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Long-term update: How much power has our Range Rover lost since new

Long-term update: How much power has our Range Rover lost since new

by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. November 27, 2013.

mash-range-rover
So how’s our much-maligned Range Rover doing? Perfectly fine, actually. It’s become our daily driver, used even for the occasional trip to Abu Dhabi. This kind of reliability is more than we ever could’ve hoped for. But the 282 hp 4.4-litre V8 engine is nine years old now, with around 107,000 km on the clock. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see if it has lost any performance over the years, as is supposedly the case with all engines?

When we bought the jolly green giant, we renewed a few slightly-seepy gaskets more as a preventive measure, but the car ran perfectly fine as is, and getting the work done did not make any difference to the performance that we could feel. All services were performed as needed over the course of its life, and it never needs a top-up between oil changes.

range-rover-fast-furious-6

The real surprise came when we did a 0-100 kph run a few months ago, in the middle of summer and right after a non-dealer oil change, in what was a celebration of its unacknowledged appearance in Fast & Furious 6. The official manufacturer time is 9.2 seconds. We got 9.3 seconds. In hot weather. How’s that for retaining horses?

Original Mileage When Bought: 99,980 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 106,900 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 18.8 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 0
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 250

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Bought: Dhs 9680

Read all 2005 Range Rover long-term updates

About the author

Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury

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Comments

  1. wow. that’s nice! 🙂

  2. That sound’s Great work from nine years old engine , with 107000km …. I think the last owner get good care for it.

  3. Thats not a proper way to calculate engine performance.

    Some tips:-
    1) Use a full tank, because the manufacturers do so when rating 0-100 time.

    2) Don’t use a stopwatch, and don’t count on the speedometer because on most car if the speedo indicates 100KPH that means you are only going 90-95.

    3) For non professional use, you can use OBD-II/EOBD readers to read the actual speed, Torque app on Android has a good accuracy.

    Torque can calculate engine power with good accuracy too (if you put all vehicle specs correctly).

  4. 9680 dirhams
    Only for about 7000Km
    What think again is it reliable
    or visit http://www.landroverhell.com

    • Author

      It’s a Range Rover, not a Toyota.

    • If you can’t afford to run it, then don’t buy one. That’s why it is a status symbol.

    • I agree with the part dont buy if you cant run it. It is true also that is a status symbol, but its an unreliable one. A V8 Land Cruiser is also expensive (+300k dhs) also a status symbol but its a reliable car. Since Toyota was mentioned…..

    • Author

      Yep, had the Land Cruiser in mind. And it is in no way near as satisfying to drive or even look at. The “wood” trim on our Dhs 338k Land Cruiser Xreme were just printed stickers on plastic.

  5. In all fairness since we are talking about premium cars here, you should compare it to Lexus LX not the LC.
    Im a big RR lover but because of its poor realiability record Id probably go for a LX if I had the money and Im shopping in this segment.

    • Author

      Reliability is not the only factor for a car enthusiast. And from where I’m standing, it seems reliability is just about acceptable with proper maintenance. Researched it enough to take the plunge. Fingers crossed, just as with any used car purchase.

    • You forget that most of use have one car only. We need cars that run well the time so I must look for a realible car and compromise on other aspects. Even if Im a car enthusiast I have to make practical choices, and thats the case for pretty much everyone here, I reckon.

    • Author

      Annnnd you’re looping back to the question of money. Luxury cars are an indulgence, not a need. A typical Range Rover owner car afford to own, maintain and park several cars. Don’t have money? Buy what you can afford to run. Enough said.

    • You didnt get the point. I mentioned reliability. If I have money for a Lexus LX its clear that money is not a problem. Besides spending money on it, having an unrealiable car means that it can let you down any time. This is something I would like to avoid. Being late for work, being let down when Im trevelling with my family, having to rent a car while mine in getting fixed is something that I dont want. And also because I dont own a second car. I dont need one. Buying a second car because I have an unrealible car would be a nuisance. This is why I see an LX a better choice over a RR, despite the fact that I know RR is a nicer car to drive.

    • Author

      And the point of this article was to show that it isn’t as unreliable as people think it is.

    • You did 7k kms since you got it and it cost you almost 10k dhs in repairs. How can you say this car its reliable?!! It might be a pleasure to drive but it is as unreliable as ppl think. No offence!

    • Author

      There you go again, bringing up money. It’s called maintenance. At 100k+ km, things need to be changed. I didn’t break down anywhere. 🙂

    • LOL! It’s okay Mitch, you can admit you are poor.

    • I don’t think there is any car or company we can call it reliable. Buying a trouble free car from the showroom is like a big win. Some people have troubles with european or american and I know people who got issues from newly bought Japanese car. After all it can also depend on the way you look after it and drive it.

  6. I agree about the fact range rover is unreliable car. My bro-in-law bought brand new range rover sport in jan-2012 since then he had three mechanical problems including totally stalled car on highway. Mind you expat used car suppose to give less troubles but in this case not!!!

    • Author

      I’d actually be interested in knowing exactly what those three problems were, in his used car. Maybe a victim of floods last year? If all Range Rovers were stalling here and there, there would be a lot of angry rich people around.

  7. Seems Mash is a very lucky fellow in getting a used RR which has very minimal issues so far! My friend brought a second hand 2007 RR. 3 months into ownership he ran into air suspension problems. Finally he sold it and bought a 2008 LX 570 again second hand. He is now happily driving around for the past 1 year with no major issues cropping up.

    • Author

      Thanks, but I kind of keep it in mind that I could get air suspension issues at any time, haha. Mine were changed at some point previously, and your friend just bought a used car simply at the wrong time. Thing is any car with air suspension will have issues, whether it is Mercedes or Lexus. Was shopping for Lexus LX models, and he said he was aware from other owners that even those cars have air suspension issues. It just costs a little less than an RR to replace them, and they probably last a little longer in a Lexus. Think of it as a maintenance item and just move on.

    • Mash, is there any aftermarket conventional suspension which can used in replacement of the air suspension in a RR? Or in a mercedes/lexus for that matter? Sorry, if its a foolish question.

    • Author

      Yep, Range Rover has an aftermarket conventional solution for about Dhs 5000 in parts. Not sure if I’ll ever convert to that, since it’s not an RR any more then. For a Lexus LX, you can just take the Land Cruiser suspension, since it’s just a rebadged Toyota. For Mercedes, depending on model, you can take parts from a lower-spec model, but there is likely aftermarket solutions too.

    • Thanks Mash for the reply. But, is there a drastic difference in the ride after the conversion? I am asking this in particular, becoz you specifically mentioned that your RR wont be a RR after that sort of conversion.

    • Author

      Who knows, but I can raise and lower my car. Makes it easier to load the boot or for my old mother to get in the back seat.

  8. So Its great that the car still goes 0 – 100 almost as fast as it would when new.

    However I agree with many people here regarding the reliability issues with the RR. I dont see anyone saying that RR is very reliable, however some argue that they are rich enough to pay for the repairs/maintenance! Not too sure if money is the only factor though. Reliability also has a lot to do with peace of mind, comfort and time saved! If one is willing to trade all these things for the driving experience of the RR than thats great. But for the rest, its too big of a trade off.

  9. Wasn’t this whole article about “How much power has our Range Rover lost since new”

    Mash can you write another article about reliability with some metrics so everybody above can comment in that thread?!

  10. Is status means waving hands for lift in motorway standing next to Range Rover. Or spending your savings in garage in every weekend.
    Come on think practical we all know Range Rovers are unreliable.
    2nd and 3rd generation Range rover are rubbish. And i dont know much about new 4th gen range rover.
    But i am sure the 1st generation a master piece unbreakable shines in downtown and beautiful in ugly terrain. Bhap of whole SUV.
    if you want status from Range Rover buy the 1st generation,now thats called STATUS.
    Even it is not made for status land rover is still strugling by saying “Its not build for status”. But it is the true status
    In britain owners of 1st generation range rover gets more Status than who own these crappy 2nd and 3rd gen.

    • Author

      I’d rather listen to owners’ opinions. Bought one to embark on this long-term test after listening to actual owners, rather than random opinions. Let’s see how it goes.

    • If you have to depend on your savings at the garage, then you are poor to begin with, lol. There are thousands of Range Rovers in Dubai. It’s not seen on the side of the road any more than any other brand.

  11. If we want own a Range Rover we need not be rich in arabia all knows Range rover is cheap second hand car cheaper than a camry.
    2005 Range rover cost only around 50k but the same time what about Land cruiser or lexus lx or g class.

    Its not about money,

  12. This website have always been a big fail. never been accurate or serious, it’s just the owner is having fun driving new cars for free and end up writing a 5 line article about it.

    *We’re leaving this up because it’s hilarious. Otherwise we delete comments left with a fake email address. — Editor.

  13. Speaking of money…”A fool and his money are soon parted!”.

  14. Mash…i’ll say you have the guts to try out. will be keeping a close watch on this. lets hope you get a chance to prove me wrong about an RR.

  15. Mash…I am seriously considering buying a 2007 RR Sport with less than 70k kms done. I am in love with this car for now as it is clean, low kms and well maintained. I request your expert advice and help in understanding the aspects of owning this car. I hope you can reply to this quickly before i lose the opportunity.

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