Range Rover Range Rover Sport 3.0D Review: Torque-ing it out

What we like:

Effortless pulling power

unmistakable road presence

it’s the ultimate SUV

off-road prowess

smooth gearbox

What we dislike:

Still thirsty

slight lack of refinement at low speeds

feels big to drive

Climb onboard the Range Rover (yes, you literally climb onboard this one) and you’ll be greeted by luxury and opulence that only a British marque can offer. The interior is lined with the finest wood and leather throughout. This is yet another reason why the Range Rover is so popular among the rich and famous. The Sport’s cabin features the same sloping centre console design of the Vogue’s.

The updated model features several detail and equipment changes on the inside that includes the Jaguar style rotary gear selector, an updated infotainment system that features a touch screen interface similar to the XJ’s and JLR’s Dual View technology, an upgraded Harmon/kardon Logic 7 sound system with 11 speakers, up from 9 and so on.

As previously, the view out of the driver’s seat is a rather commanding one that no other 4x4s in the Range Rover Sport’s class can match. In traditional Land Rover/Range Rover fashion, the myriad of switches and knobs are logically placed and are big and chunky for ease of use.

At the rear, the Sport features a new powered tailgate for accessing the reasonably sized boot. The Sport’s load area is not as accommodating as the Vogue’s but there’s still 958 litres of load volume with the seats up. Rear leg and knee room for rear passengers are also not as generous as in the Vogue or when compared to other rivals like the BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne but there’s more than enough headroom despite the lowered roofline.

Thanks to its high torque characteristics, a large SUV like the Range Rover Sport is better off with a diesel motor. This is precisely why we’d take the oil burning Range Rover Sport in SDV6 over the 5-litre Supercharged anytime, despite the oil burner’s slight lack of overall refinement when compared to the petrol-powered model.

Credits: Story by Raymond Lai Photos by Yang and Mark Yeo