Performance

There’s a choice of 3 powerplants available, the 2.7 TDV6 turbodiesel, (also found in the Discovery) which can propel you along briskly, or for more serious speed, the new TDV8 engine from the Range Rover catapults the car at the horizon at a very rapid rate, riding on a wave of its massive turbodiesel torque. Serious speed freaks would love the supercharged 4.2 V8 petrol version, (if not is massive thirst) but the TDV8 is the engine to have, for both the best compromise of power and economy, and best residuals.

Ride & Handling

The Range Rover Sport has a chassis based on the discovery mechanicals, which share its strengths – great off road ability, combined with a lovely ride, and its main weakness - excess weight, which blunts the performance, and causes a little too much roll in corners, with only really the top spec HSE models living up to the Sport moniker, getting the Dynamic Pack as standard, which brings crisper handling and reduces body roll. Fun to throw around off road, but needs a change of tyres to live up to the cars abilities, as the standard rubber is very much road focused, showing where Land Rover expects this car to spend most of its time.

Reliability

Land rover is making leaps and bounds on the reliability front, and being based on the Discovery certainly does no harm here. Materials look rugged but high quality, and tough enough to withstand whatever terrain you choose to throw at it. Not been around long enough to give a complete view on reliability, but early signs are encouraging.

Specifications

The Base Model S comes in at a bargain price, but still having a half decent specification, with climate and electric seats, although the standard 17” alloys look a little weedy on such a large car. The SE spec gets leather and 18” Alloys, and Top Spec HSE & Supercharged versions get larger alloys again, (19” and 20” respectively) a touchscreen Sat-Nav, and the Dynamic Pack thrown in, along with a host of other options.

Living with the Car

The commanding driving position is a great place to sit and gives a great view of the road. The interior has a much more rugged, functional feel than the luxury of the traditional Range Rover, and seems to be loaded with many more switches, but they are well laid out and easy to use. Space is good, although you only get the 5 seats, rather than the 7 of the cheaper Discovery, but the Sport is much more aggressive looking, particularly on the big alloys, and will appeal to a different audience than either of its siblings.

Summary

The Range Rover Sport, with its threatening looks was designed to be a BMW X5 killer, and attract the younger city types rather try and be the traditional countryside chariot like the rest of the Land Rover range, and it has certainly succeeded. Dealers still have waiting lists for the car long after launch, so don’t expect much in the way of a discount, but residual values are excellent, making a great all round buy. Pick of the range is the newly launched 3.6 TDV8 version, whose performance comes close to matching the incredible power of the Supercharger.