The pace of styling changes to Land Rover's flagship Range Rover luxury SUV could be best described as evolutionary, with the current model showing a distinct but refined resemblance to the original model introduced in the 1970s. About the only models that have seen fewer styling changes over the years are Mercedes-Benz's staunchly traditional G-Class and Jeep's iconc Wrangler, but if these spy photos are any indication, that is going change starting with the 2014 model year.
As you can see, many styling details of the popular Evoque will make it to the big Range Rover flagship, but it won't be a simple up-scale in size. For example, the Range Rover's more upright greenhouse remains because customers for the model traditionally value comfort and practicality as much as edgy styling. Evoque influences, meanwhile, can be seen in the "cat's eye" detailing on the front and rear lights, with the headlamps going from an upright, vertical shape to a more tapered horizontal shape, mirroring the front lights of the Evoque along with a shorter, wider, more raked-back grille. The taillights are likewise expected to share the tapered detailing.
We expect the interior resemblance between the junior and senior Range Rovers to be much closer, down to the widescreen center multifunction display and rotary-knob shifter. The other big change expected for the big Rover is a massive weight reduction, possibly by as much as 1000 pounds. As modest as the current Range Rover's 195.7 overall length is, its weight is within 100 pounds of the much larger Chevrolet Suburban. Although the current Range Rover is no slouch with the available 510 hp supercharged V-8, its nearly three-ton weight gives it a mediocre 12 mpg city and 18 mpg highway rating. Expect those figures to increase by 2-3 mpg if Land Rover's ambitious weight-reduction targets are achieved.