2010 Land Rover LR2 North Kingstown RI

TheCarConnection.com's editors have driven the Land Rover LR2 to produce this road test summary. Editors also have compared the LR2 to other compact SUVs and crossovers to give you a better sense of the options in this vehicle' s class . TheCarConnection.com's companion full review condenses quotes from other respected Web sites into a comprehensive look at the 2010 LR2 to provide you with the best advice possible while you shop for your next car.

Likes
Agile handling
Sized right, and easy to park
Second row has adult-size room
Can handle moderate off-roading

Dislikes
Low fuel economy
Visibility's an issue
An angular look in a sea of "soft-roaders"

Land Rover has attained its place in the world primarily due to a single model: the Range Rover . The British brand sells a whole range of vehicles, though, and in 2008 it added the Land Rover LR2 to a lineup that also includes the Range Rover Sport and the seven-seat LR4. For 2010, the LR2 returns to the lineup with very few changes. For a base price of $36,350, it competes with the likes of the Volvo XC60 , BMW X3, Audi Q5 , and Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class .

New in 2008, the Land Rover LR2 carries into the new model year with only a couple of new colors to change its look. The design is angular-appealingly so, though you may notice it stands out in a sea of less capable "soft-roaders" like the sculpted Volvo XC60 and Audi Q5 . The front fender vents, the big squared-off headlamps, and the linear shapes all play off Land Rover heritage. And even with its urban-sized body, the theme plays out well-it's more practical and rakish at the same time. The two models have some distinguishing features-the base SE adds black bumpers, while the HSE gets body-color pieces, as well as a rear spoiler-and an appearance package bestows a distinct grille and other trim distinctions to the base version. Inside, the LR2's interior is a lookalike for the larger Range Rovers in some ways, but it's less rich and doesn't have the lavish wood fittings of the more expensive vehicles in the Land Rover lineup. Vertical elements like the vents and door handles keep the interior from looking too low, and a strip of wood on the dash touches on Range Rover tradition.

There's a single powertrain offered in the 2010 LR2, and it provides adequate acceleration and poor fuel economy. The LR2 shares a 3.2-liter inline-six with the Volvo XC60 , in fact. It propels the LR2 to 60 mph in 8.4 seconds. The gearbox is a responsive, smooth-shifting six-speed automatic that includes a manual-shift mode and a sport mode for more engaged drivers. While it's not terribly quick off the line, the LR2 does feel responsive at highway speed and when passing. It's tuned well for some off-road torque, too, though the throttle is faster than that of most of the bigger, dirt-plugging Rovers.

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