With its 2009 Range Rover, Land Rover continues blurring the line between “sport” and “luxury.” While Land Rover has announced new options and appointments for all of its sport utility vehicles, the flagship Range Rover remains particularly attractive, thanks to its sleek blend of form and function.

For ’09, Land Rover will roll out its Autobiography Package, which is available only in new “Supercharged” editions of the Range Rover. Adding more touches of leather – on everything from the console side surfaces to the door casings to the instrument panel – the Autobiography Package is a beautiful and luxurious complement to the upgraded leather trim already coming standard in all 2009 Range Rovers.

Also unique to the Autobiography Package are soft, semi-aniline leather seats, wood trim and a four-zone automatic climate control system. If that’s not enough to sell you – check out the rear-seat entertainment system, which will keep the kids busy for hours on those road trips!

If you’re thinking environmentally, of course, the only way to make your Range Rover green is to select one in that color; even though Land Rover has lowered emissions on all of its vehicles for 2009, the Range Rover is only going to get you 11 mpg in the city and 17 on the highway.

Initial pricing shows the standard ’09 Range Rover at an MSRP of $77,675, and the Supercharged edition rings up at just over $93,325.

Apparently, Tom Cruise was right on the money when he uttered those much-quoted words: “Porsche. There is no substitute.” (Risky Business, 1983.)

According to a survey released earlier this month by New York City-based Luxury Institute, wealthy U.S. consumers still see Porsche as the world’s most prestigious luxury automotive brand. The poll was part of the 2008 Luxury Brand Status Index survey, and asked the opinions of 1,642 Americans with an average net worth of $3.7 million.

Porsche might have led the pack, but was followed closely by Lexus and Mercedes. Surprisingly, no Italian brands made the survey’s top 12. Other brands that did make the cut with consumers were (listed alphabetically) Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln and Volvo.

If you don’t have a Porsche of your own, and this has given you the need for speed, go visit my friend Ron at DFW Elite Auto Rental.com and he’ll hook you up with a Porsche for the day.