Our first long-term test car has been used for work and play, and earns the ultimate compliment...
Shahzad Sheikh's Land Rover LR2 i6 HSE
How long does it take to really get to know a car?
A quick drive around the block gives you an instant impression, but one that can be tainted by a number of factors: time of day, location, terrain, light, traffic, and quite naturally, how you might be feeling at the time - however good a car, few can act as automotive Prozac.
So a couple of days then? Not unless you specifically find several hours in a working week to go and ‘roadtest' a car on your favourite route.
But that only reveals how it goes, stops and steers. What about the banal day-to-day stuff?
Fitting the child seat in, transporting the weekly shop back without a messy eggcident, complaints from the rear passengers, moans from the missus, how controlled the climate really is, and possibly most importantly of all, what do the neighbours think. What will Farid from number 42, say?
Land Rover's ex-press fleet silver LR2, registration G10390, was with us for just over four months as CAR Middle East's first long-term test car, presenting us with ample time to investigate if we were right to rubber stamp it as our Compact SUV of the year 2007.
It arrived with around 10,000km, to which we added nearly 9000km.
We said it was a good all-rounder in its segment offering a premium experience. So let's run through it. Family duties? The bright-hued upholstery was difficult to keep clean, but otherwise it was spacious, comfy and practical.
Off-road? It's been rock-climbing up in Dibba, and dune-busting in Bab Al-Shams, both without issue save a knocked diff heat shield easily fixed.
On-road dynamics? Good performance and its compact size makes it remarkably racy around town. Prestige brand? Undisputed cred and class of the green oval badge bestows a predigree that justifies the higher purchase price in this class.
So finally the thorny issue of reliability, a previous Land Rover bugbear? Every time we recommend a Landy this comes up. But the LR2 has undergone the marque's most extensive pre-production test programme ever. And then the ultimate display of confidence, they handed one to us.
And apart from a blown rear brake light, we have absolutely nothing to report! So would we buy one? Look right...
Tom Bird's land Rover LR2 i6 HSE
The first time I saw the LR2 was back in June 2006 when it was revealed at Land Rover's HQ. I was smitten at once. The sharp-designed lines of the car, which the young designer Earl Beckles had spent five years honing, instantly drew me to the car.
The interior too, was a revelation, especially compared to the parts bin special cabin bestowed on the old Freelander.
But it would be another six months before I got behind the wheel of the LR2 in Morocco.
There it proved all its worth on the beach-side sand dunes and across rutted farm tracks and broken tarmac roads. Another six months passed, and I found myself charging across another beach, but in the very different surroundings of Iceland.
I gave the LR2 a serious pounding on all manner of surfaces, and came close to drowning it in a river - but at the end of the day, the LR2 dragged itself through with no drama.
In the past few months, I've bashed wadis, scaled mountains and conquered dunes and yet again, the LR2 came through stronger than ever.
So after perhaps the most demanding and longest test drive known to man, I've finally taken the plunge and bought one.
My LR2 is an HSE model, so it comes with plenty of bells and whistles including a great Alpine stereo, Bluetooth connectivity and lashings of black leather.
The Tambora Flame paintwork has divided opinion, as has the sports bodykit, rear spoiler and tinted windows but I think they work well together and toughen up the LR2's looks massively.
I was initially worried about the compromised off-road ability of the body kit, but the couple of forays off-road that I've subjected the LR2 to so far have seen it remain intact.
Let's see if it stays that way.
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