2013 Range Rover Spied

2013 Range Rover (painted and clad) out testing

We have a spy photo of the 2013 Range Rover, giving us a good idea of the changes Land Rover are making to their range-topping vehicle for the next generation.

There’s been no real shortage of Range Rovers with camouflage paint jobs and bits of plastic bolted on running around the Midlands. But until now they’ve all looked like mules of the current Range Rover.

But now we have a spy photo of the 2013 Range Rover that is of a real 2013 Range Rover. Which makes for some interesting viewing.

The man with the paint brush and the pop-rivet gun has been hard at work on this test car, but that doesn’t stop us from getting a fairly good idea of what the new Range Rover is going to offer.

Up front (we’ve seen the shots) there appears to be a carry-over trademark clamshell bonnet and headlights big enough to lighten up the darkest off-road jaunt.

But it’s round the back of the next generation Range Rover that the interesting stuff seems to be living.

There certainly seems to be a bit more distance between the front and back axles, and from the back axle to the tailgate. That would indicate the 2013 RR will be far more commodious than the current model – for passengers and luggage.

The roofline also seems to be less boxy than the current model. If you peer through the paintwork you can see the influence of the five-door Evoque in the tapering of the roof as it heads towards the tailgate.

This particular test Range Rover is running round with the 5.0 litre Supercharged lump which we expect to carry over to the new model, together with the recent 4.4 litre diesel.

Both engines give the current Range Rover the sort of performance and (in the case of the 4.4 diesel) economy no previous generation of Range Rover owners could have contemplated possible.

But with aluminium underpinnings coming to the 2013 Range Rover (and other Land Rovers too) we’re expecting the RR may shed as much as 1,000lbs in weight. That will make the performance almost scintillating compared to now, and improve economy no end.

Could the 2013 Range Rover be as big a quantum leap as the BMW-funded current model (L322) was when it arrived in 2002?

We certainly hope so.