HOW SPORT SHOOK UP THE SEGMENT
“They’re a slightly strange breed, your sporting off-roaders,” mused our correspondent in 2005 as he reported on a first ride of the then radical new Range Rover Sport.
Lighter, lower cars, he continued, are far better at cornering quickly, but that hadn’t stopped BMW and Porsche from storming the sales charts with their dynamically minded X5 and Cayenne models in recent years, and it was buyers of these models Land Rover hoped to poach with a canyon-carving take on its venerable luxury flagship.
The early signs were there that the massmarket sports cars of the future would indeed be Suv-shaped, with a higher seating position, and the sheer physical improbability of such heavy cars accelerating so quickly highlighted as primary factors in their appeal.
On the basis of the Sport’s well-rounded chassis set-up, we predicted that “keen drivers, at least, won’t need long to notice, and enjoy, the difference”.
And so it proved. The Sport has comfortably outsold the full-sized Range Rover every year since 2007 and it remains our favourite luxury SUV to this day, 17 years since it arrived to shake up this nascent and curious segment.
legislation looms, production of this engine will be gradually wound down and JLR’S most potent models will make the switch to BMW power.
The 4.4-litre V8, referred to internally as the S63, currently propels BMW’S hottest M cars, with maximum outputs of 626bhp and 553lb ft in the hardcore M5 CS super-saloon.
Land Rover will deploy its own version of the engine in its top-rung SUVS, with a bespoke tune and various modifications carried out by its engineers to best suit their characteristics.
As featured in the Range Rover, it produces 523bhp for a 0-62mph time of 4.6sec – slightly less power but a comfortable performance improvement over the previous V8 car – and those outputs are expected to be increased for the Sport in line with its more overt driver-focused billing.
It is most likely that the new Sport SVR – which will be marked out by an aggressive styling package comprising quad-exit exhausts and a prominent rear spoiler – will be tuned to match the 616bhp of the BMW X6 M Competition. That will bring the 0-62mph time closer to the 4.0sec mark and bump the top speed to around 180mph.
Such a boost would strengthen the hottest Range Rover’s credentials in the fiercely competitive and increasingly important
❝ The new V8 will bring the SVR’S 0-62mph time closer to 4.0sec and bump top speed to around 180mph ❞
super-suv segment, which has swelled considerably since the current car’s 2013 introduction. New arrivals include the Aston Martin DBX, Porsche Cayenne Coupé, Lamborghini Urus and Maserati Levante Trofeo.
Not only that, but the BMW V8 is said to be 17% more efficient than the outgoing ‘AJ’ unit. In its lower state of tune, it is officially capable of 24.2mpg and emits 265g/km on the WLTP combined cycle. However, Land Rover will take its push to reduce its impact on the environment further with a more widely electrified Range Rover Sport line-up.
The MLA architecture can accommodate a variety of electrified powertrains and the standard Sport will follow the Range Rover in adopting a range of 48V mildhybrid-equipped straight-six engines – both petrol and diesel – ranging in output from 246bhp to 395bhp.
But more notable will be the introduction of a heavily uprated plug-in hybrid system that pairs a 3.0-litre sixcylinder petrol engine with a 141bhp electric motor and a 31.8kwh (usable) battery offering 62 miles of EV range.
BMW has also recently demonstrated that its V8 can be used as part of a PHEV system, with the new Concept XM SUV adding a high-output electric motor for total outputs of 740bhp and 734lb ft, while a 20kwh battery pack supplies 50 miles of EV range. A similar set-up will be deployed in the upcoming BMW M5 (see
JLR’S modifications for the BMW V8 include a bespoke air intake for improved wading depth, a new sump to cope with extreme inclines and strengthening ribs to reduce impact damage – so the Sport should continue to match its on-road finesse with impressive off-road ability.
separate story, above) and could feasibly be adapted for use in the Range Rover Sport to create the most powerful Land Rover model yet.
Beyond that, the Sport will ultimately be offered with a pure-electric drivetrain in line with Land Rover’s plans to transition away from combustion power. The company has confirmed that all models will be offered with a pure-electric option by the end of the decade, starting with the standard Range Rover in 2024, and it hopes to achieve a 60% EV sales mix by that point.
Ushering in a zero-emission Sport will be vital to achieving that goal, so it will no doubt follow soon after its larger sibling, launching around the middle of the decade.
Whether these electric Range Rover models will also use Bmw-derived powertrains has yet to be confirmed. JLR’S partnership with the German firm centres on shared development of new EV drive systems, but BMW already offers a variety of rear- and all-wheel-drive electric cars, including the new ix, which is available with three different twin-motor set-ups. The top-rung M60 car’s 611bhp, 811lb ft arrangement would endow the Range Rover Sport EV with performance on a par with – if not superior to – the forthcoming V8-powered SVR.