model have been dropped. Manual and auto gearboxes will be available for the V6, but the V8 is set to be auto only.

Improving the car's handling could be more complicated, though. Because the Range Rover is derived from the BMW X5's platform, its chassis won't accommodate the computer-controlled terrain response system that debuted in the new Discovery. Instead, the Rangie is expected to have a carefully tuned version of the current set-up to deal with the increase in power. Although prices haven't been confirmed, the new line-up is likely to start from ΂£47,000 - a small increase over the current model.

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