2005 Land Rover
Range Rover
 By  Mitch McCullough
 $73,750 to
$86,000

Formula 34PC: Surprise Party!
By Kevin Falvey

$238,600

The ultimate in luxury and capability
The 2005 Range Rover remains the ultimate personal-luxury, multiple-use sport-utility. This top-of-the-line Land Rover offers authentic all-terrain capability combined with a beautiful European-flavor cabin and the latest in safety features. Driving it just makes you feel good. It's smooth and poised on the road and makes its occupants feel classy and sophisticated. It's one of the best luxury vehicles available, counting cars. Land Rover doesn't sell vast quantities of them, ensuring the Range Rover remains an exclusive vehicle, and further adding to its class and panache.

The Range Rover was completely redesigned for 2003, only the third time that Land Rover has returned to a clean sheet of paper since the first Range Rover debuted in 1970. Compared to earlier Range Rovers, the current model is quicker and more agile. Yet it retains its Land Rover pedigree for traversing the backcountry, featuring the latest in off-road technology and luxury appointments.

BMW was heavily involved in the design and engineering of the current model, and its expertise is clearly evident. BMW owned Land Rover briefly, and helped develop the current Range Rover, then sold Land Rover to Ford. Land Rover is now part of Ford's Aston Martin Jaguar Land Rover North America division headquartered in Irvine, California. The Range Rover continues to use BMW engines.

Exemplary service is part of the Range Rover experience. Surveys indicate customers are highly satisfied with their Land Rover retailers who pride themselves with taking care of their customers, and anecdotal evidence backs that up. The Land Rover Centres go beyond those of the typical car dealership, acting as off-road outfitters. They carry accessories and apparel and organize outings. Land Rover's four-year/50,000 mile warranty includes roadside assistance and free scheduled maintenance.
Model Lineup
The Range Rover is powered by a 282-horsepower, 4.4-liter V8 engine mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. It features a permanent four-wheel-drive system with a two-speed transfer case and Torsen center differential, all-terrain traction and stability control, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS.

Light those candles
It’s a rare boat that has earned the right to call itself a performance cruiser—and Formula’s 34PC has earned that right. It has a wave-taming deep-V hull that runs nearly 50 mph and can buttonhook turns like a bass boat with a jackplate. It’s also packaged with enough flash and dash to keep you cruising in high style. Built extra-durable, the 34PC looks stunning. You can almost hear it proclaim, “I have arrived!” as you sidle up to the dock.

Intrigued? You should be. Even if you’re not able or willing to make the payments for this crowd-pleaser, you can use the 34PC as a basis for comparison in what’s arguably the most popular class of express cruiser.
INNER WARRIOR
Your first clue that this boat stands apart occurs the moment you push the button that raises the hatch and reveals the engines. Twin 375-hp MerCruiser 496 MAG MPI Bravo Three stern drives are bedded on through-bolted angles. Massive internal sea strainers prevent the engines from ingesting grass, trash, or (yeah, it happens) fish, and then overheating. Every electrical terminal is sealed. I couldn’t find a single wire connection in which one stud served as the connection point for multiple leads. I test too many cruisers where engine security and drive alignment, cooling system protection, and the long-term integrity of the electrical system are sorely neglected. Formula really knows its ABYCs!

Need to get to a seacock, battery, or dipstick? Access the outboard sides of the engines? The genny’s stick and filter? Access aboard the 34PC is all-around great. Plus, you can get into the compartment three ways. One, lift the entire cockpit with the flip of a switch. Two, open a large manual hatch aft over the motors. Or three, use the additional manual hatch for step-down access in front of the motors. Diamond-plate work platforms are right where you need them, and the entire compartment is white, which makes drips and leaks stand out and is more reflective and thus provides more light. Gray engine spaces are the norm. But white is right. I could go on—the bonding system, the extensive chafe protection, the drainage, insulation—but you get the picture. Besides, let’s see how it runs. After all, that’s the point, isn’t it?