The Aerodynamic Development of the Range Rover

2025-01-8781

04/01/2025

Event
WCX SAE World Congress Experience
Authors Abstract
Content
The current Range Rover is the fifth generation of this luxury SUV. With a drag coefficient of 0.30 at launch, it was the most aerodynamically efficient luxury SUV in the world. This aerodynamic efficiency was achieved by applying the latest science.
Rear wake control was realised with a large roof spoiler, rear pillar and bodyside shaping, along with an under-floor designed to reduce losses over a wide range of vehicle configurations. This enabled manipulation of the wake structure to reduce drag spread, optimising emissions measured under the WLTP regulations.
Along with its low drag coefficient, in an industry first, it was developed explicitly to achieve reduced rear surface contamination with reductions achieved of 70% on the rear screen and 60% over the tailgate when compared against the outgoing product. This supports both perceptions of luxury along with sensor system performance, demonstrating that vehicles can be developed concurrently for low drag and reduced rear soiling.
This paper describes the development journey of the car, from initial phases extensively exploiting simulation through to testing pre-production prototype vehicles in both FKFS Aeroacoustic and Thermal Wind Tunnels.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/2025-01-8781
Pages
13
Citation
Chaligné, S., Gaylard, A., Simmonds, N., and Turner, R., "The Aerodynamic Development of the Range Rover," SAE Technical Paper 2025-01-8781, 2025, https://doi.org/10.4271/2025-01-8781.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Apr 01
Product Code
2025-01-8781
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English