Range Rover Sport P530
Can this V8-powered luxury SUV justify its place on the evo fleet – and beyond?
HOW TO FOLLOW SIX MONTHS AND 10,000 miles in Aston Martin’s DBX707? With another six months and, most likely, a similar number of miles in the twin-turbocharged, V8-engined, premium-luxury SUV that’s developed over the fence at Gaydon. Although the similarities between the 707 and the Range Rover Sport P530 stop at that engine configuration and the number of driven wheels.
Too heavy, certainly on the wrong side of rightsized and more powerful than it ever needs to be, the RR Sport is a car we love to hate but is secretly one that many would like to have parked within their household fleet – or already do. Despite their on-paper performance credentials they are not performance cars to replace the established norm, they are not cars we rise early for when we have a free morning to drive for the sake of it. Their track action goes no further than towing something light and suitable to a trackday or race meeting. Thrilling, engaging and sporting they are not. Useful? Yes they are. Then again, so is an RS6.
Why then? Why add a car to the evo fleet that goes against all we preach about? Because people buy them in their thousands, including a number of evo readers, and in a world where their existence is under scrutiny more than ever (Paris has recently introduced a weight surcharge to its parking tariffs) they need to work harder than ever to justify their place on our roads. Our plan is to find out if the Sport still can.
‘Our’ P530 has plenty in its armoury to take on the challenge. Its softer look is to lessen its onroad presence, although it still towers over most things this side of Ford’s Ranger Raptor and requires the air suspension be set to its loading level for those short in the leg if they want to avoid having to clamber into or fall out of it.
There’s a new interior, too, although ironically the interior of our £119,675 First Edition model has already been superseded, with a minimalist centre console that has seen the air conditioning and stereo controls moved to a new touchscreen. I think we might have dodged a bullet with that one.
The RR Sport range offers a plethora of diesel and petrol engines, some with mild-hybrid tech, others with a plug, and in KN72 NNO’S case nothing but eight cylinders, two turbochargers and 523bhp
‘Few others would have coped with winter with such a high blend of luxury and durability’
courtesy of BMW’S engine division. JLR has, nearly, found a home for all its old AJP supercharged V8s and turned to Munich for its replacement. The new 4.4-litre unit is more refined, quieter, more responsive and better suited to the Sport’s more luxurious remit than the outgoing motor. Although it likes a drink: our average so far is a little worse than the Amg-powered DBX707, coming in at around 22mpg.
Of course, there’s plenty of weight to haul: 2300kg+ according to Range Rover (we’ll put it on our scales to get a true figure), which accounts for its unleaded habit. Yet despite this heft so much has been done in terms of chassis development and systems engineering that its weight only becomes noticeable and a bit of a challenge when you get carried away and start to go that little harder. A frequent succession of big stops can lengthen the brake pedal and there is only so much steering angle you can apply before you reach the limitations of the standard all-season Pirelli tyres.
Since its arrival, NNO hasn’t had a moment to rest or be stolen (I write confidently from a plane with the car left at an airport car park). Although, contrary to popular belief, only 11 new Range Rovers and Sports have been stolen in the UK since launch, and it’s the older models that have been subject to being snatched off the street and people’s driveways and packed away in containers for shipping. Since the key to our Sport landed on my desk its V8 has barely had time to cool down (like all BMW hot-vee eight-cylinder engines the cooling fans are never far from activation), enduring endless days on motorways, negotiating floods and testing JLR’S kerb-strike capabilities to the limit thanks to the pothole pandemic that has broken out across the UK. It’s also moved a family member overseas and carried every grain of sand back from the beach at New Year courtesy of the dog. As my inner evo heart says I shouldn’t admire the Sport as much as I do, my sensible dad head tells me few others from a sector below would have coped with the winter with such a high blend of luxury and durability.
Now the weather is turning, the Sport faces an altogether different task, one that perhaps makes many of its core USPS potentially redundant. The floods are receding, so too the wintry mornings and filthy nights, replaced with dry, inviting roads, longer days to enjoy them and the temptation to take a car that invites you to do more of the driving.
Date acquired November 2023 Mileage on arrival 8490 Mileage since arrival 6025 Costs since arrival £0 mpg since arrival 22.3