King of the (off ) road
NOW that’s how to make a splash! So confident was Land Rover about the off-road prowess of its new third-generation Range Rover Sport, unveiled this week, that it got James Bond stunt driver Jessica hawkins behind the wheel in the flooded spillway of an Icelandic dam.
‘It was the most challenging drive I’ve ever undertaken,’ said hawkins.
The released water at the Karahnjukar Dam raged at 750 tons per minute down the 300m stretch, which then climbs nearly 200 m at a 40-degree angle. Thankfully, the car can wade in up to 900mm.
Priced from £79,125, the Solihullbuilt Sport goes on sale with a range of petrol-electric plug-in hybrid (PheV), petrol and diesel engines, all with 8-speed automatic gearboxes, with first deliveries from September. A pure electric zero-emissions variant is due in 2024.
It is the third generation of the Range Rover Sport, which was first launched 17 years ago in 2005. Of the two plug-in hybrid versions, the P510e combines a 3-litre six cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor and accelerates from rest to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds up to a top speed of 150mph and is priced from £107,400.
The P440e 3-litre six cylinder PheV costs £83,330. Both plugin hybrids can cruise at up to 87mph in eV mode, enjoy low CO2 emissions of 18g/km, have an official electric-only driving range of 70 miles and a ‘realworld’ range of 54 miles, and a total driving range on a full tank of 460 miles.
Of the two petrol versions, P530 530 hp 4.4- litre Twin Turbo V8 manages rest to 62mph in 4.5 seconds up to a top speed of 155 mph. Starting at £114,990, it’s the most expensive model. The P400 400hP 3-litre sixcylinder ‘mild hybrid’ costs from £86,195.
Two diesels are the D300 300hp 3-litre six cylinder from £79,125, the cheapest model on sale, and the D350 350hp from £98,045.
Both manage 38.3mpg with CO2 emissions of 194 g and 195 g/km respectively.