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| Beneath that bonnet lies a supercharged V8 borrowed from Jaguar |
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The left lane cleared, and with that, the BMW 540i moved to the outside lane. We followed him up a gentle motorway incline just west of Barcelona, accelerating hard from 70mph as slower traffic fell back. The middle lane cleared, but our 5-Series stayed resolutely in the fast lane, seemingly oblivious to the Range Rover growing ever larger in his rear view mirror. We didn't push, didn't flash, aware that the BMW's driver had made the reasonable assumption that his BMW V8 was more than a match for BMW V8 that usually resides under the bonnet of the latest Range Rover.
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| 376g of CO2 are emitted by the blown V8 per km |
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Wrong. For this is the very latest Range Rover, and beneath its bonnet lies not the bought-in BMW lump, but a Jaguar-sourced supercharged V8 developing a huge 400bhp and an even more impressive 420lb ft of torque, all powered through a marvellously smooth six-speed automatic. This is the flagship of the recently launched 2006 model year Range Rover, and what a flagship it is - the 0-60mph sprint comes up in just 7.1 seconds and this beast will rage on to 130mph, which is remarkable for something the size of your average Cotswold cottage. The obvious downside is an overall fuel consumption of 17.7mpg and a CO2 output of 376g/km. But frankly, if you can afford the £72,995 price tag attached to the supercharged Range Rover SE Vogue V8, then you are unlikely to be much troubled by the fuel bills.
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