General Car Conversation 2024 - part 1
Went to Land Rover today to drive a Range Rover. No Range Rovers to drive, wait is 10-12 months for a SWB model, 12-15 months for a LWB model with no third row and 18+ months for a LWB model with the third row. He said honestly "you basically have to just order and have no time horizon, there is no way to know when it will come in".
So, obviously couldn't drive that. I did drive a Sport, and Sports are easy to get. They have 6 on the lot and the wait for a custom order is about 6 months. I really liked the Sport, even with the base 6 cyl it just feels an order of magnitude more special than the V8 GLS I drove. Interior quality was just absolutely top notch, I didn't care for the piano black under the infotainment screen, but all the materials were great with no hard plastic anywhere other than the low B pillars, doors are full leather/soft material even on the base car. Base leather dramatically better than any leather on the GLE/GLS except the exclusive nappa. Love the dark chrome accents everywhere, great seats and great seating position.
Ride and drive are great, truly the only SUVs I have driven where you give up very little from a sedan. Ride was 90% as nice as my S Class even on the shorter Sport model, a hair more wind noise at 75-80 but not much, very well isolated from the road. The I6 gives a nice growl when pushed and is very smooth, smoother than MB's I6, more similar to the BMW B58.
Sizewise its a very nice size, even adjusted for me there was enough space in the second row, although obviously nowhere near whats in the S Class. If I were to do an SUV, a Range Rover would be what I would want. BUT, I think for me what I want is the full Range Rover and a Sport, even a really high spec one which I could get, I'm always going to be wanting the big one just like when I had other Lexuses I always wanted the LS, and then I wanted the S Class...
I could just order a Range Rover spec'ed how I want and still buy out the S560 and just see what happens...
Thats good to hear, although it may be high quality it looks very dour IMO. I sat in a Defender today though and it makes total sense, even at $106k there was nothing luxurious about it inside at all.
So, obviously couldn't drive that. I did drive a Sport, and Sports are easy to get. They have 6 on the lot and the wait for a custom order is about 6 months. I really liked the Sport, even with the base 6 cyl it just feels an order of magnitude more special than the V8 GLS I drove. Interior quality was just absolutely top notch, I didn't care for the piano black under the infotainment screen, but all the materials were great with no hard plastic anywhere other than the low B pillars, doors are full leather/soft material even on the base car. Base leather dramatically better than any leather on the GLE/GLS except the exclusive nappa. Love the dark chrome accents everywhere, great seats and great seating position.
Ride and drive are great, truly the only SUVs I have driven where you give up very little from a sedan. Ride was 90% as nice as my S Class even on the shorter Sport model, a hair more wind noise at 75-80 but not much, very well isolated from the road. The I6 gives a nice growl when pushed and is very smooth, smoother than MB's I6, more similar to the BMW B58.
Sizewise its a very nice size, even adjusted for me there was enough space in the second row, although obviously nowhere near whats in the S Class. If I were to do an SUV, a Range Rover would be what I would want. BUT, I think for me what I want is the full Range Rover and a Sport, even a really high spec one which I could get, I'm always going to be wanting the big one just like when I had other Lexuses I always wanted the LS, and then I wanted the S Class...
I could just order a Range Rover spec'ed how I want and still buy out the S560 and just see what happens...
I am excited to check out the new GX.
Look what MT had to say about the interior
" no mistaking the quality of almost everything in the first and second rows. Best of all, this applies to the entire 2024 GX range down to the base Premium. "
The new GX has an outstanding interior
Look what MT had to say about the interior
" no mistaking the quality of almost everything in the first and second rows. Best of all, this applies to the entire 2024 GX range down to the base Premium. "
The new GX has an outstanding interior
Went to Land Rover today to drive a Range Rover. No Range Rovers to drive, wait is 10-12 months for a SWB model, 12-15 months for a LWB model with no third row and 18+ months for a LWB model with the third row. He said honestly "you basically have to just order and have no time horizon, there is no way to know when it will come in".
So, obviously couldn't drive that. I did drive a Sport, and Sports are easy to get. They have 6 on the lot and the wait for a custom order is about 6 months. I really liked the Sport, even with the base 6 cyl it just feels an order of magnitude more special than the V8 GLS I drove. Interior quality was just absolutely top notch, I didn't care for the piano black under the infotainment screen, but all the materials were great with no hard plastic anywhere other than the low B pillars, doors are full leather/soft material even on the base car. Base leather dramatically better than any leather on the GLE/GLS except the exclusive nappa. Love the dark chrome accents everywhere, great seats and great seating position.
Ride and drive are great, truly the only SUVs I have driven where you give up very little from a sedan. Ride was 90% as nice as my S Class even on the shorter Sport model, a hair more wind noise at 75-80 but not much, very well isolated from the road. The I6 gives a nice growl when pushed and is very smooth, smoother than MB's I6, more similar to the BMW B58.
Sizewise its a very nice size, even adjusted for me there was enough space in the second row, although obviously nowhere near whats in the S Class. If I were to do an SUV, a Range Rover would be what I would want. BUT, I think for me what I want is the full Range Rover and a Sport, even a really high spec one which I could get, I'm always going to be wanting the big one just like when I had other Lexuses I always wanted the LS, and then I wanted the S Class...
I could just order a Range Rover spec'ed how I want and still buy out the S560 and just see what happens...
Thats good to hear, although it may be high quality it looks very dour IMO. I sat in a Defender today though and it makes total sense, even at $106k there was nothing luxurious about it inside at all.
So, obviously couldn't drive that. I did drive a Sport, and Sports are easy to get. They have 6 on the lot and the wait for a custom order is about 6 months. I really liked the Sport, even with the base 6 cyl it just feels an order of magnitude more special than the V8 GLS I drove. Interior quality was just absolutely top notch, I didn't care for the piano black under the infotainment screen, but all the materials were great with no hard plastic anywhere other than the low B pillars, doors are full leather/soft material even on the base car. Base leather dramatically better than any leather on the GLE/GLS except the exclusive nappa. Love the dark chrome accents everywhere, great seats and great seating position.
Ride and drive are great, truly the only SUVs I have driven where you give up very little from a sedan. Ride was 90% as nice as my S Class even on the shorter Sport model, a hair more wind noise at 75-80 but not much, very well isolated from the road. The I6 gives a nice growl when pushed and is very smooth, smoother than MB's I6, more similar to the BMW B58.
Sizewise its a very nice size, even adjusted for me there was enough space in the second row, although obviously nowhere near whats in the S Class. If I were to do an SUV, a Range Rover would be what I would want. BUT, I think for me what I want is the full Range Rover and a Sport, even a really high spec one which I could get, I'm always going to be wanting the big one just like when I had other Lexuses I always wanted the LS, and then I wanted the S Class...
I could just order a Range Rover spec'ed how I want and still buy out the S560 and just see what happens...
Thats good to hear, although it may be high quality it looks very dour IMO. I sat in a Defender today though and it makes total sense, even at $106k there was nothing luxurious about it inside at all.
You need to check out the new ones. The new ones are way better than the old ones which I agree were a little rough around the edges in the interior. I couldn't find one interior material I didn't like in the base model Sport I drove with a sticker under $100k, whereas in my friend's high spec previous gen RRS there are plenty of those areas and there even were in the previous gen Range Rover.
Color me surprised you liked the base RR Sport that much. I found it to have less personality than the last gen and felt the I6 was a bit lethargic around town.
Last edited by TangoRed; Feb 1, 2024 at 06:43 PM.
I'm just going on interior quality, comfort and ride. I would want the more powerful engine in the dynamic trim. I would have a hard time getting the Sport though when I really would want the big one.
This new GX will be a mega hit
The full size RR is the one to get. I don’t actually think you’ll need to wait an entire year btw- my timeline just got moved up majorly.
the only thing that could put this over the top is if a solid axle was offered as an option and manual sliding rear quarter windows
Last edited by Toys4RJill; Feb 1, 2024 at 06:57 PM.
I gotta try and find one to drive.
You underestimate how awesome Toyota body on frame SUVs are, the ones from Japan…..I LOVE my two SUVs. The GX550, they got everything right. (I do admit I haven’t seen it). But looking at the design…the got everything right. I finally like Toyota digital screen gauges. How its recessed looks good (compared to Tundra)
the only thing that could put this over the top is if a solid axle was offered as an option and manual sliding rear quarter windows
the only thing that could put this over the top is if a solid axle was offered as an option and manual sliding rear quarter windows












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