The new Range Rover Sport is claimed to be faster and more driver oriented than the standard Range Rover, but is it really that different?
The all-new Range Rover Sport is at once Land Rover's riskiest model to replace, and one of its simplest.It was a risky choice because even towards the end of its eight-year life it has sold remarkably strongly; it's the easiest because of the arrival last year of the new, all-aluminium Range Rover flagship.The new flagship made it obvious that huge gains in styling sophistication and weight reductions (up to 420 kilograms) would be possible in a slightly smaller, lower and sportier SUV that used the same up-to-date underpinnings instead of a tough but less sophisticated twin-rail chassis from the Discovery.The Range Rover Sport, on sale now at prices beginning just below £60,000, comes with a choice of a 288bhp SDV6 turbodiesel, a 503bhp 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 engine or a slightly lower-powered TDV6 model. An all-new diesel hybrid (producing just 169g/km of CO2) is also due.It utilises an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, controllable by paddles if the driver so wishes. At launch, the £81,000 eye-catcher is the petrol V8 which gives the Sport the remarkably impressive 0-62 sprint time of 5.3 seconds (with a governed 155mph top speed), which pitches it directly into battle with Porsche's Cayenne - another long-term sales success.
The new Range Rover Sport is claimed to be faster and more driver oriented than the standard Range Rover, but is it really that different?
The all-new Range Rover Sport is at once Land Rover's riskiest model to replace, and one of its simplest.It was a risky choice because even towards the end of its eight-year life it has sold remarkably strongly; it's the easiest because of the arrival last year of the new, all-aluminium Range Rover flagship.The new flagship made it obvious that huge gains in styling sophistication and weight reductions (up to 420 kilograms) would be possible in a slightly smaller, lower and sportier SUV that used the same up-to-date underpinnings instead of a tough but less sophisticated twin-rail chassis from the Discovery.The Range Rover Sport, on sale now at prices beginning just below £60,000, comes with a choice of a 288bhp SDV6 turbodiesel, a 503bhp 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 engine or a slightly lower-powered TDV6 model. An all-new diesel hybrid (producing just 169g/km of CO2) is also due.It utilises an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, controllable by paddles if the driver so wishes. At launch, the £81,000 eye-catcher is the petrol V8 which gives the Sport the remarkably impressive 0-62 sprint time of 5.3 seconds (with a governed 155mph top speed), which pitches it directly into battle with Porsche's Cayenne - another long-term sales success.