Range Rover Sport review

At the time, Ford’s bosses congratulated themselves on a job well done by off-loading Land Rover (and its even less successful sister company, Jaguar) to the Indian conglomerate, Tata Motors.

The deal cost Ford a $600m one-off contribution to the Jaguar land Rover pension scheme but it received $2.8 billion from Tata in return.

President Alan Mulally hailed the two marques as “terrific brands” but said he had to concentrate on a plan that would deliver “profitable growth for all”.

Mulally’s comment glossed over the huge investment Ford had made in both companies with little apparent success. Jaguar and, to a lesser extent, Land Rover looked like two enormous financial black holes sucking in vast amounts of money without showing a profit. Ford’s gamble with Jaguar – to increase production by going downmarket - had been a disaster, the X-Type never seriously challenging the BMW 3-Series, and it had thrown money at a new Range Rover which had garnered critical approval but hadn’t sold in large enough numbers.

No one could see how Tata – a company until then best known for making grim hatchbacks – could do any better. A slow, agonising death looked to be on the cards.

Incredibly, from the moment the ink dried on the bill of sale, Land Rover came roaring back to life.

Thanks to their growing popularity in new markets like China, sales of the expensive (and profitable) Range Rover have defied the recession.

Nay-sayers claimed the Range Rover’s success was all down to Ford’s previous investment. “Wait until we see the first fruit of Tata’s ownership,” they said with a knowing wink. “Then you’ll see if Land Rover can stand on its own.”

Well, here’s the new Range Rover Sport – the fruit of a re-born Land Rover flourishing under Tata’s careful stewardship – and I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you that it’s a triumph. Big, bold and brilliant to drive, it takes everything that was good about its popular predecessor and improves on it in every area.

In fact, I think there’s only one serious snag... but I’ll come to that in good time.

ON THE ROAD: ​ You can buy a Range Rover Sport with a 5.0-litre supercharged V8. When you’re wading in the car price deep end I guess the majority of prospective RR Sport buyers could afford the £81,550 asking price, too.

But, in this country at least, it’s the 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel that will be the big seller.

You don’t get the V8’s outrageous 500 bhp but the TDI’s 288 bhp (backed up by 443 lb/ft of torque) is perfectly adequate and means that the RR can still live up to its ‘Sport’ tag.

The old RR Sport was a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It wasn’t even a proper Range Rover. Beneath the butch bodywork there lurked the old ladder-chassis and running gear of a Land Rover Discovery. It was a heavy old bus, too, and you could feel all that weight, especially whipping it round corners when the old Sport would roll alarmingly. The BMW X5 and the Porsche Cayenne were in a different class.

Not any more. The new RR Sport has a chassis that’s fashioned from aluminium (just like the Range Rover, although there are substantial differences) and it is a hefty 400kg lighter.

The difference is like night and day. Where the old Sport wobbled like Eric Pickles on a skateboard, the new one is as sure-footed as Usain Bolt.

At first glance the new Sport doesn’t look dissimilar from its predecessor. That’s no bad thing because the old car’s looks were its greatest asset (and one reason why it continued to sell so strongly even when, dynamically, it was out-classed by the opposition). The new Sport gains sweep back LED headlights reminiscent of the Evoque, a higher beltline and a longer wheelbase.

ON THE INSIDE: ​ The theatre starts before you get in. Using the remote central locking triggers small LED floodlights in the door mirrors which illuminate the kerbside with pools of light which contain the Land Rover logo. Pracitcally, it’s an uneccessary addition but it made me smile everytime.

If you’re a bit on the short side simply climbing into the RR Sport’s cabin will be a bit of a stretch. Stepping up into the plush interior is part of the theatre of owning a car like this - when you’re settled in the comfortable leather driver’s seat you find yourself looking down on hum-drum hatchbacks and over the tops of hedges. You won’t get a better view of the road road ahead this side of a tractor. It’s higher than most 4x4s these days, but slightly more laid back than a traditional Land Rover (the company calls it the “sports command driving position”).

Since it moved the Range Rover marque upmarket more than a decade ago, the RR marque is now aimed squarely at the prestige limosine class and nothing distinguishes a car in the S-Class segment more than a high quality cabin.

The RR Sport cossets its occupants with the finest leathers (on the doors and the fascia as well as the seats), classy veneers and carefully selected alloy accents which rub shoulders with touch-screen interfaces and digital instruments. Personally, I’m still not sold on the all-digital instruments which masquerade as old-school analogue clocks - I’d rather have the real thing - but I know several people who think they are clearer than backlit clock faces.

WHAT DO YOU GET: ​ As you would expect of a car costing 60 grand, there’s a generous selection of equipment including colour sat nav, MP3 and music streaming, Bluetooth, two-zone climate control, heated front seats, DAB audio system, Say-What-You-See voice control and a power tailgate.

HOW PRACTICAL IS IT? ​ The cheapest Sport has a detuned V6 diesel and a less-complicated four-wheel drive set up. There’s no low range ‘box and the system can’t be locked for equal traction between the front and back wheels, but the basic Sport is still an accomplished car off road (it is a Land Rover, after all) and I’d back it over an X5 or a Cayenne in a race across a muddy field.

The more expensive models have the fabulous terrain response control, first seen on the full fat Range Rover, which monitors conditions and changes the suspension/traction in real-time.

The interior is now available with a third row of seats which are useful but strictly for the kids. The chairs fold into the boot floor when they are not required via a switch. Electric motors take the strain out of the operation but take an age to run a full cycle.

​ RUNNING COSTS: ​ Given its size and weight the RR Sport is tolerably cheap to run. Tailpipe emissions of 199g/km won’t worry a Prius salesman but the combined mpg figure of 37.7 mpg is a decent result for a two tonne car that seats seven and can hit 62mph in less than seven seconds.

​ VERDICT: ​ Ford must be kicking itself for selling off Land Rover because the new RR Sport is great. It always was the meanest looking 4x4 money could buy and now it has the performance to back up the butch image. There’s only one snag. With prices starting at £51,550 only a very few motorists will ever get to experience it for themselves. If only it were more a-Ford-able.

RANGE ROVER SPORT 3.0 SDV6 HSE.

Price: £59,995.

Spec:​ Engine: ​2993, V6, turbodiesel Power: ​288 bhp Torque: ​443 lb/ft Top speed: ​130 mph 0-62mph: ​6.8 seconds Fuel economy: ​37.7 mpg (combined official average) CO2 emissions: ​199g/km Insurance group: ​n/a Equipment: ​ ​Electric windows, climate, power tailgate, premium audio, Bluetooth, DAB digital radio tuner, eight speed automatic gearbox.

​ ALTERNATIVES:​ ​BMW X5: Great on the road, not so great off it.

Porsche Cayenne: Prestige, great build and surprising good to drive.