Consumer Guide’s Impressions of the 2011 Land Rover LRX

Britain’s SUV specialist takes the green path with a new high-style compact based on a show-stopping concept. An eco-friendly Land Rover? Yes, and it’s only the first.

What We Know About the 2011 Land Rover LRX

The recent sale of Land Rover and sister company Jaguar seems a happy deal for both sides. The seller, Ford Motor Company, nets $1.7 billion in much-needed cash. The buyer, India’s Tata Motors, takes charge of two iconic British brands with several intriguing products in the works. Among them is a new Land Rover compact SUV based on the well-received LRX concept that bowed at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show looking virtually showroom-ready. Though the Tata takeover clouds the status of existing Jaguar-Land Rover projects, many sources expect to see the LRX as a 2011 model bowing in late 2010.

The 2011 Land Rover LRX should closely mirror the concept as a sporty two-door crossover based on the company’s four-door LR2. The concept showcases several new Land Rover ideas for making SUVs more eco-friendly, and some of these should transfer to the production model and other future Land Rovers. The LRX name probably won’t make it; we’d look for something like LR4 or LRS.

Sources expect the 2011 Land Rover LRX to arrive with the LR2’s 3.2-liter V6, 6-speed automatic transmission, and standard all-wheel drive with Land Rover’s Terrain Response System (TRS). A hybrid option is rumored for sometime later, possibly a diesel/electric powertrain, as on the concept. This involves a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that runs on biodiesel fuel and works with an electric motor powered by advanced lithium-ion (LI) batteries. The system also includes what Land Rover calls an Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) that provides rear-wheel electric-only operation up to 20 mph. As in other hybrids, an integrated starter-generator shuts off the engine at stoplights to minimize emissions and save fuel, then fires it up on applying the accelerator. A regenerative-braking function, another commonplace hybrid feature, charges the batteries when coasting and decelerating, but there’s evidently no provision for plug-in charging, as on General Motors’ upcoming Chevrolet Volt. However, the LRX concept’s Terrain Response System adds a fifth, “eco” mode that’s claimed to optimize powertrain operation for best fuel economy, principally on-road. This will almost surely appear on other future Land Rovers.

Land Rover has not yet said if the diesel/electric drive will be available for the production LRX, let alone quoted fuel economy numbers. The system seems to be a response to the European Union’s proposed cap on CO₂ emissions (at 120 grams/kilometer, expected to take effect in 2012). Because many Americans are still diesel-averse, a U.S. hybrid option--if there is one--would probably be gasoline/electric. This could be plucked from the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUVs, as Ford has agreed to supply powertrains to Land Rover for at least five years.

Predictably, the 2011 Land Rover LRX should more or less duplicate the concept’s sporty two-door styling. (Think gym-body Range Rover Sport.) The design preserves traditional brand visuals in a sleeker style to minimize fuel-wasting wind resistance. This explains the tapered nose, lower roofline, smoother body contours, and a whopping 8.1-inch reduction in overall height versus the LR2. Wheelbase is unchanged from the 4-door, but the 2-door is nearly 6 inches shorter. Despite that, Land Rover says the LRX doesn’t sacrifice utility, though it isn’t yet quoting interior dimensions, either. The concept was outfitted with four individual seats, doubtless due to the bulky battery pack of its hybrid drive, but the conventionally powered production version would doubtless up the passenger count to five via a normal three-person rear bench seat. As on the high-end Range Rovers, the LRX has a liftgate and separate drop-down tailgate.

Like LR2, the 2011 Land Rover LRX will come with four-wheel antilock disc brakes, stability/traction control, front side airbags, curtain side airbags, and 18-inch standard tires with a 19-inch option. The LRX concept rolled on 20-inch rims, and those might be available too. Other extras should match the LR2’s list, including rear-obstacle detection, sunroof, bi-xenon headlamps, electrically heated windshield, and navigation system.

The concept drew attention with several jazzy features, such as “3D” electronic instrumentation, dual touch-screen displays, and removable, power-adjustable speakers at the rear of the cargo bay. It also sported a gee-whiz “ambient lighting” system that changes from blue to red with the vehicle in Sport driving mode, or to green in the Terrain Response System’s “eco” mode. We suspect the production model will drop most of these gimmicks for cost reasons. So, too, the concept’s fairly heavy use of lightweight structural materials as another aid to fuel economy, though we do expect a few weight-saving aluminum body panels and plenty of bright alloy trim inside.

Land Rover touts the LRX concept as a “powerful message that we are as serious about sustainability as we are confident about the continuing relevance and desirability of our vehicles. LRX is in every respect a Land Rover, but it’s a very different Land Rover.” All that should apply to the showroom version and doubtless other future Land Rovers. So overall, Britain’s SUV specialist seems to be moving with the times at last, and that’s a happy deal for consumers and the world we live in.

A Notable Feature of the 2011 Land Rover LRX

Though some may find it odd that an Indian company should own the venerated Land Rover and Jaguar brands, Tata is a fast-growing, multifaceted international concern with big ambitions and deep pockets. Named for its founding family, Tata began in 1945 as a locomotive manufacturer, then added commercial-vehicle production for the India market in a 1954 joint venture with Germany’s Daimler-Benz. The first Tata-designed trucks didn’t roll out until 1977, however, and the company’s involvement with passenger cars came only in 1994, when it began local production of various Mercedes-Benz models. Yet just four years later, Tata introduced the first all-India passenger car, the aptly named Indica subcompact. More models soon followed. Fast forward to early 2008, when Tata made major news by unveiling the world’s cheapest car, the tiny Nano, conceived by CEO Ratan Tata to replace small motorcycles as affordable family transport for India and other emerging markets. Designed to sell for a scarcely believable $2500, the Nano has already attracted close scrutiny by major automakers as an exercise in low-cost engineering that could well change the global industry landscape.

Given this background, it’s no surprise that CEO Tata--who some see as a 21st century Henry Ford, ironically enough--is taking a respectful, hands-off approach to the new jewels in his corporate crown. Indeed, he has gone out of his way to reassure employees, investors, and the general public that Land Rover and Jaguar will remain as British as bulldogs, continuing to operate in England under existing managers, but with a level of financial support that Ford can no longer provide. So it’s business as usual and full speed ahead for future products like the LRX, at least for the near term--welcome news for Land Rover and Jaguar fans who had been fearing the worst.

Buying Advice for the 2011 Land Rover LRX

The LRX may be a kinder, gentler Land Rover, but the 2-door configuration looms as a handicap, at least in America. Remember the Isuzu Vehi-CROSS? Same idea and a sales dud. Still, the LRX could succeed on the strength of its dashing lines and other assets, not to mention Land Rover’s strong brand prestige, which persists despite a widespread reputation for mediocre reliability and indifferent build quality. The LRX will certainly be an interesting new choice among premium-compact-SUVs. But that fast-growing class already includes strong 4-door contenders like the Acura RDX, BMW X3, and Infiniti EX. And more are on the way, notably Audi’s Q5 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK. With all this, smart buyers will want to check all the contestants to see which best fits their needs.

2011 Land Rover LRX Release Date: The predicted late-2010 introduction assumes Tata hews to the timing set under Ford. Though the new owner did its expected due-diligence digging in negotiating the sale and seems eager to proceed with projects in the pipeline, the 2011 Land Rover LRX could be delayed by unexpected engineering glitches, supplier issues, and other “birth pangs.” From what we know now, however, the new model is set to debut as originally scheduled.

2011 Land Rover LRX First Test Drive: Assuming the above timing proves out, ride-and-drive media previews would likely be staged in the summer or early fall of 2010.

2011 Land Rover LRX Prices: One source predicts the LRX will start at $35,000 with a conventional V6/automatic powerteam. That’s about the same as you’d pay now for the uplevel HSE version of the related four-door LR2, which suggests the newcomer will be positioned to plug the big price gap between LR2 and the larger LR3. A hybrid LRX, if there is one, would likely run $40,000, perhaps more.

Article key :  Land Rover LRX Review, Land Rover, Land Rover LRX, New Car, 2011