Imagine for a second you’re a well-to-do captain of business kind and must shuttle your Trad Wife and children round in fashion. You simply obtained that large promotion, so that you determined it’s time to improve your Yukon Denali to one thing somewhat extra particular, so much sooner and above all else, European. What do you purchase?
I examined each the 2023 Land Rover Range Rover LWB and BMW Alpina XB7 to search out out. They each had virtually the identical sticker worth and numerous different similarities. It obtained me fascinated by which one I’d take if I have been within the place to get an enormous, quick and opulent six-or-seven-seater SUV. After all, these are each automobiles we’ve pushed earlier than. Why waste your time with full opinions rehashing issues? Let’s throw them into the ring of fireplace towards one another.
Full Disclosure: Both BMW and Land Rover have been variety sufficient to mortgage me these brutes crammed with gasoline to do all my testing.
Engines and Mechanics
It’s superb what tuning can do to a automobile. Both the Range Rover and XB7 have an an identical engine and transmission: a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged BMW V8 hooked as much as ZF8 eight-speed transmission. However, the tuning of those two engines is vastly totally different.
In the Range Rover, the facility plant pushes out 523 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. Those are each extremely wholesome numbers, even for a truck as heavy because the long-wheelbase Range Rover (coming in at about 5,700 kilos).
However, each these numbers are handily crushed by the XB7 due to tuning completed by these German wizards at Alpina. It makes 631 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque–sufficient to push the almost 6,000-pound SUV from 0-60 in simply 3.9 seconds.
The tuning and temperament of those engines are very totally different relying on the applying. In the Range Rover, it’s all concerning the easy journey, and it’s reasonably profitable. In the XB7 – a far more performance-oriented automobile – the facility supply is a hell of so much punchier, and there’s much more top-end energy.
The ZF 8-speed transmission can also be tuned to be so much sharper, snapping off shifts the second you press one of many steering wheel buttons (ugh).In the Range Rover, shifts are far slower and smoother – as they’re imagined to be.
The Range Rover’s actual get together trick over the XB7 mechanically is its four-wheel-drive system and off-road succesful suspension. It’s meant for some very severe off-roading – stuff the XB7 couldn’t and shouldn’t ever do.
In the precise mode, a Range Rover can conquer absolutely anything you’re prone to put in entrance of it. The similar can’t be mentioned for the Alpina.
Driving The XB7 And Range Rover
The Alpina XB7 beats the piss out of the Range Rover LWB when it comes to driving dynamics, however to be honest it’s kind of imagined to. These two automobiles could price virtually the identical $153,225 and $150,245 for the Range Rover and XB7, respectively, however they provide very totally different experiences because the XB7 is all about squeezing as a lot efficiency out of a three-ton automobile as potential, whereas consolation is the sport within the Range Rover.
If you’re blasting down a freeway or driving round city, the Range Rover is the superior automobile. It’s immensely comfy in nearly each approach, and its air suspension is great at wafting you alongside on a cloud of rich-smelling leather-based and so-so expertise. The second-best-I-have-ever-used massaging seats simply add to the expertise. That being mentioned, all of it kind of falls aside the second you go round a nook. It’s wallowy and rolls considerably, even in its sportiest setting. We can forgive the Range Rover although, for it’s nonetheless stress-free behind the wheel. After all, it is a big-ass SUV constructed to waft down the highway, not carve corners.
The XB7 then again – good lord. I have no idea how the engineers did it, however holy hell. The factor takes corners almost in addition to any sports activities sedan I’ve pushed. They’ve engineered out nearly any discernible physique roll once you take a nook shortly. The engine and transmission are additionally tuned to be extremely responsive.
The second you step on the gasoline, the RPMs soar and the gears drop. It’s a beautiful factor, and much snappier than what’s occurring within the Range Rover. Again, that’s to be anticipated because the XB7 is ready up for considerably sportier driving. Anyway, the best way the XB7 hauls is past perception. To at the present time, I nonetheless miss driving it. It feels prefer it’s defying the legal guidelines of physics.
Outside The Big Boys
I’ll hold this quick and candy. The Range Rover LWB appears to be like – conservatively – 800,000 instances higher than the Alpina XB7, and that’s coming from somebody who doesn’t hate the Alpina’s entrance finish.
To me, the brand new Range Rover is without doubt one of the best-looking automobiles on sale right this moment. It simply exudes magnificence. It’s refined and showy in all the precise methods. Land Rover’s purpose of designing a automotive to seem like it was made out of a single piece of rock is achieved; it’s a contemporary automotive, however unmistakably a Range Rover.
The XB7 then again, effectively, it’s not unhealthy, however it’s nowhere close to nearly as good. I perceive BMW’s design language is a bit iffy today for most folk, and whereas it’s not going to win any magnificence contests, it’s interesting-looking, at the least. The added physique package and 23-inch Alpina wheels are fairly sick. Again, it’s not a bad-looking automotive, however it’s not the Range Rover.
Luxuriousness, Interior and Tech
In phrases of a luxurious bundle, the Range Rover stands alone. Its inside is a relaxing area stuffed with wealthy leathers, woods and metals. It truthfully looks like a throwback to what it meant to have a luxurious automotive 30 or 40 years in the past (in the event you ignore the large display within the center). There’s little or no in the best way of buttons and tech getting in your face, and it’s designed to look as minimalist as potential.
That’s excellent news and unhealthy information. If the tech all labored as designed, it might be great, however sadly, that isn’t the case. The tech within the Range Rover was spotty at finest. In my 300-ish miles of driving, I had quite a few issues with the middle and gauge display crashing or refusing in addition up. It would often resolve itself, however it was annoying when it wasn’t working.
There was additionally an honest quantity of lag everytime you requested it to do something. It kind of felt like a smartphone from 2012. That’s not good. I might in all probability look previous it in the long term, however for $150,000, you do need your goddamn display in addition up in beneath a minute, proper?
In distinction, the XB7 has tech that all the time works, and its inside takes a a lot totally different method to expertise with much more buttons and menus, although there usually are not as many because the pre-2023-facelifted XB7. Because of that, the Range Rover’s less complicated tech interface is way simpler to make use of. For instance, the Range Rover has devoted HVAC switches. That’s factor. The Alpina then again, effectively, you’ve obtained to be prepared to the touch a number of buttons on the middle display simply to show down the air or change heated seat settings. It’s annoying as hell.
You know what’s not annoying? How comfy each seat in each automobiles is. No matter the place you’re sitting, you’ll have loads of head and leg room – even within the third row. Up entrance, although, the BMW could also be in a category of its personal. The seats themselves could also be barely softer and extra deeply cushioned within the Range Rover, however the XB7 has the precise finest massaging seats I’ve ever used. They even therapeutic massage your butt. How nice is that?
In a world the place all issues are equal and we assume the tech works as designed, the Range Rover might be the nicer place to be than the BMW. The XB7’s inside doesn’t really feel that totally different from an X3 or one thing of that ilk. Sure the supplies are nicer, however all BMW interiors are kind of the identical. It works for the corporate, I get that.
What You Should Buy
Well, buddy, it’s as much as you. You’re the individual with the cash, not me. But, let’s simply fake I’m the man with the cash. What automotive would I purchase? Well, it’s powerful, however I’m going for the Range Rover. Despite its quite a few flaws and less-than-sporty driving demeanor, it’s the automobile that made me really feel probably the most particular. That’s what you need out of a $153,225 automobile, isn’t it? That being mentioned, I wouldn’t fault you for a second in the event you went with the $150,245 XB7. It’s a superb driving machine that beats the Range Rover in nearly each single goal approach. There’s only one difficulty with that: I don’t care. The Range Rover is the automotive I’d purchase just because it’s the one which made me happier, however now I’m unhappy as a result of let’s be actual, I’ll by no means be capable of afford both of them.
Source: jalopnik.com