New 2013 Range Rover Sport review, test drive

The new 2013 Range Rover Sport is claimed to be the fastest, most agile and most responsive Land Rover ever. We investigate.

Published on Jul 04, 2013 08:49:00 PM

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New 2013 Range Rover Sport review, test drive

The supercharged 5.0-litre V8 model with 503bhp is very, very quick, and rest assured you will run out of courage before it runs out of power. Flex your right foot and the muted growl begs you to smash the throttle to the floor. The alacrity with which this engine leaps to life is thrilling – 100kph comes up in just 5.3 seconds, and that’s impressive considering you are pulling 2.3 tonnes of metal along with you. The corners leap at you quickly and just as you think it’s going to step out of line, the Range Rover Sport hugs the corner and goes around. Put it into Dynamic mode and it hunkers down even further, the shifts become lightning quick, the suspension tightens up and you fly around corners with just a whisper of body roll. With its predecessor, you always felt like you were fighting its considerable mass, but the 420-odd-kg weight reduction has turned it into a new animal. There really is some credence to the ‘Sport’ moniker this time around.

Land Rover has thrown its full arsenal of chassis technology into the new Sport to raise the fun factor from behind the wheel. An adaptive dynamic system monitors sensor readings 500 times per second, torque vectoring brakes the inside wheel for sharper cornering, and there are continuously variable dampers and a locking rear differential. It all works away silently so that you can confidently test your limits. Continued..