I went to a fascinating talk last night given by Nick Miller, Vehicle Programme Chief for the L460. This was at Warwick University under the auspices of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He has led the engineering development of the car from 2015. 7000 JLR staff worked on the design before counting suppliers inputs.

Random things I picked up that I didn't already know:

1) The PHEVS will start production in a couple of weeks and demand is highest in Europe and the UK (not surprisingly the US prefers the V8, the Chinese like the LWB 5 seater)
2) The benchmarks for the L460 were the Bentayga and the BMW X7
3) He reckons from the 1m km of testing data that has been collected that this will deliver a step change in reliability
4) The improved drag coefficient is helped by the totally flat floor skin which was hard to engineer for off-road situations (water etc); also by active shuttering of grille vents; and automatic height reduction of 16mm at speed
5) The rear tailgate went through more than 50 design iterations
6) The rear wheels de-articulate to always face forward when stationary even if parked with front wheels on full lock. Incidentally the rear steering is the feature he is most proud of.
7) Wouldn't be drawn on the BEV currently under development but did say the 'engine' bay will need redesigning for crash protection without an engine in it; and the rearmost floor pan.
The reversible load divider/event suite backrest was designed in house by 3 graduate engineers who came up with the idea in the first place.
9) Most of the 70+ ECUs can be updated over the air.
10) Noise cancelling on the Signature Meridian system is always on, can't be turned off
11) The air purification system was doubled to two modules front and rear, Panasonic technology, during the pandemic, it is claimed to protect even against SARS/COVID-19
12) Dynamic Response Pro uses a 48v electronic system to prevent body roll. Apart from being more effective and deploying up to 1400nm of torque this is more efficient than the old hydraulic systems and contributes to reduction in emissions.

I'll stop there before I get too nerdy...

Awesome Yousif. Best post on this forum to date (of many brilliant and informative contributions). How we entice you to provide the next & ‘nerdy’ instalment?!

I agree - brilliant insight .

Thanks guys, well let me see what my memory uncovers over the weekend. In hindsight I should have recorded it. I must say I came away with a much better understanding of how radical a design this car is- it may look like the L405 but pretty much everything of engineering importance is new- ooh yes, he said 72 design patents were filed. The MLA Flex chassis has been brilliantly designed to 'flex' it to ICE, PHEV and BEV requirements- I don't know any other manufacturer that has managed this in this transitional phase from ICE to BEV we are in for the next 10 years or so.

Also came away very proud of British engineering excellence- it really is right up there even if we don't shout about it enough.

All that development! How do they develop the unreliability 😂😂😂

Thanks for posting. Just on No 3 I seem to remember being told that there would be a step change in reliability when the 322 and 405 were launched...  Only Range Rovers since 1988

"Thanks for posting. Just on No 3 I seem to remember being told that there would be a step change in reliability when the 322 and 405 were launched... Wink"

There was but just not necessarily in the direction many of us hoped

No mention of improving corrosion resistance such as galavanised subframes, kunifer brake piping etc. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Excellent post thank you! And encouraging to hear about the PHEVs! 2024 Range Rover P550e AB

I wonder if number 4 covered that part with respect to corrosion.

Thanks Yousif, dredge that mind of yours for odd details. Filters are in fact so good that in certain circumstances, when the ambient air is already polluted, a diesel car will tend to extract more particles from the air than it emits. Emissions Analytics worked with........etc etc

He who dies with the most toys wins...

Great... Thank you sir

Ok a few other items resurfaced over the weekend:

13) Apparently the two antennae both transmit data and is the reason they doubled them, as well as one acting as phone antenna, the other the Clearsight camera
14) On corrosion, unlike L405 (all aluminium body) L460 is 80% aluminium, 20% steel. All aluminium used on L460 is anodized and when bonded to steel cameras monitor the bonding process to ensure no steel comes into contact with aluminium (the glue separates them). Even the steel/aluminium storage/transport carts are separated to prevent one coming into contact with the other.
15) Rings of steel provide improved torsional stiffness around the entire car at the A, C and D pillars.
16) The subframe over the rear wheel arches is a whopping 1.5m casting, apparently quite challenging to manufacture
17) The 75mm increase in wheelbase on the SWB was 50mm practical to increase rear legroom and 25mm styling to move the front wheel forward.
1 The dual valve Bilstein dampers are current state of the art and used also on the S-Class Mercedes
19)With the ICE version you can party for 2hrs with the Event Suite before it closes down, with the PHEV you can party for 87 hours non stop! Did I mention that I have a PHEV on order?
20) The rear 5 link suspension was adopted not only to provide a better ride but to provide more space for an enlarged rear wheel arch (to accommodate rear wheel steering) and to allow more space between the rear wheels (presumably for electric motors/battery space for the full EV)

That may be it unless a few more neurons decide to connect up.

Thanks for these 20 interesting facts. I have driven the L460 and there sure is just no comparison with the L405 ... RR's that are part of my car timeline since I bought my first RR Classic in 1999:

On the waiting list for the RR EV MY2025
RR P550e Autobiography MY2024
RR EVOGUE Cabrio MY2017
RR P400e Autobiography MY2020
RR TDV6 Autobiography MY2016
RR TDV6 VOGUE MY2013

RR TDV8 VOGUE MY2009 & MY2006
RR TD6 VOGUE MY2004

RRC 3.9i VOGUE MY1994 & MY1992

Yousif wrote:

Ok a few other items resurfaced over the weekend:

That may be it unless a few more neurons decide to connect up.