Big in size and apparently dynamic range too, the third-gen Range Rover Sport knows its audience well

2023 Range Rover Sport

Launched: February 2023 – Price: S$598,999 with VES and Cat B COE

Five-door, Large luxury SUV, five-seats

400hp, 3.0-litre twincharged petrol engine, VES C2, 10.0L/100km

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PROS

Very smooth ride

Handles very well for a car of this size and weight

CONS

Thirsty engine, even with mild hybrid assist

Chunky size means you can’t drive it into tight, low spaces

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SINGAPORE

First shown to the world in a preview in mid 2022, the Range Rover Sport has now made its landing in Singapore as we reported in the earlier launch story on this website. Like its earlier incarnations, the third-generation Range Rover Sport is one of those big cars that needs to be experienced to understand what the fuss is all about, which is what we’ll attempt to do here.

As we explained in the earlier review of the Range Rover, the whole Land Rover and Range Rover thing is a bit confusing if you haven’t been following the brand. In short, the main brand is Land Rover, and Range Rover is a spinoff sub-brand that builds the higher end models like the Range Rover Evoque and the Range Rover Sport seen here. 

So what’s this business with the ‘Sport’ tacked on to the Range Rover nameplate?

In the usual marketing and categorisation game of chopping up genres, the Range Rover Sport is still a massive, off road capable luxury SUV but features a sleeker body style and more dynamic chassis tuning than the regal Range Rover.

The Range Rover Sport first appeared in 2005 as a means of making the big Range Rover appeal to a younger set of customers, and over the years it has done what it set out to do pretty well. There’s a specific set of clientele that Range Rovers appeal to, and it’s not the same ones that get excited over a Porsche Cayenne.

They are big, imposing, but not very big on flash. The Range Rover Sport measures 4,946mm in length, which is almost exactly the length of three of CarBuyer Singapore’s Kimberley laid end to end. Yet the overall styling, like that of the ‘standard’ Range Rover, is low-key and slab-sided.

The Sport badge means that this car has more sloped surfaces and a prominent air spoiler extension on the tail, but it’s the kind of luxury SUV that speaks of old money rather than nouveau riche. 

It also has a pretty unique internal combustion engine in the form of a twincharged, 3.0-litre inline 6-cylinder. The last big proponent of the twincharged engine was Volkswagen slightly over a decade ago, and the idea hasn’t seen much in the way of mainstream take up, especially as we head into the age of electric cars. The idea behind twincharging is to have an electrically powered supercharger boosting the engine at the low end of its operating range, and a turbocharger boosting the mid and top end. 

In theory this gives you an engine with no dips in the power curve, and a big, punchy wave of torque. In the Range Rover Sport this maxes out at 550Nm. If you need something to compare it with, a Kia Cerato only has 155Nm on offer. The top end has a maximum output of 400 horsepower, the Range Rover Sport can rocket from 0 to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds despite a kerb weight of nearly 2.4 tons.

Like most of the current Land Rover range it also has mild hybrid drive that claims to enhance the efficiency and refinement of its engine by reusing energy collected through deceleration and regenerative braking. Still, the car weighs more than two tons and it simply cannot cruise just on whatever little electric power the motor can rustle up. 

The car is a five-seater and the cabin layout is largely identical to the standard Range Rover. This means you get a big 13.1-inch centre entertainment display screen running Jaguar Land Rover’s Pivi Pro software, a Meridian 3D Surround audio system, electrically adjustable seats that move in all directions, even at the rear, and window shades at the rear for extra privacy.

It’s spacious even for five adults, but of course it’s a cabin optimised for four occupants so that the centre armrest of the rear bench can be deployed. 

The climb into the cabin is quite a way up, though the adjustable air suspension helps with the ability to set three different ride heights and a low speed access height. Motorised step boards running the length of the car also give all occupants a leg up into the cabin, and they retract back under the body once the car starts moving.

It’s also a proper off road SUV with Land Rover’s configurable Terrain Response 2 system. It features electronically locking differentials across the front and rear axles, along with one in the middle. The net result is that, like the Land Rover Defender which also shares the same engine, it’s a car that can drive over any terrain as long as you have the appropriate tyres fitted and in the case of the Range Rover Sport, don’t mind getting the body a little scratched.

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It’s also worth noting that the review car is a First Edition special, which has additional trim elements like the dark copper inserts on the font and sides along with massive 23-inch road wheels that will not be available with the versions on sale, which will have 22-inch wheels fitted as standard. 

In the standard driving mode the car does have a very laid back feel, with relaxed gearchanges than you can barely feel. The car is slightly tardy stepping off from a standstill though, but that is really just in comparison to all the EVs that we’ve been driving recently. When judged on its own merit the Range Rover Sport is a sound drive, and the adaptive suspension does a great job of controlling body movements of the car through fast corners.

In sport mode that car still won’t win over a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, but then again this isn’t a car for that kind of crowd either. 

There are plenty of big luxury SUVs crowding the showroom floors now, from the BMW X7 to the Bentley Bentayga. The aging Lamborghini Urus is still as well, but they all have their one unique target audience. The Range Rover doesn’t aim to be the luxury SUV that everyone wants, but for a select group of buyers, nothing else will do.  

2023 Range Rover Sport