Range Rover Sport 2005 Review

What we liked
>> Huge presence and supercharged power
>> Low noise levels, relaxed to
>> Remarkable off-road ability

Not so much
>> Air-suspended ride can be firm
>> Plenty of weight and horsepower harms fuel consumption
>> Styling details seem a bit contrived

OVERVIEW
Take a look at some of the vehicles being released over the last couple of years, and you could be forgiven for thinking there are lots of very strange drivers out there. That's because, on the face of it, you'd reckon anyone who has bought a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 4.8is or Mercedes ML55 AMG needs to (a) barrel along a highway at well over 200km/h and then (b) spear off into whatever deserts, mountains or paddocks are available for a spot of off-roading. All in the same car!

It probably doesn't happen, of course, and especially in super-nanny Australia which might be resplendent in off-piste driving opportunities but looks on anyone doing more than 110km/h in a 300kW truck as criminal, or at least downright irresponsible.

Yet the demand for luxury 4WD wagons continues to grow, and the subspecies of performance variants is also a small but significant part of that. Into the mix, Land Rover has thrown its Range Rover Sport.

The Rangie Sport is based on the platform of the recently released Discovery, but it is shorter, rides on a truncated wheelbase and the completely new body looks a lot more exciting than the Disco's economic use of curves. In top-line trim it is also much more powerful with the range-topping supercharged V8 producing 287kW of power, but there is also a naturally aspirated V8 and a V6 diesel available.

Crucially, it retains the systems that make the Discovery a credible off-road vehicle. These include low-range gears, locking differentials, and a panopoly of electronic traction control aids and integrated electronics that come under the marketing banner of Terrain Response. Clearly, the Range Rover Sport is designed to be much more than a 4WD wagon disguised as an off-roader.

It's due in Australia this September, with the cheapest (diesel) version likely to start as low as $85,000 and the supercharged jobbie up around the $135,000 mark.

FEATURES
It is remarkable that while other manufacturers new to the SUV game search for their own (and often unsuccessful) way of styling a two-box wagon, Land Rover knows exactly what a Range Rover should look like, and has delivered something unmistakably thus.

The Sport has the trademark "floating" roof, courtesy of blacked out pillars and window frames, a wrap-over clamshell bonnet, a low waistline and multi-element headlamps shared by its big brother. But then there's the sloping roofline, huge 19-inch wheels, slatted vents in the front guards and even a vestigial wing above the rear window. Some of it looks a bit tacked on, but the idea was clearly to speak of performance rather than mere utility.

There will be three versions available in Oz, differing mainly by the engine fitted. That means whether it's a diesel, V8 or V8 supercharged, the trim level will be the same other than minor differences such as 19-inch alloy-and-rubber being standard on that last model, optional on the other two.

All get air suspension instead of normal coils and springs, and the vehicle's construction is the same unusual combination of a separate chassis integrated with a monocoque body shell as used by the Discovery, although shortened to give the Sport 140mm less wheelbase. The amount of metal involved makes for great stiffness and integrity, but also plenty of weight. At 2572kg for the supercharged model (and about 120kg less for the diesel) you'd think the only "sport" this vehicle would be good for is pub darts.

COMFORT
You'll get all the leather and woodgrain you can eat in the Sport's interior, but the good news it's all artfully arranged in a manner similar to the larger Range Rover. The cockpit encloses driver and front passenger a little more thanks to the high centre console and dashboard proximity, the idea being you're there for driving as much as spectating.

There is seating for five and not seven as in the Discovery, but the Sport's innate width and square sides means there is actually real space in the back seat for three adults. Leg room is not overly generous thanks to the reduced wheelbase, but it is still more than adequate.

The same goes for the luggage area, which is a lot bigger than might first be suspected given that, to be brutally honest, the Sport is a kind of shrunken, overly muscular Disco. The fact that there's plenty of space for suitcases, golf clubs, prams or whatever is testament to the Discovery's immense size. Whether the tailgate design, which has a window panel that lifts separately, is as successful as the Range Rover's usual split arrangement offering both a seat and weather protection remains to be seen.

SAFETY
There are clearly two issues here. One, is that anything this high and weighing this much is going to be ahead in terms of occupant survivability in contretemps with a smaller, lighter vehicle. But the other is whether something like the Rangie Sport has the dynamic ability to avoid a prang in the first place. It's the existing dilemma inherent in any modern SUV safety package.

Fortunately, the Sport seems to be more than a blunt weapon in that regard. The monocoque construction indicates there are crumple zones rather than just brute strength, and Land Rover says the "load path" of crash forces is designed to be as low as possible, so as to give hope to a conventional car in a collision. Then there are the dynamic bonuses of big brakes and road-biased low profile tyres for improved manoeuvrability.

Stability control is fitted as standard, as is traction control if the surface is slippery enough to defeat all-wheel-drive. There are six airbags comprising two frontal and seat mounted side airbags for the front seats, and full-length curtains down the length of the vehicle for head and upper body protection in a side impact.

MECHANICAL
Fortunately, there's also a degree of drag racer about this mid-sized Range Rover, at least in the supercharged version. The engine has been borrowed from Jaguar, Land Rover's bridesmaid in Ford's shotgun marriage of "premium" brands. It has been tuned to deliver torque as much as power, and the 4.2-litre V8 with a single Eaton blower produces plenty of that: there 550Nm of twisting power on tap at 3500rpm.

The naturally aspirated V8 comes from the same source, but at 4.4 litres has slightly more capacity. It's good for 220kW of power and 425Nm of torque. The 2.7-litre diesel V6, which was developed in conjunction with Peugeot and is also used in the Disco, has vastly less power with 120kW but with 440Nm has more grunt than the atmo V8.

All versions of the Sport get a ZF six-speed automatic, with no manual available. It drives through a transfer case and permanently to all four wheels, although that depends on what's happening in an off-road situation and what corner demands the torque.

COMPETITORS
We've already mentioned some of the Rangie Sport Supercharged's high performance SUV rivals, but the width of the range means there are far more than that.

Starting at the lower levels, the Sport diesel might be up against everything from a Honda MDX to a Volvo XC90, but more likely the BMW X5 diesel, Volkswagen Touareg Tdi, or Mercedes ML270 Cdi.

The Sport V8 has the X5 4.4i, ML500 and Touareg V8 in its sights, while the Supercharger has the higher-powered versions of all to contend with. The big differences? Most are only five-seaters (apart from the Volvo at the bottom end, and the new M-Class will have seven seats available as well) but the big thing the Range Rover has in its favour is at least the promise of some off road ability.

ON (AND OFF) THE ROAD
Initial impressions of the Range Rover Sport aren't so much of immense power or acceleration – although there's ample of that in the supercharged version – but of a stately comfort thanks to very low noise levels, the high-mounted seating position and the fluency of the drivetrain. The six-speed automatic is especially excellent: the way it chooses ratios, shifts silkily between them, holds onto gears if the driver is into the throttle, or even skips those ratios it doesn't need almost makes the manual shift option redundant.

Acceleration from 0-100km/h is claimed to be 7.6sec, or 8.9sec in the naturally aspirated version which shows there's a lot of weight to be overcome. Neither of those figures is record breaking, but in the real world the choice and spread of gear ratios, plus the abundant torque means performance is never really lacking.

Fuel consumption in the supercharged Rangie can be on the wrong side of 20lt/100km, making the 88lt tank seem too small for comfort. Diesel variants weren't available at the launch in northern Spain, so we can't really comment on how well (or otherwise) it works, but experience with the Disco (and a 0-100km/h time of 12.7sec) indicates it'll be the weakest of the bunch performance-wise, and hardly worthy of the Sport tag.

The air-sprung suspension lacks the ultimate compliance of a well-tuned conventional set-up with a niggling tendency to find and transmit smaller bumps, but the handling is surprisingly agile. This feels like a heavy car at all times, but the combination of low-profile tyres, positive steering and software limiting body roll mean it can be hustled with intent and to remarkable effect.

Off road, the Range Rover Sport seems capable of doing most that a Discovery can, and that's saying something. The Terrain Response system provides a number of different programs balancing the operation of traction control, ground clearance, differential locks and even throttle sensitivity depending on what's dialled into the control knob by the driver.

The upshot is that it can cope with deep sand, slow crawls over rocks, even one particularly steep, 45-degree rocky slope without wavering. There's a full-sized spare tyre, but whether the low-profile 19s are up to bashing over outback roads for long periods of time, or if a replacement could be found on the Oodnadatta Track is another matter.

The thing is, the Range Rover Sport works well in perilous conditions, and makes a fine if rather bulky tourer in more normal driving. It looks impressive if a little fussy, but gathers all the qualities of its larger brothers into one package. That means comfort, luxury, utility and presence, but now with extra performance and agility as well.