BBC Top Gear Magazine

Range Rover Sport

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HELLO

£102,540 OTR/£117,385 as tested/£1,474 pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

The Range Rover casts a big shadow. Can the Sport step out of it?

DRIVERS

Ben Pulman

IT’S TOO NICE FOR THESE URCHINS. THAT’S MY PREVAILING THOUGHT as I show our two delightful children with a combined age very much still in single figures around this near k Range Rover Sport

Not only is it too nice for them but it’s also too nice for where we live Where we live isn’t bad mind but we reside in the countrysid­e where there is mud and where there are floods and a red Range Rover Sport on black

€ inch wheels sporting a white leather interior very much looks like it does not belong The SUVs round here are in darker more subtle colours on smaller wheels with thicker sidewalls and do things with tow bars Whereas this new interloper screams DFL aka the derogatory Down From London

This RR Sport is oh so close to original launch spec though which tells you all you need to know about how JLR wants to position this SUV among its Range Rover/Defender/Discovery ilk The rest are displayed on JLR’s website in muted tones whereas the Sport is there in shouty Firenze Red

As well as that visual separation the Sport has a very clear place in the Range Rover lineup The clue is in the name and it’s the only one overtly honed for performanc­e Question is does sitting on the same hulking MLA Flex platform as the Range Rover proper ’for all the benefits it brings from refinement and the latest chassis tech to the imminent option of BEV• handicap it? We’ll find that out in the coming months but first that price

It starts at —€˜€  near enough € k above the Velar but k below the Range Rover This D€™ diesel has arrived in full Autobiogra­phy trim which starts from ™š  Add in nearly ™k of extras and suddenly you’re at ›€—™ once taxes and other annoyances have been paid

At that price you can pretty much have any JLR SUV your pick of Porsche’s Cayenne range and a whole lot more besides The next few months will see if this Range Rover Sport is worth it

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