Vehicle: 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged with extended leather pkg, rear differential lock and surround camera system
Price as tested: CDN$92160
Performance: The latest update to Range Rover Sport is the engines. Instead of using the outgoing 4.4 liter, it basically shares Jaguar’s AJ-V8. This latest iteration is a 5.0 liter DOHC 32-valve V8. On the “mild” Rangie Sport, it got a 370hp normally aspirated version of this 5.0 liter. The subject to our tester is “wild” Rangie Sport with supercharged. Thanks to the Eaton blower, this Rangie Sport has 510 ponies and 461 lb/ft of torque at driver’s right foot. Given how smooth and refined the AJ-V8 engine already resided in Jaguar, it doesn’t come as any nasty surprise in this Rangie. The supercharged sound sporty through the exhaust note, it doesn’t have the wheezy blower sound once associate with supercharged engine in the past. The credit of all this power delivery has to go to its 6-speed manumatic gearbox. With proper gear ratios, it always keeps the supercharged engine at its full boil. The availability of manumatic has encouraged the use of manual shifting for sporty driving experience, which works well with Rangie Sport’s character. Combined 510hp with a nicely ratio gearbox, its able to move 2 tons of British leather and wood lined of luxury with authority. What makes me really surprise is the engine feels strong and willing to move at both middle and upper range of the rpm.
Handling: When you consider Rangie Sport is based on the shorter LR4 platform instead of traditional Rangie platform, you are bound to expect it has a more nimble feel on-road than its larger silibing. All of these are true when hustle the Rangie Sport through a set of twisties. While you won’t find the same kind of handling sharpness as in the Cayenne Turbo or X5-M, Rangie Sport is able to hold its hold through corners. What it sacifices some of its driving dynamics gains back in supreme ride comfort. Range Rover has always been known for its Jaguar-like ride quality, Rangie Sport is no exception even with its firmer suspension setting. Its firm without feeling harsh. The suspension is comfortably compliant with a sense of suppleness built into the equation. Steering provides good feel and feedback, with decent precision without feeling twitches when pushed. Combined of all these with Dynamic Stability Control and Cornering Brake Assist, Rangie Rover handles confidently. Last but not least is Land Rover’s well-honored 4-wheel-drive system works exceptionally well off-road withot losing composure on-road. Both the 4WD, DSC and CBC work as a perfect harmony which is a pleasant surprise on a vehicle this large.
Brakes: With 4-wheel discs and standard ABS, Rangie Sport stops exceptionally well given its weight. The Brake Assist doesn’t grab driver’s leg to the bottom of the floor when it activates. That means ABS isn’t going to step in unnecessarily until the driver asked for it. The brake pedal feel solid and reassuring.
Interior: After all these years, Land Rover still refused to give us the one-piece tailgate that is so user-friendly. The split tailigate is not only difficult to load luggage aboard, the hinges for the lower tailgate has spoken for plenty of warranty claims due to too many users sit on top of it. The only good thing is you have to open the top half first, that means you can throw those small items inside the luggage area before opening the stupid bottom door. All I can say is those stubborn British never learned.
The rest of the interior dressed up nicely with top-shelf materials. Everywhere else is wrap up in leather stitiches or top-quality soft-touch plastic materials. Leather seats are typical Britiish firm with excellent bottom and thigh supports. However, those British quirks in ergonomic sense are “same old, same old”. Perhaps those annoying quirks we found are considered as character in British sense, mind you.
Conclusion: The Rangie Rover has plenty to going for it. It has excellent performance, handles exceptionally well and interior ambience is superb. What makes me really surprise is how comfortable its ride does, compare to its rivals. Now you can added Rangie Sport to the list of high-performance SUV.
OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
=====================================
Performance: 5/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 3.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 4/5
Overall rating: 4/5