This NEW Range Rover Sport costs less than a VW Golf! REVIEW.

The PHEV Range Rover Sport: A Review of its Performance and Features

As I got behind the wheel of the plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport, my initial concerns about the added weight affecting its performance were confirmed. The vehicle's 1.5-liter bog standard golf is significantly smaller than the PHEV model, which brings a major difference in turning circle - down from 12.5 meters to 11 meters, making it more agile on the road. Another feature that sets this version apart from the standard Range Rover Sport is its ability to preheat or precool the cabin using an app.

As I took to the motorway at a speed of 40 miles per hour, needing to accelerate quickly to pass a slow-moving vehicle, I floored it and was pleasantly surprised by how seamlessly the electric motor, petrol engine, and gearbox worked together. However, sometimes I found myself waiting for them to come to an agreement before the car accelerated smoothly. The electric motor provided an instant boost, and the petrol engine soon followed, making the car accelerate quickly.

One of my favorite features of the PHEV Range Rover Sport is its ability to operate in electric-only mode. I put the car into this mode and was amazed by how fast it went - up to 70 miles per hour without any input from me. This feature makes the vehicle incredibly relaxing, especially when cruising at a constant speed.

However, I noticed that operating in electric-only mode also made my ears more sensitive to wind noise, as there is no petrol engine to mask it. The car's decel levels were much lower than those of the standard Range Rover Sport, and the transition between hybrid and electric modes was extremely smooth. There was no jolt or jerky motion, making the driving experience very comfortable.

One of my initial concerns about purchasing a PHEV Range Rover Sport was the added weight affecting its handling on twisty roads. I was worried that the stiffer suspension would compromise the car's luxurious ride quality and make it feel lethargic. However, after testing the vehicle on various roads, I found that it did not exhibit any significant changes in its driving dynamics - it handled beautifully and soaked up bumps with ease.

While the PHEV Range Rover Sport is an excellent choice for many drivers, there are some compromises to be made. The added weight affects the car's performance, and the stiffer suspension may not provide the same level of comfort as the standard model. However, in my opinion, these trade-offs are well worth it.

Overall, I highly recommend the PHEV Range Rover Sport for anyone looking for a luxurious, comfortable, and environmentally friendly vehicle. The plug-in hybrid technology offers numerous benefits, including reduced emissions and lower fuel costs. While there may be some compromises to consider, I firmly believe that this version of the Range Rover Sport is the best choice for most drivers.

Recommendation:

If you're considering purchasing a PHEV Range Rover Sport, it's essential to weigh the pros and cons carefully. The vehicle offers an excellent driving experience, impressive performance, and exceptional comfort. However, it also comes with some added weight and compromises in terms of handling. Ultimately, I believe that the benefits of this vehicle far outweigh its drawbacks.

For those looking for a more affordable option, you may want to consider the standard Range Rover Sport. While it offers similar features and driving dynamics, it is significantly cheaper than the PHEV model.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the PHEV Range Rover Sport is an exceptional vehicle that offers numerous benefits for drivers who value luxury, comfort, and environmental sustainability. With its impressive performance, advanced technology, and luxurious features, this vehicle is sure to impress even the most discerning buyers. Whether you're looking for a daily driver or a weekend getaway car, the PHEV Range Rover Sport is an excellent choice that won't disappoint.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the new plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sports and it's a little bit like the gangster Al Capone I'm not saying that because it looks mean is because it's one of the biggest tax Dodgers ever and I'll explain exactly why later in this video I'll also talk you around the exterior design the interior tell you what's different about the hybrid take it for a drive and of course launch it to see how quick it is from nor to 60 MPH because I'm Matt Watson and you're watching carwow buy sell car wow let's start this video by talking about the engine so you have a 3 l turbocharged straight six petol engine M to 140 horsepower electric motor and combined you can have two power outputs either 440 horsepower or 510 horsepower which is what this particular version has drives all four wheels for an 8-speed automatic gearbox should be pretty quick shouldn't it should we find out exactly how quick let's launch it Land Rover says that the Range Rover Sport plugin hybrid it can do not to 60 in 5.4 seconds but I got to find out for myself however I want to launch it first of all in electric only mode to see how quick it is then when you're just using the 140 horsepower electric motor so let's time that first here we go got to make sure I oh now the engine kicked in right let's let's let's see if we can do it without the engine kicking in how am I going to do this definitely in electric only mode Eevee there we go here we go let's try again no I done it again right okay okay okay can't let that bar go above that's it no it's done it again you bugger oi you're supposed to be in EV mode to get I'm give it one last go I'm have to be so gentle on the throttle I've got in eco mode now let's see if I can actually do it here we go do not kick in why is it kicked in like I was accelerating so slowly what is that all about got plenty of battery was accelerating so slowly it's annoying some other plug-in hybrids let you actually accelerate more than that on electric pair such as Mercedes S-Class PR H version of that will let you accelerate much more than that anyway let's actually do a time now with the petrol engine running so going to go in full like Dynamic mode sports mode for the gearbox here we are especially not 60 in 5.4 seconds right so let's do it yeah 5.08 that was quick really smooth as well just can't accelerate much in electric only mode without the engine just chipping in now you might be thinking that performance pretty impressive but plug-in hybrids they're always very expensive and indeed this very car I have here with all the equipment on it and the fact it's the 510 horsepower version cost £5,000 however the starting price for the plug-in hybrid is only £4,000 over the normal P400 that's right 4 grand more for the p440 car nor starts at 80 and it's £84,000 for The p440 Who on Earth is buying the normal P400 who are they why would you do that I mean the plug-in hybrid doesn't look any different than the normal car no one knows the only difference is this feature here look you get an extra flap here for the charging port this is the only difference the only way it looks any different any you get the idea oh while I'm around the back should point this out look you may think these are fake exhaust but they're not they're all real all real all real yeah eco-friendly and stylish with big exhaust sounds quite fruity when you rev it as well on the inside it's just like a normal Range Rover Sport so yeah nice quality very comfy you got those chairs with the armrests like that great elevated driving position big infotainment screen and that brings you on to the slight changes for the plug-in hybrid so there's this menu screen here which will show you how much petrol you've used and how much electricity you've used also you have some slightly hybridized dolls here as well with your battery charge indicator and whatever driving mode you're in whether you've got the EV mode speaking of which that's the button to engage the EV mode and you can actually choose between hybrid EV and save what save actually does is just hold the battery so it'll run on the petrol engine so you can save your amount of charge say if you need to drive into a very low Mission Zone and you need to be driving on electric power alone now I'm not going to get into full detail on the rest of the Interior because I've reviewed the range R Sport and if you want to see my full in-depth video review of the full car itself with all the driving elements and all that kind of stuff click on the pop out B up there for the link in the description below here in the back seats there's no difference between the plug-in hybrid and the normal range R for sport so decent knee room decent head room really nice comfy seat bases good quality there's also the same problem like with a normal car there is no seven seater version available like you get with the Volvo XC90 say if you want a plugin hybrid that can carry seven people you might want to check out my video of that car you can do that by clicking on the P up there or the link in the description below check out the boot cuz it's always a problem with plugin hybrids usually smaller not here though you get the exact same 835 L of space as in the normal petrol version brilliant oh and there's this divider as well look I'm not sure whether that's a brilliant it's quite useful I tell you what's not really brilliant and it's this there's no way to store the Low cover right you have to just add it there so it might get crushed when you fill the the boot full of stuff that brings you on to five annoying things about the plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport due to all the electrical equipment on board the plug-in hybrid is 400 kilos heavier than the standard petrol version of the range R sport that means that it weighs 2.7 tons 2.7 tons that's obscenely obese some plugin hybrids give you the ability to charge the battery actually using the engine which is Handy if someone's got to charge it and you need to run on electric power load maybe to like creep silently back home when you've um you you come back later than you promised your wife you would have should have exactly you might be wondering what you've been up to you haven't been up to anything always remember you've not been up to anything at all the tone capacity of the plug-in version of the range over sport is 500 kg less than the normal version you think you're going to be able to keep the bags with the electrical cables underneath the false boot Flor Li oh yeah look probably fit under there but actually that doesn't really work does it the official economy figure for this particular car is supposed to be 328 m per gallon the real world figure is 27.9 mesp gallon the reason for that is because of the 3,240 Mi it's been driven just 617 were on electric power alone oh dear but that's the reality most people drive these cars without plugging them in however it's not all bad and that brings to five good things about this car because regardless of that while it might not save you that much at the pumps it will save you in terms of company car tax you see over the previous generation version of the plug-in hybrid they've doubled the battery size so it's now 31 kws it means that this latest plug-in hybrid Range Rover Sport can do up to 70 M on electric power alone and as a result it goes into very low benefiting kind Company cart tax Band if you have the p440 it's just 5% per year it means that if you buy that car for £84,000 you will pay just £1,700 in company car tax each year by comparison a 1.5 L petrol golf basic model will cost you almost £3,000 a year in company car tax cuz that's taxed at 30% and that's how the Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid is little bit like Al Capone in the way that it Dodges tax though it does it perfectly legally another good thing about this latest plug-in hybrid version of the range over sport is this look look look look look look as well as AC charging which is all that most plug-in hybrids can do it also has DC charging so you can charge up to 50 KW that means you can charge it to 80% full in less than an hour also unlike with many other plug-in hybrids this is a proper hardcore off-roader look you got all the usual off-road driving modes like you have with the standard R Rover Sport including a wading depth of 900 mm even though it's got all that electric gum on it the plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger R sport also gets rear wheel steering as standard that brings the Turning Circle down from 12.5 M to 11 M which is exactly the same as that 1.5 L bog standard golf which is obviously a much smaller vehicle I mentioned earlier you can actually preheat or preol the cabin the plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport using an app and you can't do that with the standard car let's see what this plug-in hybrid range R sport is like to drive you know as your daily I on a Motorway doing about 40 I need to S accelerate to pass a slow vehicle so floor it and I tell you what sometimes with plug in hybrids you have to wait a while for the electric motor the petrol engine the gearbox all work together come to an agreement and then decide to make the car go faster with this I FL the accelerator and it all just worked really seamlessly the electric motor just gave me a boost straight away and before I knew it that petrol engine was up and on song and it was all going great guns that was really quick and there's this I can actually put it into electric only mode Let's see how fast we can go in electric only mode so 60 will it go all the way to 70 it's made it to 70 anything over 70 is actually breaking the law I know if I it or go right CU I did my research offs so you'll do 87 mph in electric only mode that is incredible I tell you what when you're just cruising along in electric only mode this is really relaxing although my ears are now picking up a bit more wind noise than in the standard Range Rover Sport there isn't any more wind noise you just notice it more because there's not a petrol engine well it doesn't have to go it's quite a quiet petrol engine but it does make some noise and your ears normally drawn to that rather than the wind noise up overall though the decel levels will be lower anyway going to go back into hybrid mode now hybrid there we are it's really smooth way it does that the way it brings the petrol engine in you do hear it wake up if you floor the accelerator like that it's quite nice noise to tell you the truth but the transition is so smooth the way the electric motor and the gearbox and engine work together really really smooth no jolt or anything oh there we go it's good like this now one of my initial concerns about the plug-in version of the Range Rover Sport is the fact that the added weight will really affect the way it drives cuz I have add quite a lot of weight so that means you have to fit stiffer suspension to stop the car leaning so much in the bendz and it doesn't seem to lean much more than the standard Range Rover Sport when you throw it through a corner seems pretty good to be fair the Range Rover Sport isn't the sharpest SUV on a twisty road to begin with if that's your kind of thing you need a Porsche knen and if you want to see my four in dep video review of that car click on the pop out but up there or follow the link in the description below however it still does all right and it sort of hides its added weight really well it doesn't feel that much more lethargic on a twisty Road than the lighter standard Range Rover Sport I was also worried that by fitting stiffer suspension to keep it nice and level for the bends they'd end up ruing the car's luxurious ride quality the way it can soak at bumps but it seems to soak at bumps really really well maybe a little bit more jiggly than the nonhybrid version but I can't be sure I'd have to back to back the cars to be really clear about it all I can say is that this seems more comfortable than some plug hybrids from BMW the BMW X5 plug-in hybrid or the Mercedes GLE it's got that really nice wafty feeling so then what's my final verdict on the ranger everport plug-in hybrid should you avoid it should you consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well I think the plug-in hybrid version is the no-brainer it's the one to go for however you get the same problem with it as you do the normal Range Rover for you may as well spend the extra and get the proper full-on Range Rover cuz the same thing about the plug-in hybrid version applies to that as well anyway I hope you enjoyed the video if you did give it a like let me know if you agree my verdict in the comments below click on those windows there for some more videos and on that box there to get a carway to sell your car all you have to do is upload some photos give a brief description then dealers all across the country will bid on your car it's easy thanks for watchingthis is the new plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sports and it's a little bit like the gangster Al Capone I'm not saying that because it looks mean is because it's one of the biggest tax Dodgers ever and I'll explain exactly why later in this video I'll also talk you around the exterior design the interior tell you what's different about the hybrid take it for a drive and of course launch it to see how quick it is from nor to 60 MPH because I'm Matt Watson and you're watching carwow buy sell car wow let's start this video by talking about the engine so you have a 3 l turbocharged straight six petol engine M to 140 horsepower electric motor and combined you can have two power outputs either 440 horsepower or 510 horsepower which is what this particular version has drives all four wheels for an 8-speed automatic gearbox should be pretty quick shouldn't it should we find out exactly how quick let's launch it Land Rover says that the Range Rover Sport plugin hybrid it can do not to 60 in 5.4 seconds but I got to find out for myself however I want to launch it first of all in electric only mode to see how quick it is then when you're just using the 140 horsepower electric motor so let's time that first here we go got to make sure I oh now the engine kicked in right let's let's let's see if we can do it without the engine kicking in how am I going to do this definitely in electric only mode Eevee there we go here we go let's try again no I done it again right okay okay okay can't let that bar go above that's it no it's done it again you bugger oi you're supposed to be in EV mode to get I'm give it one last go I'm have to be so gentle on the throttle I've got in eco mode now let's see if I can actually do it here we go do not kick in why is it kicked in like I was accelerating so slowly what is that all about got plenty of battery was accelerating so slowly it's annoying some other plug-in hybrids let you actually accelerate more than that on electric pair such as Mercedes S-Class PR H version of that will let you accelerate much more than that anyway let's actually do a time now with the petrol engine running so going to go in full like Dynamic mode sports mode for the gearbox here we are especially not 60 in 5.4 seconds right so let's do it yeah 5.08 that was quick really smooth as well just can't accelerate much in electric only mode without the engine just chipping in now you might be thinking that performance pretty impressive but plug-in hybrids they're always very expensive and indeed this very car I have here with all the equipment on it and the fact it's the 510 horsepower version cost £5,000 however the starting price for the plug-in hybrid is only £4,000 over the normal P400 that's right 4 grand more for the p440 car nor starts at 80 and it's £84,000 for The p440 Who on Earth is buying the normal P400 who are they why would you do that I mean the plug-in hybrid doesn't look any different than the normal car no one knows the only difference is this feature here look you get an extra flap here for the charging port this is the only difference the only way it looks any different any you get the idea oh while I'm around the back should point this out look you may think these are fake exhaust but they're not they're all real all real all real yeah eco-friendly and stylish with big exhaust sounds quite fruity when you rev it as well on the inside it's just like a normal Range Rover Sport so yeah nice quality very comfy you got those chairs with the armrests like that great elevated driving position big infotainment screen and that brings you on to the slight changes for the plug-in hybrid so there's this menu screen here which will show you how much petrol you've used and how much electricity you've used also you have some slightly hybridized dolls here as well with your battery charge indicator and whatever driving mode you're in whether you've got the EV mode speaking of which that's the button to engage the EV mode and you can actually choose between hybrid EV and save what save actually does is just hold the battery so it'll run on the petrol engine so you can save your amount of charge say if you need to drive into a very low Mission Zone and you need to be driving on electric power alone now I'm not going to get into full detail on the rest of the Interior because I've reviewed the range R Sport and if you want to see my full in-depth video review of the full car itself with all the driving elements and all that kind of stuff click on the pop out B up there for the link in the description below here in the back seats there's no difference between the plug-in hybrid and the normal range R for sport so decent knee room decent head room really nice comfy seat bases good quality there's also the same problem like with a normal car there is no seven seater version available like you get with the Volvo XC90 say if you want a plugin hybrid that can carry seven people you might want to check out my video of that car you can do that by clicking on the P up there or the link in the description below check out the boot cuz it's always a problem with plugin hybrids usually smaller not here though you get the exact same 835 L of space as in the normal petrol version brilliant oh and there's this divider as well look I'm not sure whether that's a brilliant it's quite useful I tell you what's not really brilliant and it's this there's no way to store the Low cover right you have to just add it there so it might get crushed when you fill the the boot full of stuff that brings you on to five annoying things about the plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport due to all the electrical equipment on board the plug-in hybrid is 400 kilos heavier than the standard petrol version of the range R sport that means that it weighs 2.7 tons 2.7 tons that's obscenely obese some plugin hybrids give you the ability to charge the battery actually using the engine which is Handy if someone's got to charge it and you need to run on electric power load maybe to like creep silently back home when you've um you you come back later than you promised your wife you would have should have exactly you might be wondering what you've been up to you haven't been up to anything always remember you've not been up to anything at all the tone capacity of the plug-in version of the range over sport is 500 kg less than the normal version you think you're going to be able to keep the bags with the electrical cables underneath the false boot Flor Li oh yeah look probably fit under there but actually that doesn't really work does it the official economy figure for this particular car is supposed to be 328 m per gallon the real world figure is 27.9 mesp gallon the reason for that is because of the 3,240 Mi it's been driven just 617 were on electric power alone oh dear but that's the reality most people drive these cars without plugging them in however it's not all bad and that brings to five good things about this car because regardless of that while it might not save you that much at the pumps it will save you in terms of company car tax you see over the previous generation version of the plug-in hybrid they've doubled the battery size so it's now 31 kws it means that this latest plug-in hybrid Range Rover Sport can do up to 70 M on electric power alone and as a result it goes into very low benefiting kind Company cart tax Band if you have the p440 it's just 5% per year it means that if you buy that car for £84,000 you will pay just £1,700 in company car tax each year by comparison a 1.5 L petrol golf basic model will cost you almost £3,000 a year in company car tax cuz that's taxed at 30% and that's how the Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid is little bit like Al Capone in the way that it Dodges tax though it does it perfectly legally another good thing about this latest plug-in hybrid version of the range over sport is this look look look look look look as well as AC charging which is all that most plug-in hybrids can do it also has DC charging so you can charge up to 50 KW that means you can charge it to 80% full in less than an hour also unlike with many other plug-in hybrids this is a proper hardcore off-roader look you got all the usual off-road driving modes like you have with the standard R Rover Sport including a wading depth of 900 mm even though it's got all that electric gum on it the plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger R sport also gets rear wheel steering as standard that brings the Turning Circle down from 12.5 M to 11 M which is exactly the same as that 1.5 L bog standard golf which is obviously a much smaller vehicle I mentioned earlier you can actually preheat or preol the cabin the plug-in hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport using an app and you can't do that with the standard car let's see what this plug-in hybrid range R sport is like to drive you know as your daily I on a Motorway doing about 40 I need to S accelerate to pass a slow vehicle so floor it and I tell you what sometimes with plug in hybrids you have to wait a while for the electric motor the petrol engine the gearbox all work together come to an agreement and then decide to make the car go faster with this I FL the accelerator and it all just worked really seamlessly the electric motor just gave me a boost straight away and before I knew it that petrol engine was up and on song and it was all going great guns that was really quick and there's this I can actually put it into electric only mode Let's see how fast we can go in electric only mode so 60 will it go all the way to 70 it's made it to 70 anything over 70 is actually breaking the law I know if I it or go right CU I did my research offs so you'll do 87 mph in electric only mode that is incredible I tell you what when you're just cruising along in electric only mode this is really relaxing although my ears are now picking up a bit more wind noise than in the standard Range Rover Sport there isn't any more wind noise you just notice it more because there's not a petrol engine well it doesn't have to go it's quite a quiet petrol engine but it does make some noise and your ears normally drawn to that rather than the wind noise up overall though the decel levels will be lower anyway going to go back into hybrid mode now hybrid there we are it's really smooth way it does that the way it brings the petrol engine in you do hear it wake up if you floor the accelerator like that it's quite nice noise to tell you the truth but the transition is so smooth the way the electric motor and the gearbox and engine work together really really smooth no jolt or anything oh there we go it's good like this now one of my initial concerns about the plug-in version of the Range Rover Sport is the fact that the added weight will really affect the way it drives cuz I have add quite a lot of weight so that means you have to fit stiffer suspension to stop the car leaning so much in the bendz and it doesn't seem to lean much more than the standard Range Rover Sport when you throw it through a corner seems pretty good to be fair the Range Rover Sport isn't the sharpest SUV on a twisty road to begin with if that's your kind of thing you need a Porsche knen and if you want to see my four in dep video review of that car click on the pop out but up there or follow the link in the description below however it still does all right and it sort of hides its added weight really well it doesn't feel that much more lethargic on a twisty Road than the lighter standard Range Rover Sport I was also worried that by fitting stiffer suspension to keep it nice and level for the bends they'd end up ruing the car's luxurious ride quality the way it can soak at bumps but it seems to soak at bumps really really well maybe a little bit more jiggly than the nonhybrid version but I can't be sure I'd have to back to back the cars to be really clear about it all I can say is that this seems more comfortable than some plug hybrids from BMW the BMW X5 plug-in hybrid or the Mercedes GLE it's got that really nice wafty feeling so then what's my final verdict on the ranger everport plug-in hybrid should you avoid it should you consider it should you shortlist it or should you just go right ahead and buy it well I think the plug-in hybrid version is the no-brainer it's the one to go for however you get the same problem with it as you do the normal Range Rover for you may as well spend the extra and get the proper full-on Range Rover cuz the same thing about the plug-in hybrid version applies to that as well anyway I hope you enjoyed the video if you did give it a like let me know if you agree my verdict in the comments below click on those windows there for some more videos and on that box there to get a carway to sell your car all you have to do is upload some photos give a brief description then dealers all across the country will bid on your car it's easy thanks for watching\n"