![]() Supercharged models add shift paddles to the steering wheel. Drivers who want to shift for themselves can then push the lever forward or back, which cancels sport mode and activates a manual mode. The automatic sport mode, which you activate by sliding the gear selector to the left, makes the transmission hold lower gears further up the engine speed range and makes it easier to provoke a downshift. ![]() The transmission responds reasonably quickly to demands for passing power, kicking down a gear or two with minimal hesitation. In fact, I submit Land Rover would have been smarter to split the difference and also improve mileage for 2010 rather than just its acceleration. Zero to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds is quick for any vehicle, and it feels more than adequate in the Sport. The improvement in acceleration is palpable. That being said, 14 and 15 mpg won’t set any records. There’s no overall mileage penalty: Estimates are up 1 mpg in the city for the HSE and down 1 mpg on the highway for the Supercharged, but the combined figures stay the same. Those are impressive numbers for large, squared-off SUVs. The 2010 Supercharged makes the sprint in 5.9 seconds. Based on Land Rover’s tests, the entry level Range Rover Sport HSE now does zero to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds, which is roughly what the 2009 Supercharged model did. The new direct fuel injection provides a combination of power and efficiency to benefit acceleration over mileage. The torque peaks also come lower in the engines’ rev ranges, which means there’s more oomph when accelerating off the line. 2009 DrivetrainsĮPA-estimated mpg (city/highway - combined)Īs the table reflects, the 2010 model’s output increases by 75 horsepower and 60 pounds-feet of torque, and the Supercharged gains 120 hp and 51 pounds-feet. The Sport’s biggest improvements are to its drivetrains. That means the Sport is now worthier of its name, but there’s still a distinction between the two. The upside is that the Sport boasts some dramatic improvements for 2010, and so does the Range Rover. The Sport has much more front and rear legroom than the larger Range Rover, and no sacrifice in rear headroom. The Sport has less headroom in front, but because the two models don’t share a platform, the inside dimensions aren’t predictable. As the photos illustrate, the Sport’s roofline tapers down, and the rear window has a shallower angle, giving it a sportier look. The Sport is shorter in overall length than the Range Rover, and it sits lower. Ground clearance (standard/off-road mode, in.) ![]() And if you paid close to 80 grand for a Range Rover and then saw lesser models trading off the Range Rover cachet, you’d probably get snooty (or perhaps snootier). If you see it as a shrunken LR4 that’s been marked up $13,245, you might be less enthusiastic. If you think of the Sport as a sportified Rover based on a newer platform that is priced $17,930 less, you might feel pretty good about it. What all this means depends upon your perspective. (The LR3 was upgraded and renamed the LR.) The Range Rover Sport, on the other hand, came out in 2006 and was based on Land Rover’s more affordable LR3, which had debuted on a new platform for 2005. Though it also received significant upgrades this year, the current Range Rover was last redesigned and re-engineered for the 2003 model year. The Range Rover has a platform all to itself, developed when BMW owned the Land Rover brand at the end of the 1990s. The Range Rover is Land Rover’s flagship it’s a large, impossibly luxurious yet remarkably off-road-capable SUV with a starting price of $78,425. I feel obligated to pull back the curtain on the Range Rover Sport because it’s arguably not a “real” Range Rover. Unfortunately, its gas mileage remains poor - and then there’s the troubling notion that it’s not really a Range Rover. The Land Rover Range Rover Sport is sportier than you might expect a large, squarish SUV to be, but it doesn’t compete well against its sleeker competition - though it provides an off-road capability the others lack. Thanks to some improvements for 2010, it’s now quicker and sportier than ever, as well as classier inside. With its smaller size and on-road focus, the Range Rover Sport is the sportiest of Land Rover’s SUVs.
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