The new Range Rover Sport makes short shrift of the old high-centre-of-gravity problem. Motoring Editor Michael McAleer reports
It's the third new vehicle from Land Rover in what has been a remarkably busy period for the off-road firm. First we had the new-look Discovery. Then the facelifted Range Rover some weeks back.
Now it's the all-new Range Rover Sport, aimed at winning a share in the lucrative urban SUV market and corporate car parks, where the BMW X5, the Lexus RX and more recently the VW Toureag have held sway.
There's no mistaking it's a Range Rover, and it bears several similarities to the older versions of the original luxury off-road SUV. The difference, of course, is that it's significantly smaller than the current model.
More importantly, it also handles much better than anything Land Rover has ever produced before. Based on the Discovery platform, the inner-workings are not exactly revolutionary.
The petrol engines are the 4.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8 and supercharged 4.2-litre that already feature in the new Range Rovers and the diesel option is in the form of a 2.7-litre Tdi that comes from Jaguar, another Ford-owned brand. We got to test only the petrol versions, but diesels are available as of now from Irish dealers.
Clearly, the diesel will be the big seller here: not surprising when you consider that during our testing, the 4.4-litre managed a fuel consumption in the region of 23 litres per 100km and that was positively frugal compared to what we got out of the supercharged version. Without undue effort we could have got either down to single mpg figures.
The Sport's platform is from the Discovery, the body design clearly an adjustment on the older Range Rover and even the adaptive cruise control features are a version of Jaguar's system.
However, the end result of this smorgasbord of elements is an SUV that looks sharp enough to entice all the image conscious SUV owners, has an interior fit and finish on a par with the luxury flagship, but most important of all, it handles like a car.
That's a bold statement. Every time we go to a briefing on SUVs, there's a promise that the handling is like a saloon car and the off-road performance is like that of a tank. Within minutes behind the wheel we quickly discover it's the other way round.
To explain the difference between the Sport and the traditional Range Rover, it's best to compare them both when powered by the 4.2-litre supercharged engine. All that power and a gorgeous gurgle is the sort of thing premiership footballers and image conscious business people fancy about the Range Rover. They see themselves pulling up outside the nightclub or hotel, large and intimidating with plenty of deep-throated soundtrack from the engine. In modern parlance, it's got the bling factor. But what about when they get it on the open road?
The problem with the Range Rover is simple physics: a higher centre of gravity means it still leans uncomfortably in corners, forcing the driver to back off. The result is great amounts of unused power by anyone other than those living in the Nevada Desert.
However, somehow the Sport, with its lower centre of gravity and adjustable suspension, manages to conquer all that rolling and pitching in the corners.
To prove a point, the Land Rover staff set us on a course of an old World Rally Championship stage, with enough twists and turns to leave our passenger as green as the Land Rover logo. Yet the Sport just seemed to stick to its line, inspiring confidence, the steering impressively precise for an SUV.
What's needed is Land Rover's dynamic response system, but unfortunately it doesn't come as standard on all Sports. However, the pack is available and includes 19" alloys and brembo brakes. If you're interested in driving and in looking the part, the pack is a must. Otherwise why bother with the Sport.