The new Range Rover Sport is more massive than its predecessor, but is also significantly more expensive. There is more agility, new off-road programs and a plug-in hybrid that can travel up to 113 kilometers purely electrically.
They know names, the Brits. On the new Range Rover Sport, a gray paint finish is simply called “Eiger Grey”. Every more or less experienced alpinist immediately thinks of the 1,800 meter high rock monster of the 3,967 meter high Eiger near the Swiss Grindelwald. A section that claimed some fatalities among the daredevil climbers and was thus named “Murder Wall” in the mid-1930s. Far less dramatic, however, is the fact that the area under the apparently floating center console is called “Fireplace”. From the end of this summer, the dynamic Edelbrite should make fire, especially for the German competition. “We took our cues from the BMW X5,” says chief engineer Erol Mustafa, adding: “The new Range Rover is significantly more dynamic than the previous one.”
The crossover has to be that too if it wants to keep up with the German competition from Zuffenhausen and Munich in terms of agility. So the new Range Rover Sport is based on the MLA Flex platform (Flexible Modular Longitudinal Architecture) and has a body that is 35 percent more torsion-resistant than before. There is also an optional limited-slip differential on the rear axle, a newly tuned all-wheel drive, torque vectoring via brake intervention and active 48-volt roll stabilization, similar to that of the Bentley Bentayga. “Only that our electric motors have more torque”; smiles Mustafa. To be precise, it’s 1,400 Newton meters. This allows the electrically controlled anti-roll bars to act more quickly.
When it comes to the chassis, the British use dual-chamber air suspension with adaptive Billstein dampers. For comparison: Single-chamber air springs are installed in the luxury brother Range Rover. So that these dynamic components also have the desired effect, the engineers chased the 2.3-ton Range Rover Sport for a number of laps around the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. A rear-axle steering, in which the wheels turn with up to 7.3 degrees, helps when manoeuvring. Just like the 360-degree camera and at night, headlights help illuminate the road up to 500 meters away for orientation.
The look underlines the agility. The sporty Range Rover is more massive than its predecessor, is around two meters wide and seven centimeters longer, and there are powerful 23-inch tires in the wheel arches. The driver sits 2.3 centimeters lower than in the Range Rover. In the rear, the passengers of the new Range Rover also have a good three centimeters more space than before due to the longer wheelbase and the trunk has grown by around 50 to 60 liters and also accommodates a real emergency wheel.
For all its sportiness, a Range is still a Rover. So he has to stand his ground even off the beaten track. As the name suggests, the “Adaptive Off-Road Cruise Control” is an adaptive cruise control when driving over hill and dale. Depending on the terrain, there are four driving programs to choose from, the system takes care of the rest and the driver only has to steer. The test will show how well the technology works. True off-road enthusiasts will probably continue to trust their own foot on the accelerator and the feel of it.
In the interior, the designers carry out reduction and sustainability. If desired, the seating is made with recycled materials and the interior has fewer buttons than before. At the heart of the latest version of Pivi Pro infotainment is the 13.1-inch touchscreen with controls that, like Audi, give haptic feedback when you touch them and initiate an action. The speakers of the sound system are hidden behind a sound-permeable fabric cover and are therefore invisible. “The sound is not affected,” says Siobhan Hughes, who is responsible for the materials. The virtual instruments are displayed on a 13.7-inch monitor.
Although the new Range Rover Sport has a plug-in hybrid with 375 kW / 510 hp and an electric range of 113 kilometers (WLTP), the four-cylinder engines have disappeared from the range. The 250 D six-cylinder diesel (183 kW / 249 hp) is the entry-level engine and costs an impressive 93,000 euros. If you want the 510 PS PHEV drive with the 38.2 kilowatt hour battery, you have to pay around 138,500 euros. The P440e AWD PHEV with 324 kW / 440 hp is available from 100,200 euros. The top motorization with thoroughbred 390 kW / 530 hp and V8 biturbo hp costs at least 142,600 euros. A fully electric version will be launched next year.
Source: Stern
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