Test drive the updated Range Rover Sport
Six screens in the cabin, nine engines to choose from, off-road traction and a few more facts about a very charismatic $ 100000 SUV
New cars in Russia continue to rise in price at a monstrous pace: over five years, on average, the price tag has grown by 60%. This is primarily due to the devaluation of the ruble in December 2014. Hyundai Solaris for $ 6, Toyota Camry for $ 549, Volkswagen Touareg for $ 13, Audi A099 for $ 20 - it seems all of this was in a past life.
The new Range Rover Sport (by the way, of the current generation) could be bought in a good configuration for $ 43 - $ 228. Today a similar car costs $ 45-$ 848. The $ 72 dollar amount has always been considered an admission ticket to the world of high premium. But over the past five years, the choice of SUVs in Russia has become several times richer. Have the British delayed the generation change?
The discreet Sport badge on the fifth door isn't just a marketing story. Range Rover really sets you up for active driving: "heavy" steering wheel, lightning-fast reactions to pressing the gas pedal and, of course, the exhaust, which communicates exclusively in bass. Moreover, it is the exhaust system that is the very detail that sets the Range Rover Sport apart from its competitors. At first, a deliberately sporty accent seems inappropriate, but after a couple of days you get used to it so much that during dynamic starts you muffle the radio to listen only to this deep hum.
But there is a problem: the petrol "six" sometimes does not correspond to a too sporty mood. It has 340 forces and 450 Nm of torque - decent figures by modern standards, if not for one circumstance. Range Rover Sport weighs as much as 2,2 tons, so lightning starts are not about him. The stated 7,2 s to "hundreds" are very similar to the truth, but after 120 km / h "Sport" noticeably gives up and picks up speed not so fervently.
But how much grace is in its dynamics! Slightly crouches on the rear axle, disperses sleepy birds with a powerful roar and, allowing slight slippage, takes off. Before our eyes are only huge numbers of the projection screen and a giant straight hood. From the driver's seat, it is impossible to confuse Range Rover Sport with any other car.
However, it is silly to complain about the lack of dynamics: the SUV is sold in Russia in nine versions at once. There are hybrids, diesels, and even modest two-liter petrol options. At the very top - a feisty SVR with a compressor V8 5,0 rated at 575 horsepower. This one gains a hundred in 4,5 seconds and is capable of accelerating to 280 km per hour.
It looks like an epidemic. First, Audi began to install 3-4 monitors in its models: one instead of tidy, another is responsible for multimedia, and the third and fourth are, as a rule, a projection and a climate control unit. Range Rover Sport went even further and for some reason put monitors in the headrests. In the age of smartphones and tablets the size of an ironing board, this just seems out of date.
However, after two weeks of using Range Rover Sport, I finally understood who these monitors are for. It's simple: the target audience is preschoolers who do not yet have their own gadgets. I downloaded the necessary content directly to the built-in hard drive, fastened the passenger in a child seat - and that's it, the trip was a success.
By the way, unlike the same Audi, in Range Rover the monitors are not so easily soiled. It is not at all necessary to carry a cloth with you and activate a special cleaning mode every day. However, there are still problems with performance: sometimes the system suddenly turns off the phone, thinks for a long time after quickly switching the playback source, and the standard navigation is still far from perfect. Although, of course, compared to what we've seen on pre-styled Range Rovers and previous Jaguar XFs, this is definitely a huge step forward.
If you still think that a Range Rover is bought just because it is big and everyone is afraid of it, then this is not at all the case. It's all about charisma: there is a huge selection in the class, but none of the competitors are able to offer the same captain's position with a wide, straight hood in front of your eyes, incredible smoothness and steadfastness both at maximum speeds and on very bad roads.
Yes, there are cars in the class that noticeably outperform the Range Rover off-road, but they are hardly as good on perfect pavement. Lexus LX, Chevrolet Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade will go where it seems possible only by helicopter, but they will not compete with Range Rover in terms of everyday comfort.
At the same time Range Rover Sport, of course, does not hesitate to move off the pavement. He has an advanced air suspension with several modes of operation, in the most extreme of which he is able to increase the ground clearance to an incredible 278 millimeters. He also calmly crosses rivers up to 850 mm deep, is not afraid of sand and deep ruts - there are special transmission modes for this. And, as a rule, you do not need to configure anything: in a difficult situation, Range Rover Sport will do everything on its own.
The best news for current and future Range Rover Sport owners is not the six screens in the cabin, the 575bhp version, or even the advanced air suspension, but the fact that hijackers' interest in British SUVs continues to wane. In 2018, Range Rover Sport did not even make it into the top twenty of theft among premium brands. In total, 37 cars left in an unknown direction over the past year. The leader of the rating is Lexus LX (162 cars), the second is the Mercedes E-Class (160), and the third is the BMW 5-Series (117). Moreover, Range Rover Sport, according to the report of the organization Ugona.net, is stolen much less often than a large Range Rover - 37 against 68 cars (9th place in the ranking among all premium cars).
In the new reality with a dollar of 65 rubles each, when the Hyundai Creta costs $ 19 and the Toyota Camry is already more than $ 649, the price tag for the Range Rover Sport does not look so scary. Moreover, after restyling, the model has noticeably changed, becoming even more charismatic and more comfortable.
