Hopefully the potential dispersal of the Ford Premier Group won't affect this wonderful Jaguar/Land Rover collaboration that is being rumored. By borrowing aluminum (aluminium?) expertise from Jaguar, future Land Rovers could be as much as 1,000 pounds lighter than current models. Utilizing Jaguar's rivet-bonded aluminum monocoque body design, Land Rover could continue to build large luxury SUVs that are lighter and return even better fuel economy.
According to What Car's inside source, the new Range Rover will be the first all-alloy, monocoque-bodied 4x4 when it debuts in 2010. "There's no decision yet, and we don't have to decide for a couple of years, but it seems a logical step to investigate," said their source.
As they further point out, the Discovery and Range Rover Sport are both due for replacement a couple of years after the Range Rover, and it would make economic sense to share the technology across as many models as possible to exact the best economies of scale for L-R. It was expected that the new RR might switch to Land Rover's semi-monocoque steel T5 platform, which underpins the Discovery and the Range Rover Sport, but this makes a whole lot more sense.
Curb weight for the current Range Rover is about 6,000 pounds, but with a similar 15% weight savings as Jag has witnessed, Land Rover could get that down to less than 5,000 while maintaining the off-road toughness for which its vehicles are known. The boost in fuel economy and performance wouldn't hurt either.
[Source: What Car?]what the hell,who cares anyway
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TDV6 SE AUTO SIDESTEPS( MAYA GOLD) REAR TINTS NEW LEXUS GS300 SE-L ADAPTIVE CRUISE
SMART FOUR FOUR
MERCEDES E270 CDI
JAG Xf 2.7 TWIN TURBO DIESAL
13th Nov 2006 2:04 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Put me down for a D4 TDV12! 8)
13th Nov 2006 10:17 am
GOLDMAN
Member Since: 10 May 2006
Location: SOMEWERE IN THE NORTH WHERE IT RAINS
Posts: 120
get ready for new d3 modelswhat the hell,who cares anyway
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TDV6 SE AUTO SIDESTEPS( MAYA GOLD) REAR TINTS NEW LEXUS GS300 SE-L ADAPTIVE CRUISE
SMART FOUR FOUR
MERCEDES E270 CDI
JAG Xf 2.7 TWIN TURBO DIESAL
13th Nov 2006 8:47 pm
MJ
Member Since: 25 Jan 2006
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 54
I've got to say that I'm not all that impressesd with the idea of an aluminium monocoque. I wouldn't fancy hooking up a 3.5 tonne trailer to an aluminium box. I can just imagine the stretched bodies, stress cracked panels and pulled rivets. I know a lot of D3/RRS owners don't haul very heavy loads, or give them much real stick off road, but I do pull a large trailer on a regular basis. To me it's more than just a large car, and things like the XC90 or X5 just can't fit the bill.
Am I just being paranoid here or should people like me be looking somewhere other than the green oval next time we change ??Arctic Frost TDV6 5-seat
Terrain response
Climate control
Xenons
(Yes, it's an odd spec - but I like it!)
13th Nov 2006 10:11 pm
SN
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Doesn't the tow bar attach directly or indirectly to the chassis?Steve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
13th Nov 2006 11:01 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
I think its the chassis bit that probably weighs the most.
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