Range Rover Sport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Land Rover Range Rover Sport | |
 |
|
| Manufacturer: | Land Rover |
|---|---|
| Production: | 2006–present |
| Class: | Mid-size luxury SUV |
| Body style: | 5-door SUV |
| Engine: | Jaguar AJ-V8 |
| Transmission: | 6-Speed Automatic Overdrive |
| Wheelbase: | 2745 mm (108.00 in.) |
| Length: | 4788 mm (188.5 in) |
| Width: | 2170 mm (85.4 in) |
| Height: | 1800 mm (70.9 in) |
| Related: | Land Rover Discovery/LR3 |
| Similar: | BMW X5 Cadillac SRX Infiniti FX Porsche Cayenne Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 Mercedes-Benz M-Class |
The Range Rover Sport is a high-performance, five-passenger luxury SUV built by Land Rover and sold since the summer of 2005. It shares its platform with the Land Rover Discovery (LR3 in North America) rather than the larger Range Rover. Land Rover calls the vehicle a sports tourer. It slots below the Discovery/LR3 in size, but is more expensive than the Discovery/LR3.
The top-level Sport is powered by a supercharged 390 PS (287 kW/410 hp) 4.2 L AJ-V8, making it the second most powerful vehicle in the company's history except for the larger Range Rover Vogue SE supercharged (450BHP, 420lb/ft). A normally-aspirated 4.4 L version is available with 300 PS (220 kW/295 hp). Both models have six-speed automatic transmissions and fuel capacities of about 88 liters. The vehicles are 4.788 meters long, 2.170 meters wide (including the side mirrors), and about 1.8 tall. The Premier Automotive Group claims the Range Rover Sport can wade 70 cm/27.6 in. of water.
The Range Rover Sport made the Premier Automotive Group the target of a protest by Greenpeace in 2005. The protesters infiltrated an assembly facility and temporarily delayed production of the vehicle. Greenpeace quoted issue with contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, and by extension, global warming, that would result from the vehicle's (relatively inefficient) combustion of hydrocarbons. A test performed in late 2005 using a Range Rover Sport with only 1 gallon of fuel in the tank resulted in the car covering barely 8 miles (roughly 30L/100km) before running out of gas and spluttering to a halt. (Although it must be noted that this test was carried out on the Supercharged version of the car, and was conducted on a racing track. Under these circumstances, the cars MPG would have been lower than it would have normally achieved when in use on normal roads.)
The Range Rover Sport made its first appearance late in 2004, badged as the Range Stormer. This was a bright orange, low-slung, 3-door concept car, that hinted very heavily at the styling of the new model. When the production model was released, it had morphed into a five-door, was not much shorter than the standard Range Rover, and its styling was much less radical, although still identifiable with the concept model. This disappointed many people, though it is still selling well. It is questioned, however, whether this model will actually add sales, or simply cannibalise the Range Rover's sales.
