Land Rover Range Rover Sport 2005 Review

A crowd had gathered to watch the "crazy" Poms in their expensive Range Rover take on the climb.

The scene for this little drama, a remote mountain ridge in the foothills of the Pyrennes in northern Spain.

It had been dubbed "The Rock".

Introducing proceedings, Land Rover's off- road instructor Ronnie Dale, a showman in every sense of the word.

Dangling two thirds of the way down the steep 45 degree incline was thick rope.

It was there, Dale explained, in a broad Scottish accent, just in case things went wrong.

It was theatre all right, a carefully choreographed drama to illustrate the prowess of the car – but we weren't complaining.

To prove a point, Dale invited one of the Aussie journos to oversee proceedings., like a magician inviting the audience to check the authenticity of his equipment.

The bloke was one of the hardcore four-wheel drive fraternity, a man not easily impressed.

This was going to be fun and it was the sophisticated 4WD clawed its way up the slope, with barely any wheel spin, then turned around and inched its way back down again.

The instructor provided an animated commentary, at times sounding suspiciously like the "But wait, there's more" bloke from TV.

Of course there was never any doubt the car would make it. Imagine the embarrassment otherwise?

But it served to prove a point and that is the flashy new Range Rover Sport is just as good off road as it is on – better in fact by a country mile than competitors BMW's X5, VW's Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne.

The Sport is heading our way in September, with a price tag starting at around 90 grand. It's not cheap, not by any stretch of the imagination but it's a real blast.

The luxury five-seat wagon with its stylish side air vents, aero enhancements and dual exhausts is the fastest vehicle that Land Rover has ever produced and is certain to make a dynamic addition to the lineup.

Too bad it drinks like a fish, has a smallish boot and less leg room than the donor Land Rover Discovery on which it is based.

But that's not likely to bother those well heeled enough to buy one and, anyway, if fuel's a concern – there's always the diesel.

Price-wise Sport will fit neatly between Discovery and the full blown Range Rover, with an emphasis on performance and hand- ling.

There will be three models, a 2.7-litre turbo diesel, a 4.4-litre V8 and a 4.2-litre super- charged V8.

We got to drive the two V8s on our European sojourn. The supercharged 8 is the same engine that can be found in Jaguar's grandiose S Type R and marks a return to an in-house power plant.

The 287kW/550Nm engine has been reworked but, even pushing nearly three tonnes, still manages to propel the the car forward at a rate of knots, blasting from 0 to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 225km/h – with race-bed Brembo brakes for stoppers.

A six-speed sequential auto takes care of gear changes, allowing the driver to shift manually if desired, with a host of electronic aids to keep the car in check.

The Sport is 14cm shorter in the wheelbase than a Disco, with a plunging roof line, blacked out roof pillars and one-piece tailgate with glass that opens separately for easy access.

It sits on wheels ranging in size from 17 to 20in with wide, low profile rubber.

Rangey's famous air suspension is used to raise and lower the car, with ground clearance between 172mm and 227mm.

Although it carries a full-size spare under the back (essential off-road), it has a relatively small 88-litre fuel tank, so you won't get far in the bush.

Fuel consumption for the supercharged V8 is 15.9L/100km, but can easily blow out to more than 20.0L/100km if driven hard.

Both cars that we drove offer high levels of performance, particularly the supercharged model which has impressive straight line acceleration.

Dynamic stability response (standard on supercharged) keeps the car flat in corners.

As befitting a luxury car the equipment list is extensive, with six airbags standard.