Take Range Rover Sport on road trip
As someone who flies fairly frequently, I am convinced that airline executives (who most likely fly in private jets) care only about jamming as many customers onto their flights as possible, providing the same amount of comfort afforded cattle before the slaughter.
The same is not true of cars, fortunately, which are designed with comfort as a top priority. A case in point is the all-new redesigned 2023 Range Rover Sport. A smaller, sportier rendition of the also-redesigned Range Rover, it shares its underpinnings with its larger sibling but plays the part of the more athletic, bratty baby brother with hybrid, plug-in hybrid and V-8 powertrains.
Climb aboard and you’ll find a cabin with the same exquisite materials impeccably designed with a modernist eye. There are other minor differences, such the carbon fiber trim on our test vehicle. The Sport’s lower seating position, higher beltline and a taller center console makes it feel more like a cockpit than the larger Range Rover. Similarly, the second row’s legroom is less expansive, but the Sport’s sporting ambitions make the second row less important.
But it still has the niceties you expect and some you may not, such as a chilled center console bin large enough to hold a wireless device charger. A 13.1-inch curved multimedia touchscreen and 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster lend the cabin a high-tech appeal. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. And it has a 1,430watt, 29-speaker Meridian Signature sound system.
Given its station, it may not surprise you that the Sport can be fitted with a variety of powertrains. The base P360 SE comes with a 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six mild hybrid, generating 355 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. Choose the P400 SE Dynamic instead and that jumps to 395 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. You can also opt for the P440e Autobiography, equipped with the same gas engine, but mated to a 105-kilowatt electric motor and a 31.8kilowatt-hour battery pack that allows it to travel 48 miles on electricity alone, while providing 434 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. However, the P530 First Edition is the sportiest of Sports, with its twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 producing 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque.
All the Range Rover Sports have an air suspension, all-wheel steering and an electronic active differential with torque vectoring to improve handling. Adaptive off-road cruise control enhances its already impressive Terrain Response System, which includes multiple drive modes.
Its strongest feature is its versatility; with a turn of the Terrain Response dial, it can transform from the cozily comfortable
SUV you’d expect into an agile on-road vehicle or an equally adept off-road warrior. However, its rearwheel steering proves to be the most beneficial. Its main advantage, which is tightening the vehicle’s turning radius, enables it to operate much more like a smaller vehicle.