Range Rover vs Audi A8 L and Porsche Cayenne Turbo: 2013 twin tests
Can the new Range Rover really be the best luxury car and best SUV in one? We find out as it takes on the Audi A8 and Porsche Cayenne Turbo
The all-new Range Rover is billed as the world’s most refined and capable luxury SUV. And in the isolation of our road test special, where we compared it with its predecessors, the car impressed with its peerless off-road ability and superb refinement.
But where does it fit in at the top of the luxury car tree? Is it really as comfortable as a limousine? And has Land Rover’s weight reduction programme given it the handling its predecessor could only dream of?
For its first challenge, we’ve lined up the £84,695 SDV8 Vogue SE against two rivals that will test all of the Range Rover’s talents. First up is the Audi A8 L. It’s one of the best luxury saloons on the market, and it matches the Range Rover with a V8 diesel, four-wheel drive and opulent cabin, all for nearly £10,000 less.
For the same money as the SDV8, you could have one of the most performance-focused SUVs on the planet: the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. The Range Rover will have a tough task to match it for on-road handling – but if the newcomer can take victory in these tests, it can rightly claim to be one of the best cars in the world.
Verdict
This test proves it: the new Range Rover is one of the most accomplished luxury vehicles in the world. It has the refinement, comfort and ride quality to take on a car like the Audi A8, yet at the same time it retains proper off-road ability and has a healthy dose of practicality, too.
Used - available now
2018 Land Rover
Range Rover
62,853 milesAutomaticDiesel3.0L
Cash £29,748
2020 Land Rover
Range Rover
43,973 milesAutomaticDiesel3.0L
Cash £36,452
2017 Land Rover
Range Rover
96,000 milesAutomaticDiesel4.4L
Cash £20,000
2023 Land Rover
Range Rover
23,000 milesAutomaticPetrol4.4L
Cash £89,990Even more impressively, it handles well enough that it’s as entertaining as a sports-focused SUV like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo.
It’s hard to think of a journey, lifestyle or road condition that the Range Rover would fail to take in its stride. Better still, we think it looks great, and its image has never been stronger.
It’s expensive, but the Range Rover isn’t just a great SUV – it’s the ultimate all-rounder.
Range Rover vs Audi A8 L
While it has a reputation as an accomplished off-roader, the Range Rover is a luxury car more than anything else – and it’s one that stands comparison against the best German luxury saloons.
The latest model even aspires to be mentioned in the same breath as Rolls-Royce and Bentley. That’s a bold ambition, but then the Rangie looks right at home parked outside the world’s five-star hotels, and has the kudos to be on the wish list of the seriously wealthy.
This new model is unmistakably a Range Rover. But it’s slightly longer and wider than the outgoing car, and a sleek nose, LED running lights and wraparound tail-lamps give it a slicker look. In comparison, the Audi A8 L doesn’t have the individuality to stand out.
Any concerns about the A8 not making you feel special are soon forgotten once you slide into the opulent cabin. In long-wheelbase guise, there’s an extra 130mm of legroom, and the two individual rear chairs allow you to stretch out and relax, close the window blinds and let the chauffeur do all the work.
If you prefer to do the driving, things are equally first-class up front, where the sleek dash is well designed, and the easy-to-use MMI control system keeps the number of buttons to a minimum.
There’s a bewildering range of bespoke – and expensive – trims, leathers, inlays and hi-tech goodies on offer, but with a good driving position and superb quality, even a standard A8 leaves you in no doubt that you’re in a luxury car.
Climb into the Range Rover, and there’s a similar sense of occasion. You sit high, with a commanding view of the road, and the sumptuous seats and perfectly placed wheel are familiar Range Rover features.
But while the cabin design isn’t radically different from the previous model, quality has taken a big step forward. There’s also a wider choice of leathers and trims, and a 50 per cent reduction in buttons makes the interior less cluttered. The colour TFT binnacle displays information clearly, but the touchscreen is still too fiddly.
With heated and massage seats, plus the option of a high-end Meridian audio system, the Range Rover isn’t too far away from the Audi when it comes to kit. It trails on rear legroom, although there’s enough space in the back to carry three adults in comfort, while the air-suspension can be lowered to make the Rangie easier to get into.
Better still, the 909-litre boot, plus rear seats that fold flat at the touch of a button, ensure no other luxury car can rival the Range Rover for practicality. And that’s before you take into account its off-road and towing skills.
But it’s the newcomer’s abilities on the tarmac that define it as a luxury car. The SDV8 engine is smooth, and at speed there’s virtually no wind or road noise. The standard air-suspension delivers a beautifully cushioned ride, and it’s only over really rough surfaces that you can feel the big alloy wheels thud into holes.
The Audi is quicker – it recorded even faster in-gear performance figures than the Porsche Cayenne Turbo – and has the edge in corners due to its lower centre of gravity.
Yet the slightly over-complicated Drive Select chassis adjustment doesn’t deliver much in the way of a dynamic advantage over the British SUV. In fact, the Audi is at its best and most communicative with the steering in the Comfort or Normal settings – sportier settings add weight but not feel to the steering, and make the ride stiffer.
Like the Range Rover, the A8 has air-suspension, although while refinement is excellent and the ride good on smooth surfaces, there’s more tyre noise at speed. Both cars have grip to spare, yet despite its size the Range Rover feels just as capable due to its body control and fluid steering.
Most importantly, few models we’ve driven can match the comfort and serenity you experience at the wheel of the Range Rover. And that’s the mark of a great luxury car.
Range Rover vs Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Land Rover’s ambitious targets for the new Range Rover didn’t only focus on luxury and refinement – dynamics were high on the list, too.
After all, cars like the Porsche Cayenne prove that big SUVs can handle and perform without the compromises traditionally associated with high-riding 4x4s.
Range Rover has responded to this greater demand for on-road agility by giving the new car an all-aluminium monocoque construction – a world-first for an SUV. And this has resulted in a body that’s 39 per cent lighter than before. Lightweight aluminium suspension has also contributed to a 400kg-plus weight saving over the previous model.
Yet the Cayenne Turbo is 190kg lighter still, plus is lower and shorter, and its turbo petrol engine has an extra 159bhp, at 493bhp. But both cars have 700Nm of torque and even when driven alongside the rapid Porsche, the Range Rover feels fast due to the SDV8’s seamless wave of grunt. The eight-speed auto kicks down smoothly and provides manual control via the steering wheel paddles, too.
At the test track, the Porsche accelerated from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, leaving the diesel Rangie for dead. But you only have to look at how close the British SUV gets in the far more relevant in-gear figures to understand why it feels so quick on the road.
Even more impressively, the SDV8 engine remains refined when worked hard, and the Range Rover’s chassis is more than capable of hustling along a back road. Obviously, there’s no escaping the fact that it’s nearly five metres long and more than two metres wide, but the handling is so accomplished that at times it’s easy to forget how big the Range Rover is.
SDV8 models come with Active Lean Control anti-roll bars, and the lack of body movement is very impressive. On top of that, the steering is accurate and well weighted. As a result, the Range Rover turns into corners quickly with little fuss, and it remains composed throughout a bend. At this point it’s worth noting that our car was fitted with the £460 active rear locking differential, too.
Still, aside from the big 20-inch wheels thumping into really nasty potholes, this amazing agility is matched to a composed ride, and crucially doesn’t come at the expense of the easy-to-drive nature for which Range Rovers are famed.
Climb aboard the Cayenne, and it’s clear you’re in a different type of SUV. The cabin wraps around you like a sports car’s, creating an ambience at the opposite end of the spectrum to the relaxed Range Rover. It’s every bit as upmarket, though, with first-rate material quality and a great driving position.
The chunky transmission tunnel is lined with buttons, but it’s easy to get used to the layout and Porsche’s touchscreen navigation system is better than the Range Rover’s.
On the road, it’s clear from the moment the petrol V8 burbles into life that this is a performance SUV. Work the engine beyond 3,000rpm and it keeps on pulling, delivering an almost bewildering rate of acceleration for a vehicle of this size.
The Porsche is astounding in corners, too, proving taut and eager to change direction. Our car was fitted with the £2,168 Dynamic Chassis Control active roll bars and £1,012 Torque Vectoring, which both enhance the Cayenne’s ability on the tarmac.
But there’s a trade-off for this sharp edge. Even with the standard active dampers in Comfort mode, the big tyre footprint means the Cayenne Turbo wriggles over uneven surfaces, and it’s much firmer than the Range Rover at low speeds. Plus, there’s more tyre and wind noise on the motorway.
And then there’s the styling. The Cayenne has always been controversial, and in Turbo guise it’s not subtle. But it has the badge kudos to trump the new Brit. Is that enough to edge victory, or is the Range Rover’s spread of abilities wide enough to secure the sporty SUV crown?
