Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 : A QUESTIONABLE SPORT?

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The Range Rover Sport may have a plutocratic reputation, but in the 2.7TDV6, Andy Enright finds a vehicle that has a firm grounding in reality

Cards on table time. Im not the biggest fan of Land Rovers Range Rover Sport. There are two main reasons. Firstly, I think Land Rover bottled it with the design.

Anyone who saw the Range Stormer concept car knows what the Sport should look like. Secondly, Sports are being bought by a certain type of person around my way, namely blokes who dont seem to have gainful employment but can afford a £60,000 car with 20-inch chromed alloys and blacked-out windows. Strangely, its the least sporting Sport of the bunch that Ive got a bit of a soft spot for.

The 2.7 TDV6 diesel model isnt an instant candidate for the Sport treatment. For a start, its only got a 188bhp engine with which to haul about a vehicle that weighs more than the Lusitania. Okay, thats a mild exaggeration, but youll still have to wait a good 11.

9 seconds before it lumbers up to 60mph, eventually hitting a top speed of 120mph. Unlike the V8 petrol versions however, fuel economy is respectable with an everyday usage figure in the low to mid twenties as far as miles per gallon is concerned. Yes, your Range Rover Sport may be outjuiced in the horsepower stakes by some Skodas but where this model scores is in a completely unexpected area. Most would probably slap an expected price somewhere around £45,000 on a model like this but Land Rover instead ask just £35,750.

Suddenly Range Rover ownership is a viable proposition to all of those who had decided that they were Jeep Grand Cherokee people. BMW will sell you an X3 thats pricier. Admittedly, were comparing top of the range with bottom of the range and the S specification Range Rover Sport isnt exactly laden down with gadgetry, but its all the more appealing for it. Remember the way that the original Spen King-designed Range Rovers were effortlessly cool with their pared down design and basic equipment list? The base Range Rover Sport TDV6 is the closest thing weve got these days.

"The TDV6 version of the Range Rover Sport shouldnt work but it does"

Ride quality is acceptable on 19-inch rims although it does degrade a little if you start specifying bigger alloy wheels that would look more at home in a gangsta rap video. The engine is a version of that found in Jaguars S-TYPE and XJ models and although its not endowed with the broadest spread of torque in the world, the six-speed automatic gearbox is well capable of plugging you into the meat of the powerband again and again, making the Sport TDV6 a whole lot quicker feeling than that puny horsepower figure would suggest. Its especially good off the line, where the sophisticated electronics, all-wheel drive traction and instant-on diesel urge allowing it to get the drop on far more powerful cars. That 0-20mph bound is often all you need to establish dominance in the city and the Sport TDV6 excels here, with excellent visibility and surprisingly good manoeuvrability for such a hefty piece of real estate.

The 324lb/ft of torque is about what youd expect to find shoehorned into the middle end of something like a Ferrari F430, so youre not short of muscle when you need to effect an overtaking manoeuvre. If we hadnt been spoiled by the Range Stormer, the Sports styling would probably have received a little more kudos. The wheelarches are subtly flared, thin side vents sit behind the front wheels and theres a sharp swage line that runs along the cars hips. The windscreen is sharply raked back and the perforated front grille looks like a set of expensive kitchen knives.

The biggest change from the show car is the move from three doors to five and if there was a feeling that the design has been unacceptably watered down, the detailing of the Range Rover Sport just might change your opinion. Its also a landmark vehicle for a company with a whole lot more autonomy. Just five years ago, Land Rover could never have built a car of this kind. Their owners at the time (BMW) didnt want a sports crossover vehicle like this poaching sales from their all-conquering X5.

It was only as recently as 2000 that plans were first laid for a chassis platform that would spawn two very different vehicles. The first was the Discovery3 and the second was this, the Range Rover Sport. Both ride on a monocoque chassis and double wishbone suspension that offers far better on-road ride and handling than any previous Land Rover product. As you might expect, the Range Rover Sport features a much more focused set up than the Disco.

The steering rack has been replaced by a quicker item, offering more road feeback and quicker reponses. To help cut the pitch and roll that quick changes of direction tend to generate, Land Rover have also upgraded the springs and dampers and lowered the cars roll centre. Perhaps the most innovative feature of the Sports underpinnings is Dynamic Response, a set of anti roll bars that can be engaged or decoupled according to demand. Standard on the flagship supercharged model and an option on the other models in the range, Dynamic Response also decouples when off roading in order to allow greater wheel articulation.

Under normal conditions, drive is split 50:50 between the front and rear axles although it can instantaneously switch according to demand. The Sport also gets the Terrain Response system first seen in the Discovery3. This is virtually akin to having an expert sitting alongside you, helping to get the best out of the vehicle, on or off road. The driver chooses one of five terrain setttings via a rotary knob mounted on the centre console.

Theres a general driving programme plus one for slippery conditions (dubbed grass/gravel/snow) and three specialist off road modes (mud/ruts, sand, rock crawl). The system will then automatically select the optimum setup for the electronic controls and the traction aids. This encompasses ride height, torque response, hill descent control, electronic traction control and transmission settings. The interior of the Range Rover Sport is a little more conventional than the Discovery3, with many of the controls angled towards the driver.

Although rear seat space isnt the greatest, the payoff is the biggest boot in its class. An aluminium hatch with separately opening rear window glass is a neat finishing touch. The TDV6 diesel is never going to be the poster child for the Sport line up, but less, in this instance at least, is most unambiguously more.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 range
PRICE: £35,750-£47,700 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 14
CO2 EMISSIONS: 271g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 120mph / 0-60mph 11.9s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 27.mpg (combined)
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, ABS, ETC, EBA, DSC
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 4695/1915/1891mm