Range Rover Sport Review: Born Supremacy

Opening

New Range Rover Sport Review: Born Supremacy

Thinking different ways and means of spending lots of money can make us travel to oblivion. Personally, a chateau in France with basking greenery in front tops my list for a very simple reason. They are too classy to be mundane... much like our latest acquisition, the new Range Rover Sport.

While we were jotting down our fantasy list of exotic toys to own, this one name came up leaving us in a state of impressed. It has been some good time since Land Rover first flew it to India. Gorgeous looks with a mean stance, heart of a monster and soul of an angel and everything good except for one small doubt. Why haven’t we driven it yet? A quick request and they got it intentionally delivered to an unknown location.

It costs as much as a house and comes loaded with equipment and comforts of a Jetliner. Oh Yeah, it also does 0 to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds. Should you cancel that big investment and instead get this? We tell you in our review.

Appearance Exterior

Breaking the traditional description, the Sport chooses to look more gorgeous than anything similar to its dimension. Taking a whiff from Evoque’s lines, the Sport is more for the urban concrete jungle than being a wild life expedition tool. Also, don’t be fooled by those gorgeous lines as we have witnessed this sport of a vehicle take on rocks like none other.

Wind flow tunnel testing did loads of good by making the lines flow and stretch from the front to the rear. Old school squares and straights have been replaced by modern sleek lines with subtle contours. New face gets a twin slat mesh grille in a brushed finish, sleek headlamps with signature styled LEDs and a neatly parked Land Rover logo. Slender fog lamps try to camouflage the large air scoops on the front bumper. The matte cladding underneath looks tough. It also makes up for a strong jaw which can open wide and swallow a German hatchback for breakfast making the latter look like a pretzel.

The only line which is prominent on the silhouette is that connecting the headlights to the tail lamps. Receding styled A-Pillars followed by a tapering roofline give it an impacting presence. Add to that a strong shoulder line for no matter how gorgeous it is, still has to do justice to its SUV character. It also gets straight outta gym muscular flared wheel arches.

While the face of the Sport is fierce, the rear is calm with a voluptuous feel. It gets a bulging tail door which can be operated via a button located underneath. The tail door also sports neat and clean branding. Wish the dual pipes came with a square profile tucked inside the bumper instead of the simple round ones but I can let that one go cause the overall appeal of the rear looks too tempting to be criticised for something as vaguely small.

 

Appearance Interior

Things get personal here as Land Rover wants to make sure that once inside you don’t leave the cabin ever. We don’t doubt this claim because the amazing craftsmanship, meticulously worked interior trims and the multi layered veneers might leave you disconnected with the usual surrounding. To add to it, there is a drop of athletic theme to synonym its tag of ‘Sport’.

Gizmo and Gadgetry count on this Range Rover is great as you can virtually make the vehicle do anything and everything by just making your fingers dance on the central screen. I must say, the user interface looks a bit passé for such a chic-looking-statement-making visual delight of an automobile. Let’s just make a note of it and tear the page as that is what the entertainment system will make you do. The 19-speakers 825W Meridian music system is an audible treat with “Paradise from Coldplay” being a strong personal recommend.

Planning to get the tuxedo? You might need one especially if you are seated at the rear. Long journeys won’t feel that much because of the extended space in the new model. The seats are extremely comfortable and can be further manually adjusted to get the desired position. Once tucked in, there are 8-inch screens mounted on the front head rest.

I did spend quality time ogling the quality of interiors but couldn’t help myself jump on to the front seats. The front like the rear score immensely high on comfort and luxury. Did we tell you this one also comes with 14-way electrically adjustable seats? If only they made sofas like these, I could have spent hours cozying on them.

And yes, in addition to the standard list, you can also feel spoilt and confused with the host of options that the company throws on you to choose from. Not just colours but trims, leather and a lot more. You can basically make sure that your Range Rover Sport gets unique bits like no other in the whole world. The level of detailing is extra ordinary. How does specifying the colour of stitch sound to you? Too glamorous for some...while the rest can embrace it in style. 

Performance Drive

We did mention about Land Rover delivering our special request to an unknown location with an intention. It wasn’t just a logistic arrangement but something more than that. As seen, we have always chosen the best locations complimented with an instagramish surrounding for all exotic cars. For any other car, we would have chosen to do the same but this wasn’t any other car as it was – a Range Rover Sport.

With a misty feel in the air and boyish excitement, we managed to locate our dark Range Rover Sport parked with the concerned authorities. It had a lady like welcoming provocative smile. The Sport looks so damn impressive that you don’t mind some dirt on it, which it manages to carry in style. Got the formalities done and strapped ourselves inside. The suspension ride height gets adjusted neatly with an option to further increase or decrease the ride height.

The Sport comes in two faces. One is a tarmac tearing 5.0 L V8 Supercharged petrol version, which has a claimed 0 to 100km/h acceleration timing of 5.3 seconds. The other comes in 2993cc V6 diesel, which is more popular for obvious reasons.

The diesel motor is sealed with superb insulation inside the engine bay as one can hardly feel it. The V6 makes close to 300PS of power along with 600Nm of torque. We have driven 3.0L diesel motors but this one felt a lot quieter than them. It maintains a correct balance of fun and sanity. Unlike other SUVs, there is no lag at initial speeds thus making this giant looking SUV handle in an easy way.

I guess my joke of the Sport being a pretty looking vehicle didn’t go well as they made me collect it from an unknown location. Instead of dodging city traffic, we faced the open highway first and this was their way of making us go through a rough grind with this mighty British soul mover. Once on the throne, everyone else looked like a disciple. We drove it on an otherwise excusable road and the Sport was gliding over it. Not just looks but has an innovative head too, the terrain response system has the intelligence of a super nerd as it senses the type of terrain and immediately plays around with the throttle response, traction control and other functions only to make sure you are undisturbed by undulations.

We did mention about the engine being quiet but once the slender throttle pedal is pushed harder, 300PS-600Nm comes into action. There is a grumpy rumble exhaust note with the tacho needle walking past the sprinting speedo needle. As it crosses the 2,000rpm mark, the athletic or rather the ‘Sporty’ side gets unleashed. We managed to hold on to our guts and push it further as it was an open stretch and Boy! it impressed us with its straight line stability.

On corners, we didn’t struggle at all and instead chose to keep it in line with the bending turn. Apparently, the stiff dynamic dampeners along with strong springs make sure the Sport doesn’t misbehave on corners. The huge dimension of the Sport doesn’t make it any less agile and thus sudden quick manoeuvres are manageable with a heavier steering feel which gains weight smoothly with increase in momentum.

Did we hear you compare it with German SUVs? This Sporty Rang Rover can do equal and a lot lot more than its Fatherland friends. Apart from laughing on them with a snobby appeal, it can drive over challengeable terrains. There are amazing off-road options, which only feature in Land Rover vehicles. The intelligent system controls various attributes of engine behaviour to help manoeuvre on difficult terrains. By default, it is set to General Program Mode which is compatible with all on and off-road scenarios. Sand, Mud Ruts and Grass gravel snow are other modes which help negotiate different types of terrains. 

Tech Specs

Technical Specifications
Make	Land Rover
Model	Range Rover Sport
Variant	SDV6 HSE
Ex-Showroom Price	Rs. 1,43,00,000
Fuel	Diesel
Engine Capacity	2993
Power in bhp / RPM	289 / 4000
Torque in Nm / RPM	600 / 2000
Transmission	AT
Length mm	4850
Width mm	2073
Height mm	1780
Wheel base mm	2923
Fuel tank capacity L	77
Tyre Spec	-

Features

Features	Range Rover Sport HSE
Terrain Response System	Yes
Adaptive Dynamics	Yes
4 Corner Air Suspension	Yes
Panoramic Roof	Yes
Adaptive Xenon headlamps with signature LEDs	Yes
Auto Dimming Mirrors	Yes
14 Way powered seats with Memory	Yes
Oxford Performated Leather Seats	Yes
Leather Steering Panel with Shifters	Yes
Rear Park Sensor with Display	Yes
Surround Camera System	Yes
Power Single Piece Tailgate	Yes
Meridian Surround Sound Sytem with 19 Speakers - 825W	Yes
Bluetooth Phone Connection	Yes
Driver and Passenger Airbags	Yes
Dynamic Stability Control	Yes
Roll Stabiity Control	Yes
Hill Descent Control	Yes
Cornering Brake Control	Yes

Competition All Specs

Specifications	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	Toyota Land Cruiser
Variant	SDV6 HSE	VX
Ex-Showroom Price	Rs. 1,43,00,000	Rs. 1,12,27,950
Fuel	Diesel	Diesel
Engine Capacity	2993	4461
Power in bhp / RPM	289 / 4000	262 / 3400
Torque in Nm / RPM	600 / 2000	650 / 1600
Transmission	AT	AT
Length mm	4850	4950
Width mm	2073	1970
Height mm	1780	1865
Wheel base mm	2923	2850
Fuel tank capacity L	77	93
Tyre Spec	275/40 R20	285 / 60 R18
Boot Space L	784	-
Kerb Weight	2115	2725

Conclusion

Exclusivity comes at a price and so does the experience. Honestly, there is nothing that competes against this revolutionary Land Rover. A design that looks breathtaking from every angle and interiors, which leave you spoilt and pampered to form a biased judgement. If you are great friends with Arab Sheikhs, the insanely mad and maniac 5.0L Supercharged petrol makes perfect sense whereas if you choose to relish on a well cooked meaty performance, the 3.0L diesel shall do the honours.

With the flamboyance of a rockstar, this Range Rover is a super boost to the alter ego. Where others reach, this one arrives much like how Daniel Craig arrived at the launch and thus rightfully we call it ‘The Born Supremacy’. The only question that can arise is…should you wire-transfer or sign a handwritten cheque in favour of them.