Having owned as daily's the following:

Discovery V8 S1
X5
Shogun
Murano
Forester Turbo S
Legacy Outback RN
Lexus RX300 (Mrs Boshly's wheels)
Range Rover Sport TdV8

I feel able to make a bit of a comment (though having no experience has never stopped me before ).

Disco v8 forget it (Disco 4 however is superb apparently)
Shogun cumbersome and 'basic'
Subarus good cars superb in the snow
Murano excellent compromise road car but thirsty. Surprisingly good in the snow.
Lexus ultimate overall road car for ride, reliability and feel, fit and finish. Was surprisingly good in the snow. Can't even think of what to replace with when Mrs B relents.
BMW X5 best road manners as sporting drive. Off road ability limited. Driven by too many idiots.
RRS TdV8 nice ride, good handling on spirited driving (ignore the BB ) fantastic presence and driving position. Fantastic feelgood factor, Impeccable off road ability that's quite frightening (spent a day off roading in Scotland ) questionable reliability though excellent after care. Reasonable consumption (24mpg). Regrettably also driven by many idiots.

In case you havent worked it out, the head says, for major road use, X5, but the heart aches craves and screams the RRS!!

HTH

German quality and precision that was stolen from Land Rover before they sold it?

Buy the RR, they're great. Not the Sport. Full fat one's better. And it'll tow a 44 ton lorry, should you ever need to.

I think it was the the situation of 5 up + kit.. then strapping 1500kg's on the back... Don't want to overload the general running gear & suspension.

Thanks guys...

I was told by one of the local blue light boys that if you attach a full load to an RR and then fill the interior you would be well advised to have a first stage HGV licence as technically it is well over 3 tons. If you are in an accident and they don't like the cut of your jib they have the ability to add this to the list of crimes they place before the crown.

Just as well I have not bolted a tow hook to the Phaeton.

This made me chuckle.

BtG, we have to get you up to Rockingham to do an off-road day in an X5. I did this a few years back (previous model X5) and all attendees were amazed at how good the X5 was off-road. After the first hour we wouldn't believe we were on road tyres until the instructor let us get out and check - it really was that impressive.

RR proper - having owned a TDV8, I can honestly say I wouldn't own one out of warranty unless you are able, willing and prepared to pay some possibly exorbitant bills.

X5 - have had 2 one was brilliant (zero issues), the other had a fault and I forced BMW to take it back. Not a comment on the overall quality of the car because it was an electronic fault that no one seemed to be able to get to bottom of and one I have never heard of again within the enthusiasts community.

As a cheap carry-all and do-all, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is a good option. Built for comfort, not speed, they come with all the toys and modern ones are excellent second hand buys as well as being reliable (well more reliable than the RRS or RR-proper).

Lastly, the Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon - almost bullet proof, big and a little nasty inside (fake wood); however, the true choice of the non-poser (never owned one - because I'm too much of a poser - but we've had 4 in the company fleet and they have all been superb (one had an issue with the air suspension after 2-years but Toyota service is second to none and it was fixed in no time).

Those would be my comments.

As for the AMV8 - can't, I'm afraid, get excited about that. Possibly one of the more disappointing drives I've had in a 'sports car' and felt engineered down to keep it away from the DB9.

The X5 is good off road because it's fitted with last-gen LR bits. Not an issue if you don't care about these things but as someone who grew up not far from Longbridge it does rankle.

Having said that Rover designed the BMW Mini and I bought one of those. Hmm.

I remember being taken out in an unmarked X5 3 litre diesel driven by a police advanced driver. It's funny how people react when they're overtaken on a country lane by a two-ton 4x4. They are quite astonishing. Trafpol had a fleet of them at my station and they were more reliable than anything else too.

Love the RR's ambience and general feel, much more special than the Beemer and it's fantastic off-road and towing.

I'd love to have a go in the new Cayenne Turbo, looks like the dog's danglies.

Edit: I've always liked the Grand Cherokee. I like the looks, heritage and the fact they always seem to be fully loaded. Always assumed they were terrible for fuel and reliability. Are they really reliable? After owning the Volvo I don't think I can go back to a small car for day-to-day so I'm already sizing up replacements...

Interestingly having test driven the DB9 and the V12V (the original plan) I found the DB9 (Auto) very disapointing and did not get on with it at all. Since loitering on the Aston forums I've heard that trying the DB9 Manual feels very different.

I quite like the V8V we went to the launch in Geniva when the AeroMax was first on display.

I'm not fussed about out and out performance, were after a usable (I'll be using it every day) 2 seater which is a nice drive. We have a race car for out and out speed. And I'm getting quite keen on sorting out the suspension, exhaust etc. to make it more a customised car for my taste... there are plenty of tuning parts for the 4.3 so I will have plenty of choice.

The V12V BTW... is absoutely awesome, it can decimate almost anything!!

Absolutely spot-on, mine is now 14-years old and still going strong. It's been driven with no mercy by a number of different drivers all round West Africa and although it is now beginning to look a bit scabby, especially inside (that plastic wood appears to be splintering ) - mechanically it has given no trouble at all - though nothing as sophisticated as air suspension on it.

RR, Disco's and all the other softroaders are regarded as urban vehicles in Africa, where the Landcruiser really reigns supreme for reliability - all those terrorists worldwide and their Toyota pick-ups can't be wrong!

G*d, I walked into that one, didn't I!!!

G