Range rover autobiography black 2010 4runner

A Land Rover in suburban captivity seems a little like a caged lion at the zoo—bred for roaming the wild plains, but growing fat and slow and deprived of the adventure essential to its well-being. However, Rovers have adapted quite well to the life of leisure that most enjoy, while retaining and refining their legendary off-road potential.

One Refined Wild Man

Wanderlust aside, the calling card of the contemporary Range Rover is an opulent interior—particularly with the $4950 Luxury Interior package as outfitted on our tester. Several staffers referred to the Range Rover as an “off-road Rolls-Royce.” Gorgeous brown leather seats are trimmed in fat, beige piping, and the wood trim would make a beaver drool. Two thick, burled pillars flank the center stack, disappearing behind a swath of leather that holds the two central air vents and reemerging alongside the navigation screen. The front-corner air vents appear to each be housed in a full stump of walnut. Combine this interior with the regal sheetmetal and stately stance of the Range Rover, and driving it makes you feel like a tyrant in colonial Africa.

Beware, though: This Range Rover’s electronics might be the insidious plot of unruly subjects. The surround-camera package—part of the $1280 Vision Assist package—is supposed to operate similarly to Infiniti’s Around View monitor but only worked about three percent of the time. (Unless we actually were backing into a huge blue screen with a broken-camera icon on it, in which case, it was working fine.) We also had trouble with the digital instrument panel on our tester, which often randomly switched to full brightness at night and blinded us. It refused to obey the dimmer switch, so one editor’s solution was to turn the vehicle off—while in motion—and restart it.

On a sport-ute costing $79,275—with a number of high-dollar options, ours reached $92,655—the concept of quirky British electrical systems ceases to be qua

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Range Rover, parent company Land Rover is launching the most opulent SUV in its history, with the Range Rover Autobiography Black Limited Edition.

Buyers may not be able to say that name three times fast, but the Autobiography Black Limited Edition will let buyers be swaddled in the monochromatic hue, with black exterior paint, “diamond turned” 20″ alloy wheels, a chrome grill, and a special interior with either red or ivory accents to accompany the black leather appointments. The Autobiography Black logo is embossed on the rear- armrest, key fob, door sills, and the owners manual cover, while black lacquer adorns the dashboard, center console and door panels.

The Autobiography Black comes with all the top bells and whistles, including a 1200 watt harmon/kardon stereo system, heated and cooled seats and Range Rover’s Jaguar derived 5.0L supercharged V8 putting down 510 horsepower. The Autobiography Black will retail for $122,950, ensuring its exclusivity as the top Range Rover.

[Source: Car and Driver]

With six adoptive overlords since the Range Rover’s birth in 1970, parent company Land Rover’s corporate marriages have kept pace with even the most licentious in Hollywood. Instability tends to lead to neglect, and the company hasn’t overhauled the Rover in a major way since the BMW-developed third-generation model for 2003.

But for 2010, Tata-owned Land Rover gives its flagship a minor freshening, including an updated interior, along with this generation’s third round of powerplants. The new direct-injection 5.0-liter V-8s are essentially the same as those found across the Jaguar lineup; base Rovers get a 375-hp naturally aspirated unit, and Supercharged models like the one tested here are endowed with 510. With the exception of one no-no—some déclassé pulsing through the steering wheel at idle, which we’ve also noticed in Jags—the new engine is a fabulous upgrade. Linear and 110 horses stronger than the previous boosted V-8—and sans the supercharger whine—it hurls the Rover to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds and can easily rocket the regal box to 90-plus-mph during on-ramp runs, which is something every three-ton luxury ute ought to be capable of, right?

Fuel-economy figures of 12 mpg city and 18 highway aren’t much to brag about, although they do make the 2010 model as efficient as any Rover ever. Which brings up an uncomfortable question: What is Land Rover going to do with its exceedingly heavy and powerful lineup to cope with upcoming fuel-economy hurdles? Is new owner Tata going to sell droves of Nanos as CAFE penance for its Jags and Land Rovers?

Worries fade inside, however, owing to one of the most spectacular interiors this side of a Rolls-Royce. Ubiquitous soft leather is accented by swaths of wood running down the center stack and flanking the edges of the dash. The seats look the part, too, with intricate detailing and dark contrasting piping that set off the gorgeous cream thrones.

A new featu