All-new Range Rover Sport revealed

For more than five decades the Range Rover has set the standard when it comes to SUV luxury and capability, and near the end of last year the 5th generation was unveiled to the world having spent five years in the hands of designers and engineers.

Meanwhile, somewhere across the hall in Solihull England, the third Generation Range Rover Sport was also being simultaneously designed and, according to them, what they’ve produced is ‘‘the most dynamic and capable Range Rover Sport ever’’.

When it comes to design, the new Range Rover Sport is clean, modern and confident showcasing a ‘‘gently accelerated roofline, an uninterrupted shoulderline and an upward shooting beltline’’ that have been drawn to all converge way off in the distance.

The lights are narrower and come with 1.3 million ‘‘micromirrors’’ that can shadow/ block-out up to 16 different objects and offer up to 500m of clear visibility. There’s a new corporate grille too, that sits neatly under the Range Rover Sport’s clamshell bonnet.

The Sport’s profile is more dynamic, yet flush and reductive, with a contrasting roof featuring a spoiler that elongates the look of the SUV. Hidden ‘‘D’’ pillars, smaller mirrors and flush door handles all add to the sleek look. The waistline is hidden, but there’s a V groove feature line that the designers are very proud of.

On top of that, in what Range Rover are calling ‘‘body to glass’’ or ‘‘glass to gloss’’, all window rubber has been reduced and the gap between window and door is just 6mm creating an ‘‘optimal body to glass relationship.’’

While the front is quite similar to the standard Range Rover, the rear is visually wider and the tail lamps are horizontal, with new technology called surface LED (like OLED TV) that are super bright and very red.

On the inside the leather seats offer up a commanding driving position, while the dash and console areas are uncluttered, underlining Range Rover’s subtle and restrained approach.

They say that it’s ultra quiet when on the move, too, with mics in each wheel arch to counter road noise, noise reduction speakers in the headrests and the engine sound is modulated.

There’s a 13.1-inch floating infotainment haptic screen with the latest Pivi Pro system and Alexa connectivity, and the company says that within ‘‘two clicks’’ you can get to the feature or app you’re looking for.

Meridian provides the sounds with a 1430 watt stereo played through 29 speakers. Mirror view offers an uninterrupted view of the rear and the 13.7-inch driver’s display gives the driver all the personalised info they would ever want or need.

Range Rover says the Sport’s chassis is 35% stiffer and ‘‘now at sports car levels’’. It has dynamic air suspension, dual volume springs and twin valve dampers to reduce pitch and roll.

The active rear differential and intelligent AWD will direct all the SUV’s torque to where it’s required, and there’s torque vectoring by braking and all wheel steering as well. And for those tight inner city streets, the new Sport has a 10.95m turning circle thanks to the all-wheel steering.

Range Rover claims that this is ‘‘the most dynamic and capable Range Rover Sport ever’’ on and off the road, and packs Range Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system, with a new dynamic mode in terrain control and six preset off-road modes. It has a 45-degree maximum gradient, with a wading depth of 900mm and a tow rating of 3500kg.

As far as powertrains go, there will be two plug-in hybrid models at launch (P510e and P440e).

The P510e uses Land Rover’s Ingenium 6-cylinder petrol engine with a 38.2kWh battery pack to provide a claimed pure-electric range of up to 113km. It produces 375kW/700Nm and boasts a 0 to 100kph time of 5.4 seconds.

As well as the PHEVs, D300 petrol and D350 turbo-diesel sixcylinder models with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system will also be available, while the 530PS V8 version will top the range with a BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 producing 390kW of power and sprinting to 100kph in 4.5 seconds. Full local details will be revealed closer to the New Zealand launch.

This new third generation Range Rover Sport may have been five years in the making, but from what we saw it’s been well worth the wait. Now where are the keys?