Queen of the Road: The 2016 Range Rover HSE Td6 has kingdom-crossing range

A fuel-sipping uber-luxo SUV? Not quite. A technological marvel? Not exactly. If one definition of luxury is the lack of worry, then this Land Rover Range Rover Td6 achieves it, but for an unexpected reason.

Range Rovers have long been the manifold destiny of the modest-yet-moneyed equine set—those who want to slog through unpaved slop to reach the perfect lake or meadow. And nobody driving one has failed to make it anywhere due to shortcomings off-road; Land Rovers and Range Rovers are the virtual poster dogs for exploring the wooded backlands. But until now, no Land Rover has beached itself onto American shores with diesel power, even though diesel has been an option in Europe for more than 30 years. It's been all-gasoline Range Rovering in the US, be it with a V8 or a supercharged V6.

However, the upper-crustiest party segment of SUVing has been crashed recently with Bentley's splash into the vat of beluga caviar with the Bentayga. It's another leather-lined and hyper-coiffed dreadnought SUV that won't get out of bed for less than $231,825—the base Range Rover tips the finance scale at just $85,945. The HSE Td6 diesel logs a comparative pittance at a base price of just $94,445, even though the two Brits don’t really compete directly for the same demographic. The uppermost Range Rover—aside from the Holland & Holland Edition, with its outdoor picnic seating and ability to do your taxes—is the V8 Supercharged SV Autobiography long wheelbase model at $200,490.

Despite advancements in technology and manufacturing—particularly a heavy weight-loss plan as part of the transition to the current generation—the soul of Range Rover has changed little over the decades as the all-conquering luxury off-roader. There's intelligent four-wheel drive using multiple differentials. Land Rover pioneered electronic Hill Decent Control and, years ago, the industry's first multi-road surface driveline programming, selected via a rotary dial on the console. (Ford—which owned Land Rover for some time—and others quickly mimicked this approach.) So while not much is new on the outside, a turbodiesel V6 sits in the snout.

This particular power unit has roots all the way back to a Ford/Peugeot/Citroën engineering gumbo, but it's now heavily updated for US emissions laws and market needs, especially in sound deadening. Most importantly, and still timely in this post-VW-scandal world, a urea exhaust after-treatment system quells the inherently high NOx levels of a diesel engine, especially those that might see extended periods of high load and hard duty due to towing. (Urea is also known as Diesel Emissions Fluid, or "DEF," or any one of several brand-affiliated fluids like Mercedes' "AdBlue"). That tank of urea should last 10,000 miles between fluid refills, theoretically refilled during normal service intervals.

Making 254hp (189kW) and 440lb-ft (597Nm) of torque at just 1,750 revs, the low-rpm V6 is whisper-quiet. Virtually no one along for the ride to the opera or a ride through two-foot mud would ever suspect they'd been thrust by a diesel. Inside, the turn signal clicks and the smartphone chimes of your growing stock portfolio dividends are deafening in comparison. As for its secretive diesel-ness, no one knows outwardly, either. In fact, the only nit I can justifiably pick about the interior is the infotainment unit's sluggish response to inputs. Changing audio tracks? Plan accordingly.

Drilling into the engine's specifics, the graphite-impregnated block is reconfigured with a deep skirt compared to its ancestors to help quell the vibrations of compression-ignition, and that compression sits at 16.0:1. It's also cast from graphite-impregnated iron. Even the engine mounts have been re-thought to isolate any potential vibes from being transmitted.

Typical of modern diesels, the Td6 uses high fuel rail pressure (2,000 bar or 29,000 psi) to enable the high-energy injectors, and there's an air-to-water intercooler upstream of the Honeywell turbo.

The Td6 injection also takes a multiple-strike, multiple-event strategy to minimize the considerable shock of detonation, inherently violent in the high-compression environment of a diesel. Couple all this combustion static with the considerable weight and inertia of a diesel engine's crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons, and you'd be safe to assume that also using an engine start-stop feature would break the serenity laid down by the rest of the Range Rover. And you'd be right. Range Rover does indeed use start-stop to theoretically improve fuel economy, but I'd doubt any buyer would yearn for the feature if it were optional, knowing about the start-induced quaking it causes at stop lights. Also, it's among the slowest-to-awake start-stop systems we've driven, even among other diesels. Thankfully, you can disable the system, but you have to do so upon each startup.

Even under full throttle, a faint whoosh and whirr is the sum of the soundtrack. Performance is certainly adequate—0 to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds—and based on that performance, no one will mistake it for a hot rod, but therein lies the accomplishment. Moving this tonnage around (5,000+ lbs/2,267+ kg) with paltry commotion is as much a feat of engineering as is scorching 0 to 60 times.

As the proverbial aerodynamic barn, it cruises steadily at extra-legal speeds with absolutely no stress or strain. Since the drivetrain is so silent, you would think even a trifle of wind noise at speed would be noticeable. It isn't.

Ride compliance is decidedly soft and body roll is prodigious, but again, nobody's ever going to enter the big Range Rover in an autocross. Driving it, you do feel a bit nautical, being so perched above the surface as on a yacht's fly bridge. Also, don't look for road feel through the very light steering, even though it's quite accurate when placement really counts. The ship's bow thrusters respond accurately.

Stated EPA city/highway fuel economy is 22/29 mpg, which is a 5/6mpg improvement over the gas supercharged V6 in both city and on the highway (and 30 percent/26 percent better, respectively). This all means that 650 miles will pass underneath the (now aluminum monocoque) chassis before refueling is needed. And the interior is nothing if not a long-haul sanctuary, with hot and cold running leather and wood.

Where some in the upper echelon of SUV-land have compromised their true off-road prowess, Range Rover has not done so with its flagship—a provenance that goes back decades and was also hard-won in numerous Camel Trophy expeditions to the Earth's most difficult back country. Though few buyers are ever likely to do so, mud-flinging in your own back woods is entirely possible, with ride height, four-wheel-drive programming for any contingency, hill descent control, and multiple camera views that afford a level of placement precision when off-roading that's unachievable otherwise.

For a $1,500 premium over the gasoline six, it’s not hard to see the Td6’s appeal, as it doesn’t require any significant sacrifice in exchange for the extra economy. Being at the pointy end of the price market, buyers will never feel the extra cash outlay.