It can somehow bash through deep forest one moment and make a mad dash on tarmac the next.
Throughout the upper echelons of English Premier League football, where star players’ salaries are sky-high and their transfer fees are out of this world, the original Range Rover Sport stands as one of the most popular modes of transport.
Other preferred rides of celebrity footballers include the BMW X5, Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin DB9 and the Porsche 911 Turbo. So the sportiest Land Rover model is in good company, then.
Soccer stars’ passion for the 2-door supercars is understandable. These driving machines are speedy, sexy and all.
But what is it about the Range Rover Sport that endears itself to well-paid football players? Its brash styling, for one, especially in striking Vesuvius Orange.
Then there’s the hearty V8 performance and the stirring supercharger soundtrack that accompanies it. The car is practical, too, thanks to ample cargo space accessible via a convenient 2-piece tailgate.
This shopping-friendly feature is most appreciated by the footballers’ equally famous WAGs (Wives And Girlfriends).
Last but not least, Land Rover is as British as Beckham, even though the firm was bought over by India’s Tata Group last year.
The latest 2010 edition of the Range Rover Sport, with its significant improvements, aims to replicate the success of its predecessor, and not just within the ball-kicking ranks of the English Premier League elite.
Vivid orange paintwork is no longer available, but the palette of 12 different colours, including regal Buckingham Blue, ought to satisfy even the fussiest buyer.
There is also more paint per se, with the side mirror housings now colour-coded (they used to be entirely unpainted plastic).
High and mighty cockpit has all the amenities of an all-singing, all-dancing superstar on wheels.
The rest of the exterior, like that of the regular Range Rover and the Discovery 4, has been given an upmarket update.
The xenon headlamps, now with LED “high-lights”, are more attractive and also more effective than before.
The “cheese grater” grille has been tastefully redesigned, along with the bumper (sleeker), air dam (larger) and fog lamps (better integrated).
Frontal aerodynamics must have had an influence on the revised aesthetics.
On the flanks, the functional vents with their slightly tacky twin strakes have been refreshed, while the generous fenders arch over handsome alloy wheels available with a choice of designs: two 19-inch and five 20-inch options.
At the back of the vehicle, you get more LED lighting, a rear bumper that mirrors the front bumper (but “upside down”), and a pair of exhaust pipes poking out purposefully.
Those sizeable steel tubes are the “exit points” for the powerhouse under the bonnet. An all-new unit, it’s a 5-litre direct injection petrol V8 in two states of tune: standard or supercharged.
Of course, the focus of our review here is the “blown” Range Rover Sport, the fastest and in many ways the most fun car in the Land Rover line-up today.
The headline figures make great reading for the petrolhead: 510bhp and 625Nm, respectively 30 percent and 13 percent stronger than the output from the old 4.2-litre powerplant.
But enthusiasts with a green conscience can find comfort in the new engine’s reductions in consumption and CO2 emissions – Land Rover claims that both have been cut by some seven percent.
Technical tricks helping to achieve this include a more thermodynamically efficient supercharger rotor, a 100rpm reduction in engine idling speed and a clever, economy-conscious alternator that tries to charge the battery when the car is coasting rather than accelerating.
Acceleration is an event in the Range Rover Sport. At almost 2.6 tonnes, the thing weighs twice as much as a Golf GTI, yet its power to weight ratio is an unbelievable 25 percent better, thanks to 300 more horses at work.
The extra horsepower alone is enough to drive a WRX STI!
All that muscle translates into pick-up that is more hot hatch than huge SUV, albeit with a split-second’s hesitation before the monster starts to gobble up the road ahead.
This slight lag could be due to the supercharger (spooling up takes a bit of time) or the sheer weight of the vehicle (plenty of inertia to overcome), but it doesn’t detract from the storming performance.
The new car is significantly quicker than the previous model, with the century sprint dispatched in 6.2 seconds versus 7.6 seconds.
But it sounds slower, because the dramatic racket that used to accompany hard acceleration in the old “Power Ranger” has been toned down, well, dramatically.
The turbine whine of the supercharger has been replaced by a cultured hum, while the V8 has a smoother bass and a sweeter treble compared to the earlier number. The exhaust burble, meanwhile, is even richer now.
So this ship is actually an oversized speedboat, but can it stop in good time? Yes, thanks to uprated Brembo brakes which are bigger and grippier than the superseded set.
But these anchors have to earn their keep hauling the giant down from the high velocities it’s capable of.
We tried full-bore braking from 100mph (160km/h) on a closed Scottish circuit and it was almost theatrical, what with the noise and nose-dive.
This majestic ship can also handle. Not only on the road but also off it, where the Range Rover’s German competition is likely to get bogged down and request for a rescue squad, ideally equipped with Land Rover Defenders.
Although the air-sprung suspension and chassis systems are largely carried over from the 4-year-old Range Rover Sport, they have been tweaked to deliver superior handling in all conditions.
The changes include a 20 percent stiffer rear anti-roll bar, a more positive steering rack, modified suspension bushings and realigned wheels.
The engineers even added a sixth mode, Dynamic, to the car’s Terrain Response system, Land Rover’s modern 4×4 gadget that makes every off-road exercise a walk in the park.
Signified on the chunky Terrain Response controller by a curvy-road icon, Dynamic mode stiffens the active dampers (which otherwise monitor and adjust their pressure 500 times per second between soft and hard settings), tightens feedback from the steering, sharpens the engine’s throttle response and speeds up the gear changes.
Speaking of which, you can always swop ratios yourself using the well-placed but plasticky paddle shifters, another new addition to the lofty control room.
The car is dynamic enough without the Dynamic programme in play, so it’s probably meant for drivers who have a fetish about pressing every cockpit button there is to help them drive faster.
Driving fast comes naturally to the Range Rover Sport, which takes corners with alacrity and spears through narrow country lanes and wide motorways like the HMS Ark Royal on hyperdrive.
It’s hugely nimble for something so, uh, huge. The steering wheel could be smaller, though, and there’s no avoiding the substantial weight transfers, which sometimes feel like you’re manoeuvring a small house aggressively.
The Range Rover Sport makes a nice terrace house, by the way.
The cockpit has been completely overhauled, to the point where it makes the old cockpit seem unsightly and untidy.
The fascia’s switch count has been halved, with numerous functions consolidated in the main touch-screen display.
The intuitive device, derived from that in the Jaguar XF, manages on-board features like satellite navigation, Bluetooth telephony, audio-video entertainment, real-time 4×4 information and the nifty, nearly 360-degree Surround Camera System.
The perceived quality of the materials and switchgear is noticeably higher now, everything fits as tightly as in a BMW, and the white LED ambient lighting is a classy touch.
The new seats, which are shapelier and more supportive than the old chairs, are welcome, but the front armrest adjusters still feel cheap and leg room continues to be at a premium.
There are racier SUVs than the second generation Range Rover Sport – for example, the potent Porsche Cayenne Turbo and the ballistic BMW X5M.
But only Land Rover’s finest is a full-fledged off-roader and a full-throttle grand tourer in equal measure.
This unnatural sports car for the nature lover is really something special.
2009 Range Rover Sport 5.0 (A)
ENGINE
Capacity 5000cc
Cylinder layout V8
Valves 32
Bore x stroke 92.5 x 93mm
Compression ratio 9.5:1
Power 510bhp at 6000rpm
Torque 625Nm at 2500rpm
TRANSMISSION
Type 6-speed automatic with manual select
Driven wheels All
PERFORMANCE
Top speed 225km/h
0-100km/h 6.2 seconds
Consumption 6.7km/L (combined)
SUSPENSION
Front Double wishbones, air springs, anti-roll bar
Rear Double wishbones, air springs, anti-roll bar
BRAKES
Front / Rear Ventilated discs
TYRES
Type Continental ContiSportContact 4×4
Size 275/40 R20
SAFETY
ABS Yes
Airbags 8
Traction control Yes, with DSC
MEASUREMENTS
Length 4783mm
Width 2004mm
Height 1784mm
Wheelbase 2745mm
Kerb weight 2590kg
Power to weight ratio 196.9bhp per tonne
Turning circle 11.5m
BUYING IT
Price $380,000 incl. COE (estimated)
Warranty 3 years/100,000km
+ Real presence and unreal performance, amazing handling both on- and off-road, political incorrectness for the petrolhead
– Unabashedly heavy, thirsty and flashy, less interior space than expected, its main rivals are sportier on tarmac
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