New Range Rover 2021: long-wheelbase prototype spotted Car News

Land Rover is well into the development of its new flagship, fifth-generation Range Rover – and prototypes of the larger, long-wheelbase version have entered the final stages of road testing.

Images submitted to Autocar by reader Mohammed Rajak show a pair of camouflaged test mules running through the Highlands, one of which towing a trailer, presumably for powertrain telemetry purposes.

Numerous prototypes of the luxury SUV have been seen at different levels of disguise testing in the UK and Europe over the past year. Earlier this year, a photographer managed to get closer to it than anyone before, glancing at the partially disguised innards of the prototype.

While we can’t make out the overall cabin design, a few clues can be gleaned from the two images showing different angles. The first is a center touchscreen – which appears to be within production specs – which takes pride in the center of the dashboard and is significantly larger than before. It also appears to be running a more developed version of Jaguar Land Rover’s latest Pivi Pro operating system. There also doesn’t appear to be a separate display for climate functions below like today’s car.

A familiar digital dial display is also visible, although other elements of the cabin of this prototype are covered or unfinished. We can see a shifter borrowed from Jaguar’s recently updated model line-up, but there is no indication that it is intended for production. Haptic feedback controls can also be seen on the steering wheel.

Heavy camouflage continues to hide key elements of Range Rover’s exterior design. However, we know that the general shape will be scalable, while it is possible to come up with a new design for the headlights, turn signals and daytime running lights.

Previously, the mules sported a four-outlet exhaust, suggesting they were packing the premium V8 engine option, which for the fifth-generation car will be a 4.4-liter turbocharged unit borrowed from BMW.

An image (below) shows the rear wheel steering system that will debut on the new Range Rover. It is not yet clear which variants will receive the system, but it does give clues to the flexibility of the car’s new MLA architecture.