2011 RANGE ROVER SPORT SUPERCHARGED

[marwan25]

hat’s not to say that former Land Rover owner Ford didn’t contribute its share. But the Ford of the 2000s was a penny pincher of epic proportions and it showed throughout its entire lineup from Ford Focus to Range Rover.

In fact, it was under Ford’s tutelage that Land Rover hatched the concept of a more trim, road-oriented Range Rover. Previewed by the Range Stormer concept car, the production Range Rover Sport is like an 8/10ths scale Range Rover.

What is it?
Conceived as a more personal interpretation of the Range Rover, the Sport boasts its big brother’s lines in a comparatively trim overall package. Initially introduced as a 2006 model, the Sport has seen several iterations of its basic theme offered to North American consumers.

Last year, the Sport – and the rest of Land Rover’s V8-powered lineup – got access to the latest Jaguar V8 range. Offered in both normally-aspirated and supercharged configurations, the engines have been modified for off road use. Our tester was optioned up with the supercharged powertrain, as its name suggests.

Based on the semi quasi-unibody platform as the larger Land Rover LR4 (known elsewhere as the Discovery), the low-slung Sport might not look like an off roader bereft of the tradtional Land Rover seal. It is, albeit in a way that depends more on electronic traction control and differential sophistication than ground clearance and suspension flexibility like Land Rovers of yore.

What’s it up against?
With just two rows of seats and relatively trim proportions, the Sport really best squares off against the BMW X5. Toss in the Lexus GX 460 and, maybe, the top-shelf Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, and you have the makings of an eclectic shopping list. Both Jeep and BMW offer serious grunt, but their performance models would be lost on even the lightest trail.

Any breakthroughs?
There’s not much new here for 2011, but that doesn’t mean that the Range Rover Sport isn’t a special place to spend some time. Thoroughly revised last year, it finally got the upscale interior it deserved. The only sore spot is an anemic navigation system.

Land Rover’s Terrain Response control knob sprouts up toward the rear of the center console. Give it a whirl and you’ll find your choice of off road modes, each of which tailor the traction control, suspension and three differentials to the sort of road you’ve found.

How does it look?
Just as true to the original Range Rover as the marque’s current flagship, the smaller Sport features a tall greenhouse and a more sloping rear window than most SUVs. Bejeweled and bejazzled more than before, its look isn’t as expedition-ready as it once was, especially with the optional 20-inch alloy wheels on our tester.

The front fascia sits low to the ground with a bumper that juts way out, but the angle of approach is still acceptable for off road use. Above it sits a complex central grille surrounded by sparkling tail lamps bound to impress any valet. Move alongside the Sport and you’ll find a pair of gigantic vents hacked into the fenders, as well as a body kit-like rocker treatment that screams Rodeo Drive, not Fort Worth Rodeo. Blacked out pillars are fitting with the Range Rover look, although the big chrome tailpipes that sneak out of the rear bumper hint at the performance underhood.

Unlike its big brother’s split-folding arrangement, the Sport’s tailgate opens upward like most SUVs.

And on the inside?
A veritable house of luxury, the Range Rover Sport offers about as much pampered refinement as we can imagine. Top notch materials wrap every surface, including the fine leather on the captain’s chairs. Sheen-free-finish wood trim looks like it could have come out of the library in a castle in rural England. In short, this is an exceedingly comfortable place to whittle away the miles.

The 2010 refresh brought with it a much more upscale design than before, although the Sport still remains a little surprisingly low on luxuries. Don’t go looking for goodies like ventilated seats or a power liftgate, but at least the atmosphere is top notch. At least there is a rockin’ Harman/Kardon audio system, an intuitive trip computer and, of course, those acres and acres of fragrant leather. Too bad the navigation and infotainment is clunky and dated, with a map that proved rather outdated both in its design and its recognition of streets we didn’t even think were that new.

Rear seat passengers get plenty of leg room with easy ingress and egress thanks to the height-adjustable air suspension. The slab-sided body offers up no shortage of cargo space behind row two. We especially like the rugged-feeling loop carpet, which serves as a pleasant reminder of the Sport’s history.

But does it go?
With the same 510 horsepower, 5.0-liter supercharged V8 also found under the hood of the Jaguar XF, among other Jaguar Land Rover products, the Sport does two things really, really well.

First, it positively scoots. Torque rushes on to the tune of 461 lb-ft. at just 2,500 rpm, imbuing the Sport with a sense of fleet-footedness not normally seen in larger SUVs. From any speed, the V8 pulls hard, rewarding the driver with smile-inducing power at every opportunity. On top of that, it sounds glorious, emitting a tightly tuned burble and supercharger whine from under the well insulated hood. The sound is there when you want it – when the tachometer is ready to tickle the upper reaches of the rev range – and it is gone when you want to lope around town.

We did notice a somewhat lumpy idle at times in our tester, although experience with other Jaguar Land Rover products with this powertrain has left us impressed with its lack of noise, vibration and harshness.

The other thing the Sport does extraordinarily well is guzzle premium fuel. We eked out 17 mpg on the highway, but urban slogging saw the fuel gauge plummet. Overall, we recorded a dismal 13.5 mpg in a week of mixed driving.

But if you’re going to make OPEC really happy, you might as well do it in a Range Rover Sport. Ride quality is superb thanks to an air suspension that soaks up anything in its path. Keep heaping on praise for that air suspension when you enter a corner and the Sport takes things in a manner that makes its moniker seem quite appropriate. Steering is precise and nicely balanced, giving the Sport both a pleasant tossability and an ease of use in parking lots.

Our off road driving was limited, but we’ve seen what this platform can do. Although we’re still more comfortable with articulating axles and tall sidewalls, the Sport’s air suspension and amazing traction control make it as capable as any factory Land Rover this side of a Defender. If you get stuck in the Sport, it’s probably your fault.

Leftlane’s bottom line
A rational purchase, the Range Rover Sport most certainly is not. Expensive, thirsty and not briming with tech, its appeal lies in its character. Positively brimming with old Land Rover values, it seems almost uncomfortable in its big wheels and shiny jewelry.

But that hardly stops us from wanting one – badly. It is hedonism at its best in a package that keeps Land Rover at the top of its game, especially with a fantastic V8 and a quality interior.

2011 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged base price, $74,575. As tested, $77,645.
Harman/Kardon audio, $1,250; 20-inch wheels, $1,000; Destination, $850