Story: Reynald Fries
Photography: William Stern
hose who own a Range Rover, or who know someone who does, understand that it’s one of the most badass SUVs out there. The thought of customizing one might seem counterintuitive because they’re already so…perfect, and we all know if something ain’t broke, there’s no need to fix it. So how exactly does one modify a 2014 Range Rover Supercharged without sacrificing any of its beauty or power? That’s what Jhulio Tadeo, owner of Miami’s MC Customs, asked himself when MLB all-star Robinson Canó appointed him with the task of upgrading his Range.
Jhulio had been looking at body kits for Range Rovers for a while before this one even came out, and he knew that Arden was dropping an all-new widebody kit for this particular model, the AR9, which includes a performance exhaust system.
“We needed something that would stand out and make the truck look aggressive,” Jhulio asserts. Robinson had a new contract lined up with the Seattle Mariners for $240 million, so knowing he was about to sign a new deal and Arden was about to drop a new body kit specifically for his Range, Jhulio was certain it was a match made in heaven. Even though the contract is Robinson’s obvious reward for all the hard work he put in, he was ready to treat himself with a gift unlike anything else in the country.
Widebody modifications look like they’ll be one of the top trends for 2014 (with a lot of inspiration derived from the widebody Corvette and a widebody Murciélago, both unveiled at SEMA 2013), so if there’s one way to make the supercharged Range look nicer, that’s the way to go. Exterior mods were Robinson’s main concern, because the stock interior is too beautiful to tear out, and with an engine pushing 510hp and 461 lb.-ft. of torque, there was no practical need for any further performance enhancements. To make it look more luxurious, Robinson opted for the new STRUT grille package, and the crew at MC Customs hooked him up with a clean set of matching 24-inch Vellano VM24 monoblock rims. The final touch for the exterior was the custom black top. Range Rovers come straight from the factory with black pillars, but Jhulio had the whole top painted black to complete its mean look.
Once Robinson saw the level of aesthetics with which MC Customs gifted his SUV, his last request was to upgrade the sound system with the same level of eye candy. The MC crew brought it right back into the shop and installed two horrifyingly loud Solo-Baric L7 subwoofers in a color-matching custom enclosure, so the project was complete.
Jhulio rightfully takes pride in this particular build. “Knowing that this would be the first Arden [AR9] Rover in the U.S.A. and would belong to such a high-profile individual definitely [makes it] memorable,” he admits, even though the project was a challenge in itself. It’s not often someone can take a top-of-the-line luxury SUV and succeed at making it even better.
Spec The Technique:
Year/Make/Model: 2014 Range Rover Supercharged
Performance: Arden performance exhaust system
Exterior: Arden AR9 widebody kit; STRUT grille package
Interior: Black leather; woodgrain panels
Ice: Three ARC Audio KS 300.4 amplifiers, one 1200.1 amp; two 12-inch Kicker Solo-Baric L7 subwoofers; one JL Audio CleanSweep CL-SSI; six 6.5-inch Soundstream speakers, two 8-inch speakers, six bullet tweeters; two Audison Hertz tweeters
Wheels/Tires: 24-inch Vellano VM24 wheels; Toyo Proxes ST II tires, 295/30/24
