Range Rover Sport Review

When you look at this car, you expect it to provide the capabilities of a bed, mixed with those of an armchair and it does, but it doesn't go all the way.

Let's start with the interior space: there's plenty of it in the front, but the shortening of the Discovery's wheelbase has had a negative impact on the rear seats, where the knee space isn't quite what you'd expect, and neither is the headroom, if you happen to be tall.

The luggage compartment is generously-sized, but the access is difficult, not because the loading bay would be high, but due to the fact that the tailgate is difficult to close and that you have to push a button everytime you want to open the tailgate and not just the rear window... a situation that represents 95 percent of the time.

On a more positive note, we'll mention that the air suspension and the seats make an excellent couple, managing to protect you from any conflict that goes on under the car.

The level of comfort is also upped by the multitude of gadgets and systems, as you feel like you're driving a wish-granting gold fish. The soundproofing is also excellent, with the low wind noise proving to be quite a surprise.

Diesel is sucked from the fuel tank (at a pretty slow rate, we have to note), it goes into the 3.0-liter V6, where it becomes power and, especially torque, being then channeled through the six ratios of the automatic gearbox. Nothing special here, in fact you might feel a little bit of age (a few extra ratios would've solved this issue).

However, when moving forward on the way to the surface of the Earth, things go the other way: up. You get an air suspension which offers three settings withing 10 cm of adjustment, and a terrain response system, that tells the differentials and the engine when and what to do - all you have to do is tell it what the wheels are touching (there are five settings, ranging from tarmac to snow)

.We also have to mention that you get a two-speed transfer case, a locking center diff, as well as an optional locking rear diff.

All these are contained in what is neither a body-on-frame, nor a monocoque chassis. You see, the Range Rover Sport uses a shortened wheelbase version of the Discovery's Integrated Body Frame, which promises to offer the best of both worlds.

The passenger cell and the engine bay form a monocoque, which is united with a ladder chassis that holds the suspension and the transmission.

Real world translation: this brings heavy off-roading skills, but it makes the car heavier than the Range Rover in certain configuration, affecting on-road abilities.

The air suspension is a versatile application, and we have to appreciate that, but is doesn't help the car handle its 2,700+ kg/6,000 lbs through the bends.

As for the other side of the tech moon, the vehicle is flooded with goodies, such active Bi-Xenon headlights, a ton of electronics (besides the Terrain Response) - like Hill Descent Control and Rollover Stability Control - and many, many comfort-orientated features. But we'll talk more about this in the "Gadgets" section.

Remember how your parents used to stuff your bags with everything in the house when you went on a trip? This is exactly what the carmaker has done for the Range Rover Sport, except that in this case you really get useful tech and comfort toys.

The RRS doesn't just have a steering wheel, pedals and a gear shift lever. You also get about as many electronic assistance systems as the number of your spouse's diamond ring's faces.

You've got Land Rover's Terrain Response, which plays with the throttle response and diffs, adjustable air suspension, Hill Descend Control, Rollover Stability Control.

You also get active Bi-Xenon headlights, Cruise Control (a classic system), an engine start button,as well as a rear-view camera.

It's now time to move towards comfort, and mention the electric front seats, covered in perforated Ivory leather, the leather-finished dashboard, multifunctional steering , wood trimming, touch-screen infotainment system with satnav (this uses a hard drive) and TV functions, heated and vented front and rear seats, a Harmon/Kardon Logic 7 Surround sound system.

Thus, regardless of the need you have, the car has a button for it. Even a girlfriend-bringing one.

Once you climb aboard and you feel the impressive presence of all that car around you, you get a feeling of safety, imagining that there's a lot of crumple space.

Moving on a bit further than what common sense tells us, we can take a look at the Euro NCAP statistics, but we won't quite get the exact data, since the Range Rover Sport hasn't been crash tested.

However, since the Range Rover Sport mixes the chassis of a Discovery (the wheelbase has been shortened) and the look of a Range Rover, we could get a clue about its accident behavior by looking over the result of the two.

Both have a four-star safety rating, with the Discovery gaining 30 points, while the Range Rover earned 31 points.

In the frontal impact test, both cars relied on their string bodies to absorb impact forces, offering good protection but the Discovery's dashboard structured posed a risk of injuries for the front seat occupants, while the driver dummy in the Range Rover registered a pretty high load reading for the chest area.

As for the side impact, both the Discovery and the Range Rover gained the maximum points.

However, you don't want to know what these cars can do to a pedestrian. Still, Land Rover might have addressed this issue with the latest facelift, but this hasn't been tested.

On the road, the Range Rover Sport TDV6 we test drove doesn't encourage you to perform swift maneuvers at high speeds, but the brakes are decent, even though this is the only model that doesn't come with Brembo stopping power.

It's a known fact that people have a natural tendency to see beauty as a synonym for a whole range of assets that have nothing to do with your physique.

This also goes for the Range Rover Sport. If it hadn't been for its pretty face and its raked profile, many would have taken the time to see that the car has nothing to do with the word "Sport", being rather unfriendly with such a driving style.

  But wait, we know that this car. which by the way, will set you back around EUR84,000/USD112,000 at the current exchange rate (in the configuration we tested), will be taken off the road as often as a supermodel will be asked to fix a hole in the roof, but isn't off-roading a sport?

Analyzing things from this perspective, we can tell you that the RRS gives you a feeling of being unstoppable once you encounter any kind of rough terrain, with the only limit being its road tires.

It's almost like it was built as a brilliant piece of off-road machinery and then the company added what was necessary to allow you to get to the off-roading locations, both in terms of driving and comfort.

Its appearance is also what makes buyers neglect the limitations of the rear seats and the reliability issues that they've been hearing about. It has no other advantage over the Range Rover. In fact, it's less practical and less comfortable.

However, this is a hollow looker. Oh no. The Range Rover Sport, even in its weakest TDV6 incarnation, has a strong spirit and you feel this every moment you drive it on or off the road.

You can see the aspects that, put together carefully, should make the next generation of Range Rovers (boy, will they have a laugh over the fat issue of the current one), which is set to arrive next year, a brilliant development.