Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE 2016 Review - International

Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE
Road Test
England, Quite a lot of it actually…

Picking a winner
Sticking to the Best of British theme it was decided early on that it would be only fitting if we could find a support vehicle, made in Britain, that could easily carry crew, cameras, Feann and yours truly.

Since we'd already tapped-up Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and McLaren for our series of films, for familiarity's sake we decided to investigate what else is on offer from UK-based brands. We chose the Range Rover Sport V8 diesel – and we're glad we did.

And the Best Supporting Act goes to… Powered by a creamy-smooth 250kW 4.4-litre twin-turbo diesel V8, the Range Rover Sport fits the guidelines of what we required for this job. And while you might think the Range Rover Sport an obvious choice, the list of UK brands is surprising for such a small country.

Ariel, Bentley, Bristol, Caterham, Ginetta, Jaguar, Land Rover, MG, MINI, Morgan, Noble, TVR and Vauxhall all still make, develop and engineer cars in the UK. But even these 'British' brands (okay, we can argue over the nationality of their actual parenthood) doesn't quite reflect the true strength of car-manufacturing currently in Blighty.

For that you have to also throw in Honda, Nissan and Toyota which not only have manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, but also have R&D centres too. Nissan has even gone as far as basing its entire European design centre in an old railway shed in London.

Last year, combined, the British car industry produced almost 1.6 million vehicles – astonishing (and depressing) reading following the total and utter collapse of local manufacturing Down Under.

Back to our search.

Ariel, Bentley, they're both British!
Mischievously, it would be tempting to borrow a skeletal Ariel Nomad but despite its lack of seats and luggage space, hyperthermia is what put us off. It's a serious risk when you have no hood, roof, doors, nor windows to protect you from a 'classic' British summer.

Next, a Bentley Bentayga was mooted. Partly because it's easily big enough to swallow the 300-400kg of cameras, equipment and drones director, producer and camera operator, Damo, needed for the shoot… And partly because it is the most luxurious, desirable and fastest SUVs we've ever driven.

Big maybe, but the thought of the monumental bill that would follow the inevitable scuffed quilted leather, scratched solid silver brightwork or chipped lustrous paintwork put an end to the idea. A workhorse, the $423,000 Bentley SUV is not.

Something far more rugged and tough was required. Something Land Rover-shaped, in other words.

Right at the top of the list was the Defender – after all what could be more appropriate than a real British icon to cart our gear around?

Thing is, then we realised none of us actually wanted to drive one. And its wooden ride quality would make it useless for filming from, something we would doing often.

Finally, in a country where it's still acceptable (just) to cruise along at 130km/h on the Queen's highway, the thought of having to deal with the noise and lack of comfort over the thousands of kays we had planned ruled it out.

And that's why we plumped for a Range Rover Sport.

Get it dirty, just don't hose it out the leather cabin afterwards
With petrol prices hovering around 180 cents a litre in the UK, we gave the 405kW SVR version a miss. Between the logical choice of the 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel (225kW) and the slightly more powerful 4.4-litre V8 turbo-diesel (250kW), you won't be surprised to hear we chose the latter.

Over the next two weeks and 4000 or so kilometres there wasn't a moment when we regretted our decision.

It wasn't perfect, of course: the optional larger 21-inch wheels added an unwanted edge to the ride; the satellite navigation was next to useless and drove us all to rely on Google maps; and the Rangie's steering wasn't quite as precise as the last car I drove. But our Sport had already racked up 30,000km and we had no complaints over the turn of pace the smooth V8 dished up.

Land Rover's interiors also are far more durable than some of its opponents. Okay, hosing the interior down after a hard day spent in the bush is a ‘no no’, but it dealt with the mud, sweat and plenty of Damo's blood (yes, really, following a drone injury… Don’t ask!) and didn't look second-hand at the end of it all.

Sporting a pair of comfortable heated and cooled armchairs up front, the Range Rover soaked up the abuse and was faultless and surprisingly quick.

By the end of two weeks, even its towering $147,300 list price (before options) no longer sounded as outrageous as it had on the first day.

Forget Best of British, the Range Rover Sport is still among the best luxury SUV you can buy.

2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE pricing and specifications:
Price: $147,300 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.4-litre V8 turbo-diesel
Output: 250kW/740Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 219g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also consider:
>> Ariel Atom
>> Land Rover Defender
>> Bentley Bentayga