![]() It felt like an ageing, but still capable, athlete in situations where the Range Rover Sport behaved like an eager rookie and future all-star. The full-size model, which seemed so dialled in and capable during the first drive earlier this year, wallowed and rolled and generally complained its way along the Spanish roads in comparison to the Sport. Frankly, if I hadn’t had a build sheet in front of me saying this P440e had the air springs, active anti-roll bars, and a trick diff, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s fun and engaging in the corners, or at least as fun and engaging as a 2,500 kilogram (5,500-pound) SUV can.īut a spin in a full-size Range Rover HSE with all the same goodies had me appreciating the Sport even more. The Range Rover Sport exploits the same fantastic hardware as the full-size Range Rover and shifts the ride/handling balance with its own unique software.Īlong with available four-wheel steering, active anti-roll bars, and a limited-slip differential with brake-based torque vectoring, the Sport has tight, predictable control over body motions and an unusual willingness to change directions. One chamber is for dynamic situations, while the other is for more everyday driving – together, the suspension firmness sits across a broader spectrum, meaning the Sport is firmer than a Range Rover when it truly matters. Although to be frank, I didn’t realise just how wide the gulf was between Land Rover’s two most expensive cars until I drove them back-to-back.Įvery Range Rover Sport comes with a redesigned air suspension, which features dual-chamber springs. The Range Rover Sport exploits the same fantastic hardware as the full-size Range Rover and shifts the ride/handling balance with its own unique software. GT Stuffįor as good as the powertrain is, the suspension setup is arguably more interesting. A BMW X5 xDrive45e hits 60 in 5.3 seconds and a Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid gets there in 4.7 seconds, and both are available at substantially less than the P440e Autobiography’s £99,270 starting price. The P510e’s 5.2-second sprint to 60 is a mere three-tenths quicker than the P440e that we’ll see, although neither figure is especially impressive. There’s little arguing that additional performance would be nice, though. The soundtrack is rich, smooth, and hushed in every situation except wide-open throttle. In Hybrid mode, the straight-six behaves like the P400 on steroids, but with impressive electric boost that keeps it from feeling flat-footed and exceptional refinement of the petrol-only model. In every other situation, the petrol engine and electric motor got on swimmingly. ![]() I could confuse the PHEV briefly by easing into the accelerator for a second before slamming it to the floor, but I was trying to cause a fumble. The powertrain integration is excellent, with smooth exchanges from electricity to gas power and back again in all but the most ham-fisted of circumstances. ![]() The Sports on hand carried the not-for-North America P530e configuration with 503 bhp and 516 lb-ft.Īnd with the Range Rover Sport weighing damn near as much as the full-size model – it’s down just 150 to 175 pounds, depending on powertrain – the performance is virtually identical across the board. So of course, the 434-bhp, 457–lb-ft P440e we’re getting in North America was only available in the full-size Range Rover (you can read that review later this week). The real point of interest and the reason I was so eager to get behind the wheel of the new Range Rover Sport, though, was a first crack at the company’s latest plug-in-hybrid models. A new P360 in the entry-level SE detunes the base engine to 355 bhp and 369 lb-ft, although Land Rover didn’t have that one available in Spain. ![]() The six-cylinder Sport hits 60 in 5.4 seconds and the P530 V8 does the job in 4.3 – a tenth faster than their equivalent Range Rover models. Finally, the same BMW-built twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 that so impressed me in the Range Rover sits at the top of the Sport food chain in the P530 First Edition.Īnd with the Range Rover Sport weighing damn near as much as the full-size model – it’s down just 68 to 80 kilograms (150 to 175 pounds), depending on powertrain – the performance is virtually identical across the board. A turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system is the first rung on the ladder with the SE Dynamic trim, while that petrol engine with a plug-in battery pack and electric motor is the basis for the Autobiography trim’s P440e powertrain. Still, the powertrains are identical on a basic level. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |