Range Rover Sport PHEV

It’s nearly 9 years since I last drove a Range Rover Sport, and it’s something I remember quite clearly. After first being encouraged to drive it off a near vertical drop somewhere in a quarry in Gloucestershire, I then drove it through aeroplane – a disused 747 to be precise. Upon disembarking said ‘plane, the Range Rover Sport and I then touched 156mph, along the runway at Kemble airfield. That’s the fastest I’ve ever driven anything. The truth is I’d have gone even faster had the man from Land Rover not suddenly shouted BRAKE, BRAKE, BRAKE! Apparently, we were running out of tarmac. Funny, I thought Range Rovers could go off-road.

      I know you probably don’t believe such things, but search hard enough and there’s video of me easing myself, my passenger, and “my” Range Rover Sport, through economy and into the first class section of the fuselage somewhere on YouTube. And before you ask: No, you don’t have to type 007 dream sequence into the search bar. I was on a car launch, it was chance for Land Rover’s then PR team to flex their creative muscles. You don’t forget days like that.

     Much has changed since then. There’s JLR’s PR budget for starters… And of course, the Range Rover Sport has evolved too.

     You can still buy a burbly V8 Range Rover Sport, albeit now powered by a BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo, as opposed to the outgoing supercharged 5 litre unit. The 4.4 produces a very healthy 530hp, is the most powerful engine available in a Sport, and provides sufficient oomph to make the Sport dash from 0-62mph in 4.3-seconds. The chances are though, no matter how good it sounds, both on paper and aurally, you’ll never, ever, see more than low 20s mpg.  Alternatively, there’s an inline six cylinder diesel available – handy for towing perhaps (the Sport will lug 3 tonnes, a regular Range Rover 3.5) – but what about the emissions, especially in town, and thus the associated taxes? And then there’s the Range Rover Sport I drove recently, the one that’s a plug-in hybrid.

     There are actually two plug-in hybrid Range Rover Sports available, the P440e (as driven) and the more powerful P510e. Range Rover call them “Electric Hybrid”, perhaps in a bid to highlight that they’re actually quite capable of travelling quiet some distance on electricity alone. They say up to 70 miles; think closer to 50 or so in real world use. Should your commute be less than that, and you’ve the opportunity to charge while you’re at work, there’s the potential to not have bother a fuel pump all week. Both plug-ins utilise the straight-six petrol engine, and they’re by no means slow: 0-62mph times for the P440e and P510e are 5.2 seconds and 5.5 seconds respectively. Will you actually notice the difference?

     |What you will notice is how smooth the power delivery is. It’s so smooth in fact, you sometimes struggle to tell which power-source, petrol, electric, or a combination of both, you’re running on. Even when you really need to make progress the petrol engine barely raises its voice – helped no doubt by the eight-speed automatic gearbox that’s seamlessly swaps its cogs. Were it not for the digital tacho, you’d hardly know what was going on beneath that square-edged bonnet. That said, I always rather liked the old Range Rover Sport’s deep baritone bellow…

    The ride on the other hand isn’t quite so well sorted. Equipped with, engine, motor, and battery, the plug-in P440e tip the scales at 2,735kg, dry. Add passengers, luggage, petrol and other fluids, and all of sudden you’re driving something that weighs over 3 tonnes on the airport run. To be fair, JLR’s chassis and suspension boffins have done a sterling job of keeping everything under control; there’s still that lovely Range Rover waft over smooth tarmac; four wheel steering means there’s an agility you may not have expected come cornering time (it also means you don’t feel like you’re driving a bus come parking time), and of course, there’s the trademark, imperious driving position. But, there’s no hiding the thump of those 22 inch rims, and the associated shudder, on broken B-road tarmac. And clever damping and active anti-roll bars aside, there’s simply no hiding the shear heft of the whole thing. Whereas once the Range Rover Sport was the Jonah Lomu of SUVs – all grit and grunt – it’s now perhaps, (and perhaps unfortunately) beginning to feel more like the Gemma Collins – a bit try-hard glam, and more than a tad hefty.

    Of course, it’s still very much a Range Rover, thus unlike many a self-proclaimed celebrity it will happily wade through 900mm of water: it will cross mud, ruts, sand, snow… you name it. There’s high range and low range, more driving modes than you can point a muddy stick at, deep pile carpets, heated leather or Ultrafabric seats front and rear, 360 degree cameras, invisible bonnet effect systems (so you can see what you’re driving over) and the most unfathomable and unintuitive touchscreen interface both I and another well-respected motoring writer friend of mine have ever encountered.

    Reductive Design might be all very well in your studio Gerry McGovern (JLR’s head of design) but after even after a week we’ve still no idea how to adjust the seat bolsters. Why did you not just design and fit a funky looking button?

    Ergonomic niggles aside, the Range Rover Sport PHEV will do everything you’ll ever need it to do, and things you’ll probably never ever need it to do too. We all know that most modern products of Land Rover are destined for a life in Kensington these days rather than one in Kenya – still, if you keep it charged, at least you’ll avoid the congestion charge. If Range Rovers are your thing, but high day-to-day running costs aren’t (dealer charges and questionable JLR reliability not withstanding), the Plug-in Hybrid version of the Range Rover Sport might just be right up your street, your track, or even your runway for that matter.

Range Rover Sport P440e

Engine: 2993cc straight-six 24V Twin-Turbo Diesel

Transmission: 8 speed auto, four wheel drive.

Power:  440bhp @ 5,500 – 6,500 rpm

Torque: 457 lb ft @ 1,500 – 5,000 rpm

0-62MPH: 5.5 sec

Max Speed: 140mph

CO2: 19g/km

MPG: 353.1 (WLTP combined).

Price: From £89,925  

You Tube Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLUYr1TM_w

Many thanks to Land Rover’s UK press office for the loan of their Range Rover Sport

@bird_liam