Fastest, most agile Land Rover ever

Fact Jeke Behind the Wheel
The all-new Range Rover Sport was revealed at a media event held in Wales, United Kingdom, recently. Being part of the team that graced this event was such an honour. It is the ultimate premium sports SUV — the fastest, most agile and responsive Land Rover ever. The countryside driving in the middle of summer was such a joy since for me coming from Africa in the middle of winter, a little sun made the perfect backdrop.
With sales globally over 415 000 units, I can only imagine what the new model year vehicle will do sales-wise.

Developed alongside the highly-acclaimed all-new Range Rover, the new Range Rover Sport now delivers the brand’s best-ever on-road dynamics together with class-leading, genuine Land Rover all-terrain capability. The new, technology-packed, Range Rover Sport, presents customers with a more assertive and muscular exterior, more luxurious interior and the flexibility provided by the option of occasional 5+2 seating.

Exploiting Land Rover’s breakthrough lightweight suspension design and innovative dynamic chassis technologies, the Sport’s all-new, first-in-class aluminium architecture achieves a weight saving of up to 420kg. This transforms the vehicle’s dynamic performance, enabling it to blend agile handling with exceptional comfort, offering a unique mix of sporting luxury and a dynamic, connected driving experience, along with CO2 emissions reduced to 194g/km.

In the 5l supercharged V8 petrol engine, you can easily go from 0-100km in 5,3 seconds at a top speed of 235km on a 105-litre tank.
The all-new Range Rover Sport is a vehicle that has been designed and engineered without compromise. With Land Rover capability at its heart, it is one of the most road focused vehicles ever produced, but of course still offers unsurpassed all-terrain capability. It is a vehicle which is designed to be driven.

Building on the success of the recently launched flagship Range Rover, the new Range Rover Sport also employs a vast array of new technologies which help to transform its performance, refinement and all round capabilities. The dynamic new Range Rover Sport has a bold and progressive exterior design that is assertive, powerful and muscular, hinting at the improved driving performance and positioning the vehicle clearly between the Range Rover and the Evoque through a clear, shared design DNA.

While it was developed alongside the Range Rover and shares some commonality with its sister vehicle, the all-new Range Rover Sport benefits from 75 percent unique parts, a significant number of which directly influence the way the new Sport looks and feels.

To maximise personalisation, customers will be offered a choice of wheel designs ranging through 19-, 20-, 21- and 22-inches in diameter including the iconic “Viper’s Nest” wheel design, now available for the first time across all Range Rover models.

The new Range Rover Sport has been engineered to deliver dramatically improved on-road driving dynamics, with more connected and agile handling complemented by enhanced ride and refinement. The lightweight aluminium suspension is fully independent, with wide-spaced double-wishbones at the front and an advanced multi-link layout at the rear.

Fifth generation air suspension provides up to 115mm of regular movement, from the lowest setting “access height” (now 10mm lower at 50mm for easier entry and exit) to the standard off-road height. An automatic extension, triggered by sensors and a manually selected extension, both raise the Sport by 35mm, giving a total movement range of 185mm.

The re-engineered air suspension system with its new +35mm intermediate setting means that the off-road mode can remain available at much higher speeds (80km/h up from 50km/h) than was possible before, which is valuable in terrain with long, rutted dirt roads.

All new Range Rover Sport customers will have a choice of two engines — a supercharged 5.0-litre 510PS V8 petrol engine and a 3.0-litre 292PS SDV6 diesel engine. The power-train line-up will be expanded in early 2014 by the addition of a 3.0-litre 258PS TDV6 and high performance 4.4-litre 339PS SDV8 diesel engine. In addition, an innovative, high-efficiency diesel Hybrid model will be available to order in 2014.

Across the range, acceleration times for the 0-100km/h dash start from five seconds, while fuel consumption is cut by up to 24 percent — depending on model — and CO2 emissions start as low as 194g/km. All petrol and diesel engines in the new Range Rover Sport are paired with the advanced electronically controlled ZF 8HP70 8-speed automatic gearbox.

The weight reduction measures on the new Range Rover Sport open up the future possibility for the fitment of a smaller, lighter power plant, such as a four-cylinder engine. A model which could have an overall weight of less than 2 000kg, a reduction of over 500kg from the previous lightest model. The all-new Range Rover Sport is the first vehicle in its segment to feature an advanced all-aluminium body structure, which not only contributes to outstanding agility and driving dynamics, but also delivers significantly reduced weight and enhanced sustainability.

The vehicle’s platform is 39 percent lighter than the previous model’s. 420kg to be exact . . . this made driving on road and off road a joy as we drove through rivers, muddy terrain and tarred roads.

All models across the range are fitted with an advanced intelligent Stop/Start system which improves fuel consumption by up to seven percent.
The new Sport provides an interior with distinctive Range Rover Sport design cues, superior detailing and craftsmanship. A design benchmark in its segment, the Sport interior offers a unique blend of style and understated luxury with strong, elegant lines, top quality materials and an extra dash of sporting character.

Strong, architectural forms within the interior have been enhanced by a cleaner, purer surface treatment, beautifully executed with more luxurious soft-touch surfaces in key touch points around the cabin.

The sporting ambience of the interior is also reflected in the smaller diameter, thicker steering wheel, vertical gear shifter, higher centre console, configurable mood lighting and more generous seat bolsters. The Sports Command Driving Position combines the supreme sense of confidence and control offered by the Range Rover, with a more sporting seating position similar to the Evoque.

New or enhanced chassis technologies for the new Sport include Adaptive Dynamics featuring continuously variable dampers and on more powerful models, a dedicated Dynamic mode in the Terrain Response 2 system for enthusiastic on-road driving.

This system is combined with twin-channel Dynamic Response active lean control, a Dynamic Active Rear Locking Differential, and Torque Vectoring by Braking, which transfers torque to the outside wheels during cornering, reducing under-steer.

The all-new Range Rover Sport, with its greatly enhanced versatility, is destined to continue the outstanding success of its predecessor, which quickly became one of Land Rover’s most popular models following its introduction in 2005.
So till next week, enjoy and book with Premier Auto . . . it will be a long wait.

Fact D. Jeke is an auto enthusiast. She can be contacted via email on [email protected] or torque with Fact Jeke on Facebook.