What are you looking to use the car for again? If you were looking at the LR2, I think you might also want to cross shop the Toyota 4runner, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Honda Pilot/Acura MDX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, or VW Toureg. Those are all in the same price range and catagory. I know the BMW is also in the same catagory, but I consider it more of a sports car with a large storage area than an SUV.

For more serious off-roading, I think the Toyota's and Jeeps are the better choice, although the VW did get pretty good reviews from the 4wd magazines. They are more capable for offroad, as opposed to the car based Honda/Acura. The car based SUV's will generally get better milage and have a smoother ride though.

If you aren't really plannoing on off-roading where 4wd is a necessity AND you're concerned with gas mileage, have you also considered getting an AWD wagon? Something along the lines of a Subaru Outback or maybe Volvo XC70, or maybe even a CRV? If snow/light duty offroading is your main concern these would be a great choice. Handles and feels more like a car than a SUV, but can probably handle 95% of what most people use an SUV for anyway. They don't have a true 4wd, but the limiting factor for most vehicles is ground clearance and approach/departure angles, not so much the type of drivetrain it uses.