2019 Range Rover Sport Review – An SUV With Earth-Shattering Momentum

Range Rover Sport Overview: Top Models

Range Rover's were once not just the flagship, but the only offering of the Land Rover brand. However, owing to the growing demands of the customers and diversification being the key to scoring well on the sales chart, Range Rover in itself is divided into 4 different variants under the Range Rover umbrella. On the other hand, the Range Rover Sport is offered in 4 different trims levels, S, SE, HSE, and Autobiography. There’s also a mental 567bhp SVR version on offer, which should actually be in a different category altogether.

What we have for our review today is the Range Rover Sport HSE and to be specific, the newest and most affordable version with a 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol unit under the hood. As the name suggests, this is the sportiest Range Rover offering currently on sale. But how sporty is this behemoth with a seemingly tiny 2.0-litre sending power to those massive wheels? To find that out, the kind JLR folks handed us the keys and we were on our way. However, as things turned out, this big red balloo kept getting interesting with every kilometre clocked.

Range Rover Sport 360 View: Exterior Review

The first look itself is enough to send praises flying towards JLR designers and engineers. The car looks modern with traditional Range Rover elements intact. Step back and the recognizable silhouette of its predecessor stares right back in glee. The high-set clam-shell bonnet, flat sloping roof and the boxy dimensions all help cement this fact. While Ranger Rover's of old carried intersecting circular designs engulfed inside the tail and headlamp cluster but now these have transitioned from circles to filleted rectangles. Overall, the car remains boxy with straight lines as if all Range Rover designers had was rulers at their disposal. However, the edges are now softer and creases are a lot less pronounced as compared to the previous generation. Yet, the latest Range Rover Sport looks a lot more intimidating and edgy, also inviting a whole lot of eyeballs from passers-by everywhere you go.

Front View

The Range Rover Sport now sports (pun intended) the familiar Land Rover family design upfront which isn't as distinctive as the previous generation. However, the unique-looking DRLs housed inside the sleek headlamp assembly, a sleek grille design, flat bonnet with the Range Rover logo makes things a lot easier for its proof of identification. To further differentiate it from the flagship Range Rover, the key component here is the dynamically designed front bumper. It gets three operational air intakes for feeding air to the engine's intake vents and to help in cooling down the brakes. With massive intakes, a layman will be hard-pressed to point out where the fog lamps are. Look closer and you'll find them cleverly sitting flush between the front diffuser and the air intakes on either side. That said, the overall front fascia cleanly designed yet, distinctly Range Rover-ish.

Side view

As you step to the side, you'll see that the highlights here are not just one but in fact, many. The sheer length, typical Range Rover profile with a flat, contrast black-painted roof, optional 20-inch alloy wheels, all help in making this a complete attention magnet. The 20-inch rims seen here are not even the biggest that you can get, there is even a set of 22-inch rims which are available as an option. The vast expanse of sheet metal is neatly creased so that there’s no visual bulk whatsoever. The vents seen on the fenders are fake but they do help enhance its character needed to complement the Sport moniker on the badge.

Rear View

Stepping back, the Range Rover Sport's massive proportions are further evident. From a design perspective, it gets a squatted stance, which when coupled with the boxy rear comes up as a classy combination. The raked rear windshield gets a spoiler right above it, further adding class to its already classy silhouette. The attention-grabbing feature here are the tail lamps, they are an all-LED affair and look stunning in the dark.

Range Rover Sport Dimensions: Length, Width, Height & More

The Range Rover Sport has one heck of a massive road presence, enough to dwarf even a handful of large SUVs. To prove it, here are the number - It stands is 2073mm wide, 1803mm tall and measures 4879mm in length. With a ground clearance of 200mm, which can be further increased to 276mm in offroad mode, coupled to a wheelbase of 2923mm, the Range Rover Sport is not to be taken lightly. To further explicate its offroading credential, it gets a ramp-over angle of 27.2 degrees to tower over the trickiest of obstacles. The car sits on massive 20-inch wheels that look gorgeous and there’s also a full-size spare stowed away in the boot. With all seats up and a full-size spare wheel, Range Rover Sport gets a boot space of 780-litres.

Range Rover Sport Design: Interior Review

Before we talk about its interior, let us just tell you climbing inside the Range’s interior is not an easy task, especially if your POV is 5 feet 7 inches tall. The cabin's floor is high but to help you climb up the car lowers itself down. Once you get inside, your first reactions to the ambience on offer will be those of amazement. The centre console looks clean and classy, fortunately, free of pesky button cluttering up space. Land Rover offers a host of different colour options for the leather upholstery and headliner. Our test unit came with a black and dark grey colour combination, which we liked quite a lot. Overall, with neatly designed elements and soft-touch everything, it is quite the delight to be in. However, one annoyance that regularly came up was the lack of access to the door bins once the doors were closed shut. The door bins can accommodate 2 one-litre water bottles with ease. However, the need to open the doors every time you need to access them might get under your skin.

Seating Capacity

Internationally, the Range Rover Sport also comes with a 7-seat layout. Land Rover has not yet introduced this is India and has chosen to keep the 5-seat configuration as standard across the range. The seats themselves are uber comfortable and quite supportive, yet are large enough to accommodate the largest of the humans. The front seats are 14-way power-adjustable, while the rear seats can be reclined manually. There is also 22-way power-adjustable heating seats available as part of an optional package.

Safety Features

The Range Rover Sport comes with a host of safety nets in order to keep the occupants out of complete harm. To start with, it comes with 8 airbags as standard and the count can be increased to 10 as part of the optional package. You also get adaptive cruise control with stop & go assist, high-speed emergency braking, lane-keep assist, ABS with EBD, electronic traction control, emergency brake assist, roll stability control, cornering brake control and dynamic stability control which helps correct any miscalculated driver input.

Comfort Features

The name Range Rover by itself commands an image of a luxury offroad vehicle. The Sport is very much designed with the same philosophy and thus, pampers its occupants with a host of tech and an abundance of comfort features. Starting from the front, it gets LED headlamps as standard, which can further be upgraded to Matrix-LEDs or Pixel-Laser LEDs. It gets adaptive ride height for easy ingress and egress, gesture control for operating the sunroof, a 1700W 22-speaker Meridian sound system, Touch Pro Duo infotainment system with two 10-inch touchscreens for the ICE and climate control module, a 12.3-inch interactive driver multi-information display, heads-up display, and more. Looking at everything on offer, it's clear that Range Rover Sport has a list of comfort features that can spoil even the most pampered of passengers.

Security Features

In terms of security, the Range Rover Sport is much more advanced than the last-generation model. It comes with features that are smarter than ever. It lets you connect to your car with the help of an Android or Apple watch in order to use them as a key, in case you find the activity key lacking in the style quotient. The car can also be connected via a smartphone to check on the status of the car’s door locks, windows, etc.

Range Rover Sport Performance: Engine Review

As mentioned earlier, the Range Rover Sport now gets a new 2.0-litre Ingenium petrol as an option. Other than this, it is offered with five engine options in total. To start with, there is a 300PS 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo petrol, a 255PS 3.0L V6 diesel, a 340PS 4.4L V8 diesel, and then there's the top of the line 5.0-litre V8 petrol found in the Autobiography and SVR which produce 520PS and produces 570PS respectively.

Our test car was equipped with the latest 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo petrol from JLR’s latest Ingenium family of engines. This unit can also be found doing duty on various other cars sold under the JLR umbrella. Along with 300PS on tap, the engine also churns out 400Nm of peak torque, transferred to the wheels with the help of an 8-speed automatic transmission. The 2.0-litre motor here is the newest engine developed by the manufacturer and is also the cheapest, yet doesn’t feel so when functioning at its optimum performance point.

In terms of driving, the Range Rover Sport can best be described as a car that can be mellow when pottering around city streets but manages to pick up speed in an easy fashion, when driven with a heavy foot in sports mode. With sports mode, it also lets you use the paddle shifters placed behind the steering wheel. The shifts are fast in sports mode and the car allows revs to climb all the way to redline. What also amplifies the fun factor is that intoxicating growl from the exhaust. While words do not do justice to how it sounds, we'll just say that it is unlike any other inline-4 cylinder we've heard before. At city speeds in eco or comfort mode, throttle response is lazy as gearbox takes time trying to decide if it needs a downshift or not, but after shifting a gear or two down, the hood rises towards the sky and you get pushed into the seats. This very same drama is even more pronounced in sports mode, as this can do sprint to 100kmph from a standstill in just 7 seconds. Keeping the throttle pinned, the car maxes out at 201kmph. It climbs all the way to its electronically-limited top speed of 201kmph with ease.

The car also has multiple dedicated offroad modes, thanks to Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system. The modes in question are - Grass Gravel Snow, Sand, Rock Crawl, and Mud and Ruts. Different settings pre-determine the levels of intervention from the traction control and ESP, different ride heights, and also vector the torque by individually applying the brakes. With all of these techs making zillion calculations a second, this sporty Range Rover can climb up the most difficult terrain and come down it like child’s play.

Range Rover Sport Mileage: Is it fuel-economical?

Our test car with its 2.0-litre Ingenium motor was surprisingly frugal for its 300PS power output and the fact that it was pulling a 2500kg mammoth. It managed to return 9kmpl with a light foot. However, when it was driven enthusiastically, the lowest achieved mileage was 6kmpl. It's fuel efficiency, coupled with a fuel tank capacity of 105 litres, indicates it could return up to 600 kilometres of total driving range. Our test car was equipped with a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine with an electronically-limited top speed of 201kmph.

Range Rover Sport Cost: Is it affordable?

The Range Rover Sport is an expensive car as it starts at Rs. 86.71 lakhs (Ex-Delhi) and goes all the way up to Rs. 1.8 Crores for the top of the line Autobiography variant. The SVR is another Rs. 25 lakhs more expensive than the Autobiography bringing its ex-showroom price tag to Rs. 2.05 Crores.

Range Rover Sport Colours: How many options?

According to JLR, no two Range Rover Sport can be identical with the amount of customization on offer. There are plenty of colours options available with the car, 12 to be precise. The available colour options are Narvik Black, Fuji White, Santorini Black, Firenze Red, Corris Grey, Yulong White, Byron Blue, Estoril Blue, Loire Blue, Indus Silver, Carpathian Grey, and Silicon Silver. There’s also an optional black contrast roof on offer.

Verdict: Is Range Rover Sport worth buying?

Oh Yes! The Range Rover Sport is definitely worth the money spent on making one yours. The car can tower over almost anything with its tall stature and has quite an imposing road-presence. There’s enough power available at the slightest dab of the throttle to exhilarate you every time you wish to scare you and your passengers silly. Not only that, the 2.0-litre Ingenium motor is pretty frugal too. Also, let's not forget the fact that with the help of Land Rover's Terrain Response 2 system, it can take you through the most adventurous of off-road conditions with absolute ease. While it does rival the likes of the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE, nothing else rivals the Range Rover Sport in all-around performance on-road and off. Along with that, if you are a Land Rover fanatic, you'll love it for the fact that it carries an iconic silhouette while being brute and beautiful.