Range Rover Sport
MODEL TESTED: Range Rover Sport P400 HSE PRICE: £70,695 ENGINE: 3.0-litre 6cyl, 395bhp New engine adds performance to existing strong points of comfort and off-road ability
THE Range Rover Sport is one of the most popular large premium SUVs around, so it’s a benchmark for the Cayenne Coupé to beat. Although the model in our pictures is an HST, we’re basing our test on the P400 HSE, which costs £70,695.
Design & engineering
THIS is the first time we’ve tested the
Range Rover Sport with the 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine, although like the rest of the range, it still comes with an eight-speed automatic gearbox that sends power to all four wheels. It’s a powerful motor, with 395bhp and 550Nm of torque beating the Porsche’s figures of 335bhp and 450Nm. However, the Range Rover’s kerbweight of 2, 285kg holds it back. This engine features mild-hybrid tech, with a bigger battery designed to boost efficiency.
There’s a lot of suspension and chassis technology included on the Range Rover Sport. Air suspension is standard, with adjustable height settings for ease of access or extra ground clearance where required. For off-roading, there’s an electronic centre differential and Land Rover’s Terrain Response system, which has different modes to choose from: Comfort, Grass/ Gravel/Snow, Mud and Ruts, Sand, and Eco. For £930 you can buy the Off Road Pack, which adds a transfer box to switch between high and low ratios, and Terrain Response 2, adding extra tech including a rockcrawling mode. The P400 comes with driving modes as standard, so you can adjust its on-road manners.
If you’re buying an SUV with the intention of taking it off-road, the Range Rover Sport is among the best options around – the electronics make light work of tough conditions and the chassis is built with this in mind, in contrast to the Cayenne Coupé, which is focused on being good to drive on-road.
There’s more equipment included than on the Cayenne Coupé. The Range Rover Sport comes with 20-inch wheels, matrix LED headlights, heated leather seats, keyless entry, climate control, a reversing camera, digital instruments and two central touchscreen displays for the infotainment, including Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Driving
THE Range Rover Sport isn’t as sharp to drive as its rival, but it’s still excellent when you consider how heavy it is. Well weighted steering and a good level of grip mean it’s still relatively engaging for an SUV, and with plenty of performance, it doesn’t lag behind its sportier rival.
It wasn’t as quick from 0-60mph, but the Range Rover’s extra torque meant it was faster in all of our in-gear tests. For example, it took 2.5 seconds to go from 30-50mph in third, while the Porsche took 2.8 seconds, and it took 6.5 seconds to go from 50-70mph in sixth gear, where the Cayenne took 7.3 seconds.
The Range Rover feels more focused on keeping things relaxed, because the engine isn’t as big a part of the driving experience as the V6 in the Porsche. While the straight six is smooth, it’s not quite as refined as those used by BMW, and the gearbox is slower to shift than the Cayenne’s. It’s not as good at selecting the right gear for the conditions, and on occasion it stays in a high gear too long before changing down, or it holds on to a lower gear for longer than needed
when accelerating. The mild-hybrid technology is barely noticeable, the most obvious sign being the stop-start function firing up quickly.
Standard air suspension means you can adjust how stiff the Range Rover Sport is on the fly, using the various driving modes. In the softest setting it’s comfortable, but it loses its composure when dipping into potholes, although this is typical of a two-and-a-half tonne car on 20-inch wheels. As you go faster, the ride settles, and motorways are dealt with very well, with the Range Rover staying smooth even over expansion joints.
In its stiffer setting, there’s still body roll when cornering quickly, but it’s not as forgiving or as settled. The car feels more at home being driven sedately.
Practicality
WITH its vast 780-litre boot, the Range Rover Sport is the practical choice here. This space opens out to 1,686 litres with all the seats folded, which is 146 litres more than the Cayenne Coupé offers in this configuration. A flush loading lip makes loading and unloading easier, too.
Another key factor is that the Sport is available with seven seats, which will suit those needing to carry extra passengers. Rear-seat space is good, although there could be more room for adults. We’d like a bit more legroom, but headroom is fine.
Both cars here have a braked towing capacity of 3,500kg, which is good news for those looking to hitch a trailer or caravan. Their powerful engines should make pulling heavy loads easy enough.
Ownership
THE Range Rover Sport has more safety kit than the Porsche: a reversing camera and lane-keep assist are both standard on HSE trim. Blind-spot assist is cheaper than on the Cayenne too: it’s part of the £510 Drive Pack.
Land Rover dealers finished 30th in our 2019 Driver Power survey, with a poor level of customer service reported by owners. The brand itself came 20th in the manufacturer poll.
Running costs
BOTH these luxury SUVs have strong residual values. Our experts say that the Range Rover Sport will hold on to 55.7 per cent of its value over three years, while the Porsche will keep 58.5 per cent. That means the Sport will be worth £39,349 in three years, losing £31,346, while the Cayenne Coupé will be worth £37,101, losing £26,363.
Insurance costs are steep. Our example driver will pay £999 to cover the Porsche and £1,087 for the Range Rover.