I took delivery of a 2010 S/C on the 17th. It was built in October and reached South Africa two weeks ago. I previously had a 2007 S/C. My initial impressions:
1. I have been reading every possible review and/or driving impressions of the 2010 S/C for the past few months while waiting for mine, but nothing really described (and prepared me for) the difference in performance compared to the previous version. All of a sudden the RRS is no longer a large overweight SUV but more like a go-kart. Floor the accelerator at any speed and the speedometer needle races around the dial. It is now a matter of carefully squeezing the accelerator when moving off so as not to cause your passengers any discomfort – but oh boy, at the same time lots of fun can be had by flooring the accelerator.
2. The exhaust and engine sound awesome.
3. The go-kart like performance is further enhanced by the handling – the new suspension is a lot stiffer than that of the previous version. I don’t like it, but I suppose it would have been simply too dangerous to stay with the limo like suspension of the previous version with performance like this. Every bump or ripple in the road can now be felt by all occupants.
4. Linked to this, is a much more direct steering, but once again, not without a BIG negative aspect going with it – road noise filtering through the body and steering. I saw an owner describing this feeling / noise as a “grinding noise” that can be heard – that is an accurate description. On certain road surfaces, there is a high frequency vibration coming through the steering which is going to be very tiring and annoying on long trips. Really a big disappointment. So while wind noise is down because of the double glazed side windows, road noise is up, making the car in total noisier on the inside than the previous model. (Note: I have the impression that road surfaces in Europe are a lot smoother than those in South Africa)
5. An even bigger disappointment though – with only 80km on the odometer, the suspension is even noisier than that of my previous RRS after 60,000km. With that vehicle, the infamous knocking noises only started at about 20,000km. This one has it out of the box. The exact same knocking noise. The knocking noises were one of my main reasons for moving on to the 2010 version. It is therefore a big disappointment to me that the new vehicle is just as bad, actually worse, than the old one in this respect. How on earth could a vehicle costing this much, have a noisy clunking knocking suspension like a 25 year old truck of which the shocks should have been replaced years ago? Don’t get me wrong, the suspension itself is awesome, but this issue is going to overshadow the otherwise brilliant suspension (and every other improvement of the new model over the old). It is really seriously bad.
6. Unlike previously reported by early adopters, my iPhone 3Gs is charged by the standard iPod interface cable. Suppose the cable has been updated to solve this issue.
7. Good news: The old trick of nine successive buckle ups after switching on the vehicle still disables the seat belt warning gong.
8. Good news: All windows now have the auto up / down function.
9. Good news: Windows can now be opened / closed with the remote, or by keeping the lock button on the door handle pressed.
10. The wheels of the Supercharged look even better in real live than in pictures.
11. We are back to square one as far as Destination on the Move input is concerned with the Navigation system. The moment the vehicle starts moving most buttons of the navigation unit are disabled. This is so stupid and annoying. There are a zillion other settings and virtual buttons of the system that remain active. Why disable only those of the navigation system? Hopefully the dealers will be able to disable this “feature”.
12. Being used to the keyless entry of my A8 Audi, I am disappointed in the way the system has been implemented by Land Rover. With the Audi, the Stop button only kills the engine and put the system in a mode similar to the “Accessory” position of the ignition switch of older cars. (The radio stays active e.g.) A second press of the button, or opening the driver’s door, shuts down the ignition system. With the Range Rover, the Stop button immediately shuts down just about everything – even the radio.
13. Despite Land Rover’s media material, the navigation instructions and music interface information is not duplicated on the mini screen in the instrument panel. (I can’t remember seeing even the Caller information on the Instrument panel as was the case with the previous model.) Once again, something that has been done by Audis e.g. for at least 5 years. This is an essential feature with an integrated audio/navigation/phone setup like we now have with the Range Rover. In its current form, one has to switch away from the navigation screen to that of the radio, e.g., if you want to make any changes to the radio, thus losing all navigation information apart from the voice prompts. At least, with the previous RRS, one was able to make a telephone call or see who is calling, while at the same time watching the navigation display for instructions.
14. The iPod interface works well, but once again, the design of the screen layout leaves much to be desired. Despite lots of screen real estate being available, they have only allowed a small piece of that to be used for displaying the song information. So what we have is that long song titles is clipped at the end because of a lack of display space, while other parts of the screen is left blank. There are many examples of such design mistakes. Why use a bar style gauge for the fuel gauge, but a needle style gauge for temperature? Believe it or not, but this is actually quite confusing. Easier explained with a picture from the owner’s manual:

And what is the use and purpose of the digital speed readout, when you have a large speedometer next to it? Probably because the designer of the instrument panel realised that in daylight, the readout of the speedometer dial is difficult to read at a glance, with large and small fonts used – the big fonts in bright easy readable white, the smaller fonts in grey and very difficult to see. Could it really be that in this day and age, even designing something simple as a speedometer dial can be messed up?
15. The Auto main beam function works very well and will be useful.
16. I got the impression that some changes were made to the software of the adaptive cruise control. It is not as nervous as it used to be, slamming on the brakes too often. It is however still slow to start accelerating again once an obstacle has been cleared.
17. The LED’s in the headlights is another example of poor implementation of a good idea – they cannot be configured (even by the dealer) to function as daytime running lights.
18. Using the gearshift peddles behind the steering wheel, causes the gearbox to go into command shift mode. The gearbox then stays in that mode for longer (before returning to full auto mode) than other cars with the same feature (once again, like the Audi e.g.). This is nice. I have discovered that one can force the system to return to full auto mode by keeping the right peddle pressed (pulled) for a few seconds. (About 2 to 3 seconds I would guess). This function is not documented in the owner’s manual as far as I was able to find.
19. Fuel consumption is definitely not worse than that of the previous model, despite all the power gained by the new engine. I’m sure in the long run it will indeed be more economical as claimed by Land Rover.
So summarise: Currently the ridiculously powerful and awesome sounding V8 is the star of the show, but I’m concerned that once we get used to that, the lasting and overwhelming experience is going to be the noisy / knocking suspension and road noise / harshness in the road surfaces that is being transferred to the steering wheel and cabin. I’m actually convinced that on long trips and in day to day use, those aspects will become very annoying and the cause of lots of fatigue. 2010 Sport Supercharged with all options apart from TV and Extended leather (wish I had the latter) (Previously 2007 RRS S/C)

Great comprehensive review  MY10 3.0 TDV6 HSE, Zermatt Silver, 20" Diamond Turned Alloys, Factory Privacy Glass, Premium Leather, Contrast Stiching, Side Steps, Etc

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Excellent review.

To reduce the suspension knock I suggest you get the front body dampers removed and the mass absorbers fitted ASAP. See Technical Service Bulletin "Front Suspension Knock Improvement" - LTB00241 in thread

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic15691.html?highlight=tsb

great review !  
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for point 14 if you hold your finger down on the track name for about 2 seconds a much larger box comes up with all the track information.

You could fit tyres with a larger sidewall, which may help with the harshness. Also check your tyre pressures - they are shipped with very high pressure and sometimes the dealers forget to reduce it before delivery.

great review rrs my2010 3.0tdv6 hse
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949BFN wrote:

11. We are back to square one as far as Destination on the Move input is concerned with the Navigation system. The moment the vehicle starts moving most buttons of the navigation unit are disabled. This is so stupid and annoying. There are a zillion other settings and virtual buttons of the system that remain active. Why disable only those of the navigation system? Hopefully the dealers will be able to disable this “feature”.

949BFN wrote:

12. Being used to the keyless entry of my A8 Audi, I am disappointed in the way the system has been implemented by Land Rover. With the Audi, the Stop button only kills the engine and put the system in a mode similar to the “Accessory” position of the ignition switch of older cars. (The radio stays active e.g.) A second press of the button, or opening the driver’s door, shuts down the ignition system. With the Range Rover, the Stop button immediately shuts down just about everything – even the radio.

949BFN wrote:

14. The iPod interface works well, but once again, the design of the screen layout leaves much to be desired. Despite lots of screen real estate being available, they have only allowed a small piece of that to be used for displaying the song information. So what we have is that long song titles is clipped at the end because of a lack of display space, while other parts of the screen is left blank.

949BFN wrote:

There are many examples of such design mistakes. Why use a bar style gauge for the fuel gauge, but a needle style gauge for temperature? Believe it or not, but this is actually quite confusing. Easier explained with a picture from the owner’s manual:

949BFN wrote:

And what is the use and purpose of the digital speed readout, when you have a large speedometer next to it?

949BFN wrote:

17. The LED’s in the headlights is another example of poor implementation of a good idea – they cannot be configured (even by the dealer) to function as daytime running lights.

Appreciate the kind remarks.
If Navigation entry on the move is not disabled in the UK, it means that the dealer should be able to enable it – really good news.
I am going to get the suspension TSB done in the New Year. They never managed to get the suspension knock sorted on my 2007 RRS, although the latest TSB (mass absorbers solution) came out when delivery of the 2010 was imminent and I was fed up with taking the car to the dealer every three weeks for yet another attempt to solve the issue.
As far as the digital speed readout is concerned: I made the remarks without explaining my thinking – I intended to add that a seemingly useless feature like this was added, but no navigation commands are displayed, which is essential with a combined setup like we have now. And in any event, the readout is obviously a duplication of the speedometer’s reading, which is in other words just as inaccurate as the speedometer readout. (About 6 to 7 km/h at 120 km/h according to my handheld Garmin). Why not rather then display the true speed digitally, obtained from the navigation system’s GPS? (And where no signal is available, simply remove the digital speed display from the screen).
I also forgot to mention the interior “mood” lighting – I honestly believe this could have been done much more elegantly. (The 2010 has small LED’s in the door handles and at least one in the roof, shining downwards to create a backlit atmosphere at night). The lighting is very uneven with bright and dark spots. I realise this might be nit-picking, but why not implement such an idea properly if you go to the trouble of adding it? (Sorry for maybe annoying some people by again comparing this to the way it was done by Audi, but it seems that many Jaguar and Land Rover ideas these days are very similar to those used by Audi. Audi’s implementation of this concept is much more subtle and even and therefore much more elegant.) That said, I’d rather have it as implemented, than not have it at all.
It would also have been nice if the right toggle switch on the steering could have been used to move highlights on the touch screen around, with the centre button acting as an “OK” or “Enter” button and a long press acting as a Mode switch. Currently the switch is rather a waste, apart from ensuring that the left and right sides of the steering wheel boss look the same.
Bearing in mind the Range Rover’s off-road capabilities, the TPMS should be able to display the actual tyre pressures and not only a warning when a tyre needs attention. One should also be able to store the tyre pressures (as is, you have guessed it, the case with the Audi system), instead of simply choosing between “heavy load” or “light load” pressures. Being an offroader, that would have been a more flexible implementation, allowing us to let the air out of the tyres when driving on sand, without being confronted with a “low tyre pressure” warning. The TPMS sensors (of all manufacturers) are notoriously unreliable and when they stop working, we should be able to switch of the system, to prevent the system from continuously giving false warnings to check tyres.
The iPhone 3Gs is in serious need of a firmware/OS upgrade – the connection with the vehicle’s Bluetooth system is flaky to say the least. The biggest problem here is that the sound is sometimes directed to the vehicle’s speakers, but other times to the phone’s internal speaker. I have however not had any connection issues with the iPhone connecting each and every time when it comes within range of the vehicle. I have found that my Nokia E51 does not have the aforementioned issue, with sound always coming through the vehicle’s speaker.
A last aspect I forgot to add – even though it frustrates one that some ideas could have been implemented a lot more ergonomically and thus have been of much more practical use, I would choose the Range Rover again if given the choice, because it is really a great vehicle. With some more attention to detail (most of which I’m sure can be added by firmware upgrades), it could have been an awesome one though. 2010 Sport Supercharged with all options apart from TV and Extended leather (wish I had the latter) (Previously 2007 RRS S/C)

Last edited by 949BFN on Sun Dec 20 2009 5:30pm. Edited 2 times in total

Forgive me if I have missed soemthing but if yours is a Supercharged why does the fuel gauge read "Diesel"? 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

It isn't a picture from his dash.

RichardM wrote:

I don't agree sorry. The fuel gauge showing should be a bar gauge as it is. That's the clearest way to represent when something is full or empty. Displaying the temperature is different. I don't see why this is confusing, and anyway the temp gauge never seems to move from the mid way point. Might be different in SA with weather extremes!

Maybe looking at this (actual) picture would illustrate my remarks better:

Click image to enlarge

I'm sure some people will agree that this display can be confusing when new to the vehicle. This could have been prevented by using the same display style on both gauges.

As regards the STOP/START button switching of everything when pressed: I've noticed that after the STOP button has been pressed, one could switch on the Radio with the On/Off/Volume knob on the left. I have not tested this, but I suppose it will switch of after 15 minutes or so.

Regarding the comment about tire pressures: I had checked mine and it was according to what the manual suggests.

Some other positive comments: The HDC is a lot quieter in operation compared to the previous model. One can hardly hear or feel the pulsating sound when engaged. It also works in reverse (Never in 3 years had to test this on the previous model, so I don't know if this has always been the case. Toyota have been claiming for some years in advertising material that their Lancruiser Prado is the only vehicle with HDC in reverse.)

And did I mention that the vehicle is ridiculously fast? 2010 Sport Supercharged with all options apart from TV and Extended leather (wish I had the latter) (Previously 2007 RRS S/C)

Out of intrest 949BFN what are you doing MPG ?

I was initially enjoying all the power, often overtaking other vehicle at full throttle. Most of this driving was a mix of in town and highway driving. Only managed 13 m.p.g. (UK). Yesterday on a 300 km drive, I drove more civilised, mostly at speeds of 120km/h, with only 2 or 3 full throttle overtakes, and managed almost 18 m.p.g. Now bear in mind that even a half throttle overtake with this engine, is about the same or faster than most other vehicles can manage. There is very seldom a reason to use more than half throttle –pulling away at half throttle is already uncomfortable for most passengers. It really is that “bad”. I’m very happy with the fuel consumption, bearing in mind the performance of the vehicle. 2010 Sport Supercharged with all options apart from TV and Extended leather (wish I had the latter) (Previously 2007 RRS S/C)

Sounds like your gearbox ECU has so far led a life of enjoying the power and half or full throttle gearchanges and needs to have some time being driven like a little old lady's car to make it slur the changes better! Might be difficult to achieve though by the sound of it  2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW