RANGE ROVER SPORT
Sneaking in aboard the coat-tails of its bigger brother, the Range Rover, the ‘L461’ Range Rover Sport was just a little bit starved of limelight in the build-up to its introduction last year. Modern Land Rover product launches are rarely so under-hyped or little-anticipated – and if this Sport’s unveiling had been given a prominence appropriate to the contribution it makes to Jaguar Land Rover’s bottom line, it would have had a hero’s welcome in this new, third-generation form. The Range Rover Sport defines the modern Range Rover, and part of that success is attributable to its near-perfect positioning. It brings the refinement and capability you expect of a fullsize Range Rover to a price point that’s a bit easier to justify. But it combines both with a sharply cut style, sporting performance and driver’s car dynamism: a package so complete that is hard to beat, even among £75,000 executive SUVS. Another part of its success could be its recognition by long-serving Range Rover owners of being a car that’s more like the original Range Rover of 1970 than the larger, more luxury-focused modern Range Rover. Once the BMW Groupownership-era ‘L322’ Range Rover appeared in the early 2000s, the genie was out of the bottle as far as the halo model was concerned. It has moved further and further upmarket ever since, catering to richer and richer tastes. But the Sport has maintained the original Range Rover’s ‘outstanding on- and off-road’ positioning, as well as its size and many of its defining design cues. And by offering a distinguishing level of driver appeal to the modern luxury SUV buyer, accompanied by all of the other qualities with which the brand has become associated over the decades, it’s continuing the mission for which the 1970 original was explicitly designed. The latest version of the car is one almost without weakness. While previous generations might have been a step behind some of Germany’s luxury brands on cabin technology or material interior appeal, the L461 is a truly worldclass product. Between four-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars, and accounting for its long-range plug-in hybrid powertrains as well as its Ingenium and Bmw-sourced engines, it has the chassis and powertrain technologies that arm it for success for years to come. It has luxury-level space, excellent digital cabin technology and an inviting, upscale interior. But the most striking progress that the car has made is on rolling refinement. JLR’S latest MLA-FLEX model architecture here underpins a supremely quiet and relaxing car with a limousine-like air, running well in advance of the standards set not only by its predecessors but also most of its competitors. Count that alongside all of the Range Rover Sport’s other defining qualities and you can’t help recognising an exceptional package. And while it’s one for which Land Rover charges a tidy premium compared with some competitors, you certainly wouldn’t struggle to find ways to justify paying it.