Range Rover Sport Review

Range Rover Sport Review

The fifth and latest name in the Land Rover line-up - the Range Rover Sport is a bit of a hybrid as it is neither Range Rover nor Landie but a good mixture of the two.

The result of this amalgam is an SUV or Sports Tourer as Land Rover like to call it, with Range Rover looks and luxury in combination with Land Rover capability.

Underpinning the Sport is an Integrated Body-frame platform borrowed from the Discovery3 but shortened by six inches for better agility. By employing this platform, Land Rover has combined the strength of a ladder-frame chassis and the stiffness of a monocoque body for rigidity and safety. It also means that the cables and piping can be routed within the frame to reduce the risk of damage when off-roading. Not that many of them will venture too far from the beaten track.

The Sport has all the key Range Rover styling but with a more active feel to the design. The ‘floating roof’ remains thanks to the black roof pillars and the lower than normal roofline tapers gently down extending beyond the rear of the car to form a spoiler for improved aerodynamics.

Aerodynamics was one of the main areas of attention for the designers. To this end the bonnet lacks the ridges of the Range Rover, the front windscreen is more steeply raked and there are side skirts and front and rear spoilers to deflect and control the air around the car while offering protection to the paintwork. The front spoiler is made from rubber to help cope with the inevitable bumps that occur when off-roading.

The front end has a hint of the Range Stormer concept, unveiled at NAIAS in 2004. It looks big and mean, especially with the perforated grille slats that look like they’ve been in a shoot-out. The headlights are narrower than those on the Range Rover and Discovery3 and are adaptive so that they follow the movement of the steering wheel.

At the back, the tailgate is not as slabby as the Range Rover and instead of the two-piece it has a single door but the glazed area can be opened separately.