Range Rover Sport - Old And New Square Up (Part 2)

The electric power steering is 10 per cent quicker than the Range Rover’s, the air springs are stiffer and while you get the same eight-speed ZF auto with the same ratios, the ’box is tuned to be more responsive. The traditional Terrain Response dial (with modes for normal, mud and ruts, sand, grass/gravel/snow and rock crawl) is augmented with a dynamic setting on high-spec models that tweaks steering weight and the throttle map and makes the torque split a little more rear-biased, plus you get a rear E-diff. The top models get torque vectoring too, which channels torque to the tires with most traction. It’s a lighter, tighter underlying structure with a faster-acting drivetrain.

It’s a lighter, tighter underlying structure with a faster-acting drivetrain.

Get the engineers to plug the Sport into a laptop and, if no one’s looking, they’ll make it bounce like a Hispanic low-rider courtesy of the active anti-roll bars – you’ll spot a pattern here, because they’re fitted only to the pokiest cars too. Base cars have solid anti-roll bars, where active roll bars can de-couple in a straight line, upping both ride comfort and off-road wheel articulation. Attack the twisties and the active bars firm up again, improving handling precision.

But remember that earlier nod to chassis guru Mike Cross and the all-important eight mm? That’s the key. Essentially, Cross’ team calculated that lowering the suspension by eight mm versus the Range Rover would transform its handling, making it far less likely to under-steer and more likely to take on the neutral stance that I watched Cross turn into power over-steer on track. It’s a big deal, because every component between the floor-pan and the wheel has also been changed. Bean counters don’t like that kind of stuff, so props to engineering for winning the war.

There are plans for a diesel hybrid with 169 g/km, a 240PS 2.0-liter four-pot petrol turbo that could prove vital in China and the volume seller in the US will be the supercharged 3.0 V6, but you need to forget about those for the time being and take your pick from one of four engines. A 3.0-liter TD V6 with 257PS, 600Nm and 194 g/km. A 3.0-liter SD V6 with 292PS, 600Nm and 199 g/km. And an SD V8 with 339PS, 699Nm and 229 g/km. Land Rover wants to showcase the Range Sport’s new-found agility, so we’re getting a passenger ride in the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 with 510PS, 624Nm and 298 g/km, one of the models with the chassis toys that basic models will do without.

There’s only so much I can deduce from the passenger seat, but I do know that the V8 that you won’t be buying is fabulously charismatic, with a subtle part-throttle burble that builds to a deep, guttural, almost muscle-car-like throb as you pile on the pace. It’s well-judged: mostly restrained, exuberant when you want it.

Land Rover wants to showcase the Range Sport’s new-found agility, so we’re getting a passenger ride in the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 with 510PS, 624Nm and 298 g/km, one of the models with the chassis toys that basic models will do without.

The Sport is a quiet, refined, comfortable place to be and the ride has a polished compliance and flow as we thread over the twists and turns of these Northamptonshire back roads, though it does feel quite firm at low speeds. But for me there are two particularly noticeable things: one is that the new Sport has lost its predecessor’s discordant patter, the constant reaction and counter-reaction to the surface that turned every quick drive into a seismic event. The other is how the greatly improved body control and hungrier chassis team up through corners: the Sport hunkers down and powers through with an assertiveness that’d be entirely alien to owners of the old car.

Where’s the part where we find out if this off-roader can actually cut it off-road? Well, you and I both know that we’re dealing with waterproof-to-100-metres syndrome here, that the only off-roading the Range Sport is likely to do is when a man in a fluorescent jacket takes it by surprise and waves it into an overflow car park on a damp Sunday afternoon. But Land Rover will tell you it’s better off-road than before and they’ll cite the clever packaging that means it both sits four millimeters lower than its predecessor and offers 58 mm more ground clearance. That the E-diff and active anti-roll bars not only help on the track, but off-road too, that this is the first Land Rover to offer Wade Sensing – sensors in the door mirrors assess water depth and that every model will roll out of the factory on a set of all-purpose tires – 275/40 ZR22 Continental Cross Contact LX Sports on our test car – because that off-road competence is core to what a Range Rover does; rivals wear road-biased tires that’d struggle to get you down a snowy hill.

But insiders also admit that Range Sport customers will rarely venture off road and that it’s with the style and the dynamics that they really need to step up to the plate.

I’d say McGovern has already won the style war. Dynamics? I don’t think there’s a more dynamically accomplished SUV on sale right now than the Porsche Cayenne and that’s what the Range Rover Sport really needs to beat. Stay tuned to see if it can.

I don’t think there’s a more dynamically accomplished SUV on sale right now than the Porsche Cayenne and that’s what the Range Rover Sport really needs to beat.

Chassis

There are three different kinds of chassis combinations:

1.    Conventional dampers and anti-roll bars

2.    Adaptive dampers and conventional anti-roll bars

3.    Adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars. Cars fitted with the third chassis also get torque vectoring and an electronically controlled limited-slip diff

Powertrains

The Range Sport makes its début with supercharged 5.0 V8 petrol (510PS) and 3.0 SD V6 diesel (292PS), followed in early 2014 by 3.0 TD V6 (257PS) and 4.4 SD V8 (339PS) diesels. All models come with an eight-speed ZF auto and stop/ start technology.

Steering

The variable-ratio power steering features electro-mechanical assistance. It’s 10 per cent faster than the Range Rover’s rack and the wheel itself is smaller too. Press the Dynamic button found in sportier models and you’ll feel the steering weight subtly change.

Off-road

Two four-wheel drive systems will be offered: most buyers will opt for the single-speed transfer case, Torsen differential and a 42/58 torque split. But there’s a hardier option for really serious off-road duties: it offers a two-speed transfer case, a 50/50 torque split and 100 per cent locking capability, taking power entirely to the front or rear wheels if one axle finds itself languishing in particularly tricky conditions. This system carries an 18-kg weight penalty.

Two four-wheel drive systems will be offered: most buyers will opt for the single-speed transfer case, Torsen differential and a 42/58 torque split.

Body

The outgoing Range Sport mated a steel body to a ladder-frame chassis, where the new model uses an all-aluminum monologue. It’s the world’s second largest aluminum pressing (only the Range Rover is larger) and it saves 420 kg compared with a like-for-like first-gen Range Sport TD V6. Third row seating is optionally available.