Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE 2016 Review

Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE
Road Test

The Range Rover Sport is designed to go head-to-head with the like of the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne. As its name suggests it's an off-roader that's meant to work on-road too. Now two years into its second-generation, the Sport range, including this upper-spec HSE model powered by an outstanding 4.4-litre turbo-diesel engine, has gone through a mild update.

Sport is a word flung around all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles with some abandon.

Traditionally in motoring terms it conjures thoughts of pin-sharp handling, slick throttle response and a communication between car and driver that transcends the norm.

But when it comes to SUVs, the word 'sport' is surely intended to mean that you can have a sporting lifestyle in these vehicles; that you can carry your mountain bike, canoe, hang glider or family to a more remote location, then go have a sporting time.

But, no. Land Rover christens the Range Rover Sport "the most agile and dynamic Land Rover". It also declares "it's got 'drive me' written all over it". And stuff like that...

Well, the Sport is a fine vehicle in many ways, but judging by our week in the modestly updated 2016 model year SDV8 HSE that writing really reads "ride in me".

Driving the Range Rover Sport in a truly aggressive and sporting manner does not deliver satisfaction in a way a sports car fan would understand.

The Sport is too tall at 1780mm, too wide at 2073mm and too heavy at around 2400kg to be able to deliver the sort of nimble and responsive driving feedback that word 'sport' truly implies.

It rolls too much in corners and pushes too easily into understeer on its 21-inch Pirelli Scorpion tyres. There is a sense of an awful lot of cyber brainpower being worked hard to keep things going, slowing, vectoring and torquing as stoically as they are. It's not the sort of vehicle to take for a blast along the Great Ocean Road with the pace on.

However, it is a great platform for a more relaxed viewing of that rugged coastline. And then, if the mood takes you, it is far more capable than obvious rivals such as the BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class if you turn north off the GOR into the Otway Ranges and tackle the forestry tracks that wriggle, climb and fall their way through the forests.

That's because the Sport's acceptable SUV road manners combine with outstanding off-road ability provided by the Terrain Response 2 four-wheel drive system that dials through a bunch of settings including low-range gearing.

The trouble is, taking this $145,310 (plus on-road costs) beauty off-road and possibly dinging that carefully crafted sheemetal, scratching up that beautiful (optional) metallic paint or wrecking one of those massive split-spoke alloy wheels just doesn't bear thinking about.

Hey, it's reassuring at least to know that capability exists. There's no reason you have to use it. Less challenging journeys, like the chalet and the beach house? No problem.

The true highlight of the Sport mechanical package is the 4.4-lire turbo-diesel V8 engine. At 740Nm (+40Nm) it is a torque monster. It also sounds pretty huge too, pleasingly more like a petrol V8 when you give it a rev than a genny powering an outback settlement.

Throttle response is smooth, immensely strong and the sequentially turbocharged engine is beautifully married to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Range Rover claims a 6.9 sec 0-100km/h time, but it's the 8.6L/100km fuel consumption rate that is perhaps even more impressive. In the real world we were seeing sub 10L/100km tank loads. Combined with a 105-litre tank, that means the capability to go beyond 1000km on the open road between refuelling.

The MY16 brings with it idle-stop technology, which contributes to the drop from the MY15's 8.7L/100km consumption rating.

You can make the driveline more aggressive by slipping into Dynamic mode, but the Sport's engine is happy enough doing its thing wherever the dial is set. Overtaking power, hill-conquering torque and towing capacity up to 3500kg (braked) makes it a great choice for the horse float or boat trailer.

Dynamic mode also adds edge to both the electric-assist power steering and the air suspension, but neither are really improved by it. The massive 21-inch rubber means the Sport always rides with a little brittleness and there really is no need to add to that.

Besides, the cabin of the Sport is such a pleasant place inside its hard to imagine why you would want to compromise ride quality. Seats front and back are large and comfortable, space is not an issue and nor is the amount of storage on offer around the cabin.

In the fully carpeted luggage bay there's 784 litres on offer, plus a 60:40 split-fold of the rear seat helps that to grow to 1761 litres.

Up-front the 12.3-inch TFT virtual instrument panel works a treat, as does the head-up display and the large 8.0-inch touchscreen on the centre stack.

The Sport also comes with a long equipment list that includes plethora digital safety acronyms, the amusingly named GAC – or Gradient Acceleration Control – among them.

There are also xenon headlights, front and rear parking assist, a rear-view camera, lane-departure warning, plenty of airbags and – we're happy to report – a full-size spare wheel. Unhappily, that disappears if you tick the third-row seat option.

Luxury kit includes perforated leather, 18-way powered front seats, power adjustment of the leather-trimmed steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, full Bluetooth streaming, 250-watt audio with digital radio and hard-disk navigation.

The MY16 brings with it a few new features such as gesture functionality for the powered tailgate – just wave your foot underneath and voila.

So, while we quibble with the name of the Sport, we definitely don't have any significant issues with the vehicle it's been applied to. If you are shopping in this segment of the market – and good luck to you if you are considering the entry price– then the Sport should be on your consideration list.

2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE pricing and specifications:
Price: $145,310 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.4-litre eight-cylinder turbo-diesel
Outputs: 250kW/740Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 227g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also consider:
BMW X5 M50d (from $148,400 plus ORCs)
Mercedes-Benz GLE 500 4MATIC (from $127,900 plus ORCs)
Porsche Cayenne S Diesel (from $144,400 plus ORCs)