Range Rover Sport 2015 Review

The Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE – packing a diesel V8 – is practically unapproachable for its admirable all-round capability. Even BMW's highly desirable X5 M50d lacks the British SUV's ultimate off-road ability.

The counterpoint to that is the Sport's extraordinary grip and stability on the road. Furthermore, the Rangie Sport in this configuration is extremely quiet on the road and the ride quality is supple rather than jarring – in all but one of its Terrain Response modes. Even in the corner-carving 'Dynamic' mode the ride quality is on a par with most other SUVs around the same price.

Consider too the Range Rover Sport's sub-11.0L/100km fuel consumption during the week we tested it (10.2 by the time we handed it back), despite unconstrained use of its 250kW/740Nm output and lack of an auto-stop facility.

To cap it all off, the Range Rover Sport looks good and is built to a quality standard.

The car tested was a five-seater with optional panoramic sunroof and plenty of luggage space in the rear, which was just as well, because the rear seats don't fold completely flat. The rear seat accommodation was fine for adults, although there's naturally more legroom available in the big brother Range Rover (Vogue).

The V8 engine sounded more 'V8' than 'diesel'. In character, it was a bit of a beast. Yet there was next to no vibration from the 4.4-litre powerplant at any time. At highway speeds the drivetrain was inaudible, and it ran through a smooth, capable eight-speed automatic transmission to a permanent all-wheel drive system with electronically controlled dual-range transfer. Power delivery was seamless, with just some turbo lag letting it down from launch.

Land Rover's clever Terrain Response system precisely calibrates throttle, shift points, traction and suspension for best performance in different off-road situations and on the road as well. You can leave it in Automatic, or, by depressing the knob – so that it rises out of the centre console to be turned for different settings – you can select a general/normal setting by default, a Dynamic setting one notch anti-clockwise, or a host of off-road settings clockwise.

One of those off-road settings was 'rock crawl', sampled over a moderately demanding section of track. Deeply rutted, rocky, and quite steep, the grade had previously been described by motoring.com.au road test editor Matt Brogan as 'gnarly' – in a moment of intensely understated candour.

The Rangie's first attempt ended fairly quickly, with the car poised on the slope, engine revving, wheels turning, but no further forward momentum achieved, even turning the steering wheel back and forth to get some bite from the front tyres. Selecting reverse and backing no more than perhaps four metres provided room to tackle the grade again on a slightly easier approach. The Range Rover Sport slowed again, but kept moving enough to overcome the obstacles and forge on up the hill. Few standard SUVs from other brands would have managed as well – perhaps the Mercedes G-Class and Jeep Grand Cherokee could, but neither would be as composed and dynamically capable on sealed roads as the Range Rover Sport.

On the bitumen, the Rover was very stable and provided strong grip, prompt turn-in, handling approaching a neutral ideal, and communicative steering. While the ride quality was usually unimpeachable – just a touch of impact harshness in Dynamic mode – the suspension could be heard working over repaired potholes. But the Range Rover Sport was so remarkably quiet in every other regard – (not) least of all tyre noise.

Given the Rangie Sport's price in this specification, it's not surprising that the vehicle tested came with some very nice accoutrements. At night the puddle lights shine the Range Rover Sport legend on the ground in a silhouette form, and the rear seats are serviced by touch-sensitive interior lights over the doors. The doors themselves are large and unexpectedly heavy, in light of the vehicle's aluminium-intensive structure. They are very solid – and perhaps too heavy for some users – but that's symptomatic of the Range Rover Sport's tough and uncompromising construction.

Jaguar Land Rover products pretty much hit the target for ergonomics, in as far as control placement and operation are concerned. Everything's fairly easy to use and the instruments are clearly legible and interesting to read (although there's a lot to take in at a glance once the car's in off-road mode).

I like the way the digital dials displayed the needles 'behind' the numbers and calibrations. Then there's the way the dynamic graphics (transmission speeds in manual mode, for instance) moved gracefully across and around the binnacle, like a ballet dancer moving to the front and centre of the stage. Graphic icons for the Terrain Response modes were self-explanatory too.

One minor let-down was the parking assist button, on the left side of the wide infotainment display – making it a stretch to reach from the driver's seat. It's actually located closer to the front-seat passenger, who would be occupying the driver's seat in left-hand drive countries. The other minor issue is the power adjust toggle for the steering column, which is on the right of the column rather than the left, where you'll find it in other luxury cars and SUVs. Is this a problem in itself? Not really, I actually prefer it, but it's not where you would expect it to be. And whenever backing, I found the acoustic guidance to be ear-piercingly loud. It could be safely reduced a couple of decibels.

More important than those issues was the seat comfort. Land Rover provides more than adequate adjustment in every direction – including squab length and lumbar adjustment. I was able to find a compromise solution that held me in place properly, but I wouldn't call the seats the most comfortable I've ever tried. The cushioning was flat and firm, and until I had spent some time setting up the seat to suit my particular shape and size there was a fair amount of twisting and fidgeting going on behind the wheel.

Some of the high-tech features we've come to demand in prestige cars in the same league were missing from the Range Rover Sport. And those that were present, like Lane Departure Warning – a $1400 option – were not always up to scratch. The system had the same difficulty with line markings on Australian country roads that other prestige brands from Europe do. But the Range Rover Sport at least displays a status warning in the instrument binnacle, shining green on both sides when the system has picked up the side of the road as well as the centreline. It shines white on one or both sides if the system cannot fully detect line markings, and it shines red (with the vehicle icon shown crossing the line) if the vehicle actually does cross over without the indicator operating.

Other opportunities missed in the Range Rover Sport include the lack of a forward collision warning system, and no second-row/rear seat fore/aft adjustment. Competitors would certainly offer both these facilities for the same money or less.

And many of those competitors would also sell cars considerably cheaper than the Range Rover Sport with some of the Rangie's options fitted as standard. These include panoramic sunroof ($4000), Parallel Park ($2960) and metallic paint ($2100). All up, the options fitted totalled over $30,000.

But you know something? No car is perfect. Whatever its faults – and there are a few – the Range Rover Sport makes up for them in so many other ways.

2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE pricing and specifications:
Price: $176,630 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.4-litre eight-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 250kW/700Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 229g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA