The Range Rover Sport: A Car That Feels Like a Luxury Liner Despite Its Powerful Engine

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with the new Range Rover Sport, and I have to say that it's a car that feels like a luxury liner despite its powerful engine. The biggest difference between this model and the previous one is the return of a proper gear lever, which was replaced by a circular gear selector in the latest version. I must say that I'm glad they've gone back to the drawing board and implemented a design that's not only more intuitive but also easier to use.

One of the things that struck me about this car is its ultimate Meridian sound system, which boasts 23 speakers and an impressive £600 over the standard 19-speaker setup. While it may seem like a lot of money, I have to say that it sounds incredible, particularly when you're listening to music in V8 mode. The sound quality is truly exceptional, and it's hard not to be impressed by the sheer amount of audio that's on offer.

Another feature that caught my attention was the dynamic version of Range Rover Sport, which offers a completely different driving experience. When you switch to this mode, the dashboard lights up with a sporty red glow, and the car becomes more responsive and agile. I also appreciated the fact that the steering is more precise in this mode, making it feel more engaging to drive.

Of course, one of the biggest advantages of the Range Rover Sport is its all-wheel-drive system, which allows it to tackle even the most treacherous terrain with ease. The cameras that surround the car are a nice touch, too – I particularly enjoyed being able to view my surroundings on screen while driving, as well as being able to record and replay the footage later.

But what really sets the Range Rover Sport apart is its weight and balance. According to the manufacturer's claims, it weighs around 2,300 kilograms, but I found it to feel significantly heavier during my drive. In fact, when we put it on the scales, it tipped the scales at a whopping 2,493 kilograms – that's over two tons! The longer wheelbase also contributes to its soft and gentle handling, making it a great car for long-distance driving.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Isn't this just a luxury SUV with a powerful engine?" Well, yes and no. While the Range Rover Sport is certainly a capable off-roader, it's also a car that's designed to be comfortable and enjoyable on the road. The steering, while not as sharp as some of its rivals, still feels responsive and engaging, thanks in part to the well-weighted steering column.

One thing I did find slightly disappointing was the fact that the Range Rover Sport comes with all-season tires, which seem to compromise its performance somewhat. In contrast, a Porsche 911, for example, would typically come fitted with summer tires that allow it to perform at its best on the road. The 21-inch wheels and 275/45R21 tires do help to mitigate this somewhat, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there's something missing.

In the end, my time with the Range Rover Sport left me with a slightly mixed impression. While it's undoubtedly a great car in many ways – comfortable, spacious, and beautifully equipped – its engine is perhaps overpowered, and its tires seem to hold it back from truly reaching its potential. That being said, I do think that this is a very good car, and one that's well worth considering if you're in the market for a luxury SUV.

And finally, what about the question of whether there will be another level of sporting Range Rover to come? One thing's for sure: the company seems to be committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible with this iconic model. I've heard rumors of a new, more performance-oriented version on the horizon – and while I don't have any concrete details, I'm eager to see what the future holds for this incredible car.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell here it is this is the new Range Rover Sport new for 2013 follows on from the new Range Rover we saw last year completely new model this one previous generation I was never quite sure about because the previous sport was actually based on the Discovery and had the chassis underneath this one all aluminium construction completely different car shares a lot with the new Range Rover and the one thing I've got to say about it it's huge like Range Rover telling me that it's only millimeters bigger than the previous generation but when you compare it with the previous generation range R which I own I was really surprised how close this is on on the size of it particularly at the front but you have to say it's a great design it's obviously based on the evoke and it's and it's grown from there and I think it's actually probably more successful than than new Range Rover so let's go around some of the details on this car differences in the spec of the car is start out with SE then there's HSE which is recognized because the grill here is silver and then you get to Dynamic and dynamic autobiography the top models and they have this black grill and this black under here this under tray here I think it's the best looking of the lot and I also love the detailing on this car like the fullsize Range Rover it's got those projector headlamps with the sort of name around it that look really trick then on the top of the Bonnet we have these vents here and then on the side of the wing there's another vent it's really quite disappointing I think that these are actually false they're purely cosmetic it's a trend we seem to be seeing on cars these days that these sort of bits are added just for glitter but don't actually do anything and under the Bonnet we have in this example a Supercharged V8 and again this is what they want you to uh look at for the engine but I'm always quite Keen to take one of these off and we take that off yeah now I can see why they designed a cover for it cuz that's not a very pretty engine under there but it does produce the power we're talking about 510 horsepower in this version 625 new meters of torque which is 476 ftlb of torque so quite a lot of power in here move around to the side and then you get to the core change with this car the stretched wheelbase that has added this big interior cuz that's one of the criticisms of the previous sport it was always a bit tight you never really wanted to get a rear seat in a sport front was always lovely and it continues to be great in this car as well but at the back big change finally there's proper room proper seats in there and uh it's really quite comfy in the back it's not the sort of thing we normally do on Evo but it's such a see change with this new sport I'm 6'2 this seat in front is set for me and I'm sitting in the back and I'm comfy in a range of a sport that doesn't normally happen and this one is particularly nice in here because it's got a glass roof I that's a really nice touch it's been a huge hit on the evoke and on the new Range Rover it's bound to be the same on this it just really lightens up the interior and the other lovely detail is an aluminium badge on the side saying this is all Al minum construction just lovely little details all through this car like that looks really good well we're looking in the inside of this car there's one more surprise I want to show you and that's in the back because if I press these two buttons here there's another little surprise this car is the seven seat version so there's two emergency seats in the back you're not going to get a fulls siiz adult they're sort of up to 11y old uh but having lived with a car like this with we had the previous R Rover and I had overfinch rear seat they're so useful Christmas time and when Granny comes to stay or you're going to get kids from school so there you go it's A500 option I think it's probably well worth it cuz it just adds to the sort of how you use these cars but what's really important with this range row sport all aluminum 510 horsepower let's see what it's like on the road there's one thing you got to say about Land Rover they really know how to do Interiors the doing their own signature on the interior it's it the only way I can describe it looks like B Ando um designed it it's very clean they're very proud of their low button count which can be a bit of a pain at times when you're trying to do heated seats or something but it does look good looks really good and I think it's because I like the way they're plowing their own Furrow on it they're not looking at what the Germans are doing and I get the sense of sometimes BMW and Mercedes they just look at the other German manufacturers but the interior on current Land Rover product like this one is unique very clean and just beautifully put together feels expensive now I've been living with this car for about a week now and uh part of living with this car where I live I live on the farm quite often come back from work and just go and have a look what the stock are up to and I like I like the feeling with a Range Rover it's part of its authenticity that it can go Offroad I'll just go and show you just just see if this Range Rover Sport is a true Range Rover I'm just going to put the suspension on high yeah the parking sensors are going to get a little upset but they go out it's just one of the beauties of um Land Rover product they do think about the off-roaders I'm told I'm is less than 10% use the off-road ability where I'm going to take you now is one of the steepest Parts on the farm and it's like I call it the black run and we'll just have a little look cuz you just look over the edge think you must be joking I want to see if it hits anything on the way down it's just through here okay just gently drift over the edge and here we go the test that's pretty steep down there nothing touched now you just the only thing you heard was the hill descent control working we we're Tak an easier way up the hill but it's impressive stuff that the Range Rover do that sort of thing it's got a flat bottom on this new sport so it sort of surfs over if there was anything that it was going to hit but there you go little taste let's get back on the tarmac one of the first senses you get with the Range Rover Sport now is it's it's not actually the super sports SUV that you expect when you get behind the wheel there's a sort of softness a roundness to it which is different to the knen I spent a few weeks in the knen Turbo S um and that car immediately has heavier steering um it's it doesn't ride quite as well as this but there's a sharpness just off center on the steering that says you I'm in a I'm a pretty serious car um I'm a sporting SUV you don't get that with this new Range Rover Sport there's um there's a more relaxed feel with it and I'm surprised with that with this being the the top supercharged model but I do like I do like the feel of the wheel and you've got certain controls on here and it all works really well it's very clear Dash um and it's very quiet very refined this car I'm already going slightly quicker than I should be and yet it's utterly silen in here another difference with the new Range R sport you actually get a proper gear lever they've been using that circular um gear selector from Jaguar and I think it's doesn't work at all it really annoyed me and it wasn't intuitive to use thank goodness this has made a return and it's very easy to use and what I like about it is you just rest your hand on and you can just control the ventilation and it just it just makes sense much better than the circular control they had before this particular car is £90,000 because it's got the ultimate Meridian sound system 23 speaker an extra 4,000 £600 over the 19 speaker system sounds quite a lot of money to me especially when you got this to listen to It's Great Sound in V8 I have to say and it's it just feels strange being in a Range Rover with a petrol V8 if you're if you're European we don't really see these sort of cars um probably because the average mpg is 15.5 it's all I've done in the past week so this is in normal drive mode but if you get the dynamic version of range over sport you have to go into this turn that suddenly the dash goes red all the DS go red pop that over to Sport and suddenly you access a different sort of range over sport completely that takes off and it really does change the character of the car I'm in manual mode now and it makes a lot of difference also the control of roll there is a little bit more roll than you'd get with the km but it's very well controlled for this size of vehicle rain Rivers all come with these cameras everywhere all around the car and I can't get over you're not allowed to watch TV on this screen when you're driving but you can watch this this is this is Junction view I just touch here I can go the curb view as well excellent so you can record your crash on screen and then replay it while you're waiting for the Rescue Services to come and get you this car they claim the weight is 2,300 kilos and after driving it for a day I thought I'm sure it feels heavier than that we actually put it on the scales back at Evo and we actually recorded it about half a tank of fuel at 2,493 kilos so 2 and 1/2 tons so it's a fair bit heavier than a knen which is rated at I think it's just over 2,100 kilos 217 uh kilos and then it's a longer wheelbase than the previous range rower sport so I think that makes it feel slightly softer cuz it's not quite as sharp to turn in as I say it's it's a nice trait to have if you're if you want a car that's really relaxing to drive long distance I mean the Range Rover Sports always been pretty good at that I I always found it annoyingly good at that because I wanted to hate it until I drove one and then I really quite liked it and this one has that same sense but with it being The Supercharged version I was just expecting a bit more Sparkle to it it really does go quickly it's deceptively quick um you know as I say they're testing this thing at the North life and having driven it I can see it's got a really agile chassis but I just don't get that feeling from behind the wheel and I think actually what it is it's compromised by its tires because of that off-road ability we saw before it's you know it's pretty special they insist on putting all season TI on it while Porsche go very much for a summer Tire this is got 21in wheels on it and it's sitting on aeal mitlin 275 45 21s if I'd order 21 in tires on the knen I get 295 35 um ratio so a much sportier tire and that's why it feels different I'm not knocking it it's just a different car it's a very good car had to summarize what this car feels like it's like when I got in it I was expecting it to be like when you go to the movies and you're going to see an 18 film you know it's going to be a bit edgy a bit sharp and then I've discovered it's actually rated as a 15 movie and all of those little edges have been sort of sanded off and it's it's slightly softer than I was expecting but it's still a really good film and that's what this car feels like feels like a fantastic car so I suspect that we've s got this car now but actually there might be another one another level of sporting Range Rover to come and what's that one going to be like quick this thingwell here it is this is the new Range Rover Sport new for 2013 follows on from the new Range Rover we saw last year completely new model this one previous generation I was never quite sure about because the previous sport was actually based on the Discovery and had the chassis underneath this one all aluminium construction completely different car shares a lot with the new Range Rover and the one thing I've got to say about it it's huge like Range Rover telling me that it's only millimeters bigger than the previous generation but when you compare it with the previous generation range R which I own I was really surprised how close this is on on the size of it particularly at the front but you have to say it's a great design it's obviously based on the evoke and it's and it's grown from there and I think it's actually probably more successful than than new Range Rover so let's go around some of the details on this car differences in the spec of the car is start out with SE then there's HSE which is recognized because the grill here is silver and then you get to Dynamic and dynamic autobiography the top models and they have this black grill and this black under here this under tray here I think it's the best looking of the lot and I also love the detailing on this car like the fullsize Range Rover it's got those projector headlamps with the sort of name around it that look really trick then on the top of the Bonnet we have these vents here and then on the side of the wing there's another vent it's really quite disappointing I think that these are actually false they're purely cosmetic it's a trend we seem to be seeing on cars these days that these sort of bits are added just for glitter but don't actually do anything and under the Bonnet we have in this example a Supercharged V8 and again this is what they want you to uh look at for the engine but I'm always quite Keen to take one of these off and we take that off yeah now I can see why they designed a cover for it cuz that's not a very pretty engine under there but it does produce the power we're talking about 510 horsepower in this version 625 new meters of torque which is 476 ftlb of torque so quite a lot of power in here move around to the side and then you get to the core change with this car the stretched wheelbase that has added this big interior cuz that's one of the criticisms of the previous sport it was always a bit tight you never really wanted to get a rear seat in a sport front was always lovely and it continues to be great in this car as well but at the back big change finally there's proper room proper seats in there and uh it's really quite comfy in the back it's not the sort of thing we normally do on Evo but it's such a see change with this new sport I'm 6'2 this seat in front is set for me and I'm sitting in the back and I'm comfy in a range of a sport that doesn't normally happen and this one is particularly nice in here because it's got a glass roof I that's a really nice touch it's been a huge hit on the evoke and on the new Range Rover it's bound to be the same on this it just really lightens up the interior and the other lovely detail is an aluminium badge on the side saying this is all Al minum construction just lovely little details all through this car like that looks really good well we're looking in the inside of this car there's one more surprise I want to show you and that's in the back because if I press these two buttons here there's another little surprise this car is the seven seat version so there's two emergency seats in the back you're not going to get a fulls siiz adult they're sort of up to 11y old uh but having lived with a car like this with we had the previous R Rover and I had overfinch rear seat they're so useful Christmas time and when Granny comes to stay or you're going to get kids from school so there you go it's A500 option I think it's probably well worth it cuz it just adds to the sort of how you use these cars but what's really important with this range row sport all aluminum 510 horsepower let's see what it's like on the road there's one thing you got to say about Land Rover they really know how to do Interiors the doing their own signature on the interior it's it the only way I can describe it looks like B Ando um designed it it's very clean they're very proud of their low button count which can be a bit of a pain at times when you're trying to do heated seats or something but it does look good looks really good and I think it's because I like the way they're plowing their own Furrow on it they're not looking at what the Germans are doing and I get the sense of sometimes BMW and Mercedes they just look at the other German manufacturers but the interior on current Land Rover product like this one is unique very clean and just beautifully put together feels expensive now I've been living with this car for about a week now and uh part of living with this car where I live I live on the farm quite often come back from work and just go and have a look what the stock are up to and I like I like the feeling with a Range Rover it's part of its authenticity that it can go Offroad I'll just go and show you just just see if this Range Rover Sport is a true Range Rover I'm just going to put the suspension on high yeah the parking sensors are going to get a little upset but they go out it's just one of the beauties of um Land Rover product they do think about the off-roaders I'm told I'm is less than 10% use the off-road ability where I'm going to take you now is one of the steepest Parts on the farm and it's like I call it the black run and we'll just have a little look cuz you just look over the edge think you must be joking I want to see if it hits anything on the way down it's just through here okay just gently drift over the edge and here we go the test that's pretty steep down there nothing touched now you just the only thing you heard was the hill descent control working we we're Tak an easier way up the hill but it's impressive stuff that the Range Rover do that sort of thing it's got a flat bottom on this new sport so it sort of surfs over if there was anything that it was going to hit but there you go little taste let's get back on the tarmac one of the first senses you get with the Range Rover Sport now is it's it's not actually the super sports SUV that you expect when you get behind the wheel there's a sort of softness a roundness to it which is different to the knen I spent a few weeks in the knen Turbo S um and that car immediately has heavier steering um it's it doesn't ride quite as well as this but there's a sharpness just off center on the steering that says you I'm in a I'm a pretty serious car um I'm a sporting SUV you don't get that with this new Range Rover Sport there's um there's a more relaxed feel with it and I'm surprised with that with this being the the top supercharged model but I do like I do like the feel of the wheel and you've got certain controls on here and it all works really well it's very clear Dash um and it's very quiet very refined this car I'm already going slightly quicker than I should be and yet it's utterly silen in here another difference with the new Range R sport you actually get a proper gear lever they've been using that circular um gear selector from Jaguar and I think it's doesn't work at all it really annoyed me and it wasn't intuitive to use thank goodness this has made a return and it's very easy to use and what I like about it is you just rest your hand on and you can just control the ventilation and it just it just makes sense much better than the circular control they had before this particular car is £90,000 because it's got the ultimate Meridian sound system 23 speaker an extra 4,000 £600 over the 19 speaker system sounds quite a lot of money to me especially when you got this to listen to It's Great Sound in V8 I have to say and it's it just feels strange being in a Range Rover with a petrol V8 if you're if you're European we don't really see these sort of cars um probably because the average mpg is 15.5 it's all I've done in the past week so this is in normal drive mode but if you get the dynamic version of range over sport you have to go into this turn that suddenly the dash goes red all the DS go red pop that over to Sport and suddenly you access a different sort of range over sport completely that takes off and it really does change the character of the car I'm in manual mode now and it makes a lot of difference also the control of roll there is a little bit more roll than you'd get with the km but it's very well controlled for this size of vehicle rain Rivers all come with these cameras everywhere all around the car and I can't get over you're not allowed to watch TV on this screen when you're driving but you can watch this this is this is Junction view I just touch here I can go the curb view as well excellent so you can record your crash on screen and then replay it while you're waiting for the Rescue Services to come and get you this car they claim the weight is 2,300 kilos and after driving it for a day I thought I'm sure it feels heavier than that we actually put it on the scales back at Evo and we actually recorded it about half a tank of fuel at 2,493 kilos so 2 and 1/2 tons so it's a fair bit heavier than a knen which is rated at I think it's just over 2,100 kilos 217 uh kilos and then it's a longer wheelbase than the previous range rower sport so I think that makes it feel slightly softer cuz it's not quite as sharp to turn in as I say it's it's a nice trait to have if you're if you want a car that's really relaxing to drive long distance I mean the Range Rover Sports always been pretty good at that I I always found it annoyingly good at that because I wanted to hate it until I drove one and then I really quite liked it and this one has that same sense but with it being The Supercharged version I was just expecting a bit more Sparkle to it it really does go quickly it's deceptively quick um you know as I say they're testing this thing at the North life and having driven it I can see it's got a really agile chassis but I just don't get that feeling from behind the wheel and I think actually what it is it's compromised by its tires because of that off-road ability we saw before it's you know it's pretty special they insist on putting all season TI on it while Porsche go very much for a summer Tire this is got 21in wheels on it and it's sitting on aeal mitlin 275 45 21s if I'd order 21 in tires on the knen I get 295 35 um ratio so a much sportier tire and that's why it feels different I'm not knocking it it's just a different car it's a very good car had to summarize what this car feels like it's like when I got in it I was expecting it to be like when you go to the movies and you're going to see an 18 film you know it's going to be a bit edgy a bit sharp and then I've discovered it's actually rated as a 15 movie and all of those little edges have been sort of sanded off and it's it's slightly softer than I was expecting but it's still a really good film and that's what this car feels like feels like a fantastic car so I suspect that we've s got this car now but actually there might be another one another level of sporting Range Rover to come and what's that one going to be like quick this thing\n"