When I received the opportunity to have a Ranger Rover Sport for a week, I just had to find out what it is actually like off road. What better place to do it then Stockton Beach, a 4wd beach 2 hours drive north of Sydney.
The Land Rover Range Rover Sport is a premium SUV that blend the off road ability synonymous with Range Rover (the Land Rover Defender, as in the one the Queen of England escapes in, had its 60 anniversary this year) with luxury. While traditional Land Rover models have combined unbeatable off-road performance with the amenities of a luxury sedan, the Range Rover Sport represents Land Rover’s first entry into the burgeoning high-performance SUV arena. It is designed to offer sporty road manners and traditional Land Rover luxury without completely sacrificing the go-anywhere abilities of other Land Rover models. All of which it does admirably.
Despite its name, the Land Rover Range Rover Sport is actually a modified and shortened version of the Discovery 3. As such, the Sport is the smallest and most nimble SUV in the company’s lineup. I use the word nimble a little loosely as it is still a tad less than 2 tonne. Overall, it is an enjoyable and luxurious vehicle to drive as well as look at.
We had the baby engine of the range, the TDV V6 Diesel, and for the most it performed incredibly well through the sand dunes. Not so good if the dune was high, as the weight of the vehicle eventually had the better of it and we ended up just sinking in the sand. Getting to the beach though, cruising up the highway was an absolute breeze.
Handling performance is fantastic. The Range Rover Sport is the first Land Rover to offer the company’s Dynamic Response suspension system, which is unfortunately only standard of the top of the range 4.2 V8 VC but we had as an option in our test car. Land Rover says that this computer-controlled system senses cornering forces and automatically adjusts the antiroll bars to optimize body control and handling.
Saying all that, off road performance is still within the Rangie’s repertoire as well. It offers a myriad of different driving terrains. For the sandy beach we had to choose the image of the Mexican cactus – aka sand mode. The vehicle raises it self quite considerably, enough to avoid situations over the sand dunes that could be quite embarrassing. Though it won’t take driving over 40 km/hr in this mode for an extended period of time – the over 40kms chimes are incessant. We passed a Holden Rodeo with its nose firmly planted in the sand after what I should image was an ambitious attempt at one of the steeper dunes on the beach.
Land Rover is also synonymous with luxury, which doesn’t take a backseat in the Range Rover Sport. Just about any premium feature that you will find on most luxury sedans, or any of its luxury SUV competitors, is available on the Range Rover Sport. The same holds true for safety items, with the usual complement of airbags and electronic crash-prevention aids.
So if you’re in the market for an SUV and have around a 100K + pop this one on shopping list.
AUTO FACTS
Price – $90,990 – $114,900
Engine – 3.7-litre V6, 3.6-litre V8 – Diesel; 4.4-litre, 4.2-litre supercharged petrol
Transmission – 6-speed automatic
Power – 140kW, 440Nm; 200kW, 640Nm; 285kW, 559Nm
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