Updated: Land Rover sources have confirmed to Auto Express that the Range Rover Sport will get a four-cylinder diesel engine. It is expected to join the line-up in 2014. Land Rover insist this new entry-level Sport will still be 'truly a Range Rover'.
Sources also said that the Range Rover Sport will get a four-cylinder petrol engine, too, though this won't be available in the UK.
Bookmark this page as we will be updating this story with the latest news and rumours about the Range Rover Sport.
A new Range Rover Sport RS version is already under development. Our spies at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany captured this disguised prototype testing on public roads near the track – and the new, larger air intakes and more aggressive front bumper immediately set it apart from the standard model.
The ride height also looks lower than the standard Range Rover Sport’s, suggesting firmer, tuned suspension. Black 21-inch alloy wheels finish off the extensive makeover.
Under the bonnet is the same 5.0-litre supercharged V8 as the standard car, but with a higher power output. We expect it to match the Jaguar XK-RS, with 542bhp and a massive 680Nm of torque sent to all four tyres. This means the Range Rover Sport RS could cover 0-62mph in around 4.8 seconds.
Fade-free Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are also likely to feature on the newcomer, reducing overall weight and providing superior stopping power. Elsewhere, the dynamic traction control system, dampers, steering and gearbox will also be tweaked to help the car offer an even more exciting drive.
The Range Rover Sport RS won’t be able to match the Jaguar XK-RS’ 186mph top speed, but it could be derestricted to reach around 165mph on specially developed tyres.
Expect the price to nudge close to the £100,000 mark, with a launch date pencilled in for some time in the next 12 months.
Range Rover Sport Price
The all-new Range Rover Sport is available to order now, with a starting price of £51,500. First deliveries will start this summer, and the initial Range Rover Sport line-up will feature four equipment grades – SE, HSE, HSE Dynamic and Autobiography Dynamic.
Entry-level SE models come with leather upholstery, automatic lights and wipers, DAB radio, a power tailgate, stop-start, climate control, heated front seats, HD navigation, air suspension and Land Rover’s famed Terrain Response system.
Next up is the HSE. Starting from £59,995, this adds 20-inch alloy wheels, perforated leather seats, heated rear seats, electric adjustment for the steering column, front fog lights, a heated windscreen and a rear view camera.
The HSE Dynamic is priced from £64,995 and includes stainless steel pedals, a bright finish for the exhaust tailpipes, a gloss black grille and vents, 21-inch alloys and illuminated treadplates.
While the SE and HSE models come with a single-speed transmission, the HSE Dynamic includes the full low-range transfer box. The car also features a second-generation automatic Terrain Response 2 system and Torque Vectoring, which uses the brakes to help sharpen up the handling when cornering hard.
The top-of-the-range model is the Autobiography Dynamic. It costs from £74,995 and adds High Beam Assist for the headlights, interior mood lighting, a Meridian Surround Sound stereo, adaptive cruise control and a safety package including emergency braking and active front seatbelts
The new Sport will be available with a large choice of interior and exterior paint and trim options, including 11 interior colour themes, 17 exterior paint finishes, seven alloy wheel designs, and three contrast colours for the roof.
The Sport will initially be available with three engines – the TDV6, with 254bhp; the SDV6 with 288bhp and the 503bhp supercharged 5.0-litre petrol V8.
Later, the TDV8 returns to the Sport line-up, while a diesel-electric hybrid and four-cylinder petrol will also be offered.
Disqus - noscript
I like this single teaser Picture of the New Range Rover Sport
A very lightly disguised one drove past me in Kings Heath, Birmingham last week. Looked nice!
This will be the arrange Rover for sensible people I guess? I say that because I saw the new Range Rover the other day and it is massive! It'll never fit in a Tesco car park.
Can't wait - another great Land Rover!
This one both looks better, and as almost 15k cheaper than the standard model
wow it's Amazimg how people are blinded by national pride.. just because it British does not make it great!! this design is in cohesive .. the rear end awful and just looks like they took a hacksaw to the RR, grafted on an evouque front, angled the rear screen and added some sporty bits from halfords! those rear lights are just plain ugly !! in fact similar lights to an metro cab! this should have been better! RR is lovely piece of design and engineering this is just an after thought to cash in on those silly enough to think an RR badge means it's destined for greatness ! this maybe a technical masterpiece when it is launched but in no sense if anyone is honest is this a good piece of design!
Having checked it out and the plethora of options on the LR site, I am suitably disappointed with this. I just doesn't look quite right, as pointed out by others the Evoque design cues just don't work in this way. The rear for example doesn't sit well and the side profile looks like a wideboy aftermarket kit for the Evoque. Was that customer feedback to go with a gear lever rather than the rotary version? Why not attempt to put in the 9 speed developed as well?!
Your opinion is very, very wrong! It is a stunning piece of design that blows away the dull, staid competition but your reaction speaks volumes about your lack of judgement and appreciation of a great example of architecture!
This is just another sad story of people afflicted by a range of diseases that really can be cured with your help. Please, please help us with your donation to RNIB Headquarters, 105 Judd Street, London, WC1H 9NE. Thank you.
Wow! It's amazing how people are blined by their own self importance. Styling effectiveness is subjective, and any design will not please everybody. Your opinions are fine, but they are not fact. I like this design, I suspect that most in its target market will like it, which makes it a good styling job, and only the sales figures will tell us whether this is a fact or not.
9 speed in mounted transversely and the 8 is longitudinaly.
plus the 9 speed wouldn't take the torque of the TDV6 or AJ133
...it great to love a brand but honesty when something doesn't work, it doesn't work..to say this is stunning, stunning is an E-type, a mercedes 300 sl..the RR is wonderful by the way! Oh and I studied automotive design up to master degree level and have worked for various major brands at this level..so my understanding of transport design and correct asthetics is from a little bit of experience..again like someone said it is subjective..apologsie for my lack of judgement my first class degrees and tutors who had designed classics in the industry were all obvioulsy lacking judgement, when they allowed me to even pick up my degree. Well one did lack judgement he deisgned the Allegro square steering wheel!
By the way what is so different about this from other SUV's and sport orientated SUVS. It has the same one box profile as a BMW X5, M class, apart from the silly boomerang lights what so different???
My friend sales
figures do not make styling great; styling as you call it is aesthetics not
great design! A Toyota corolla is not a great styling exercise, but is the world’s
bestselling car! go figure! As you will see from my note I wholly agree that
engineering and technically it will be great! Of course styling is subjective,
hence i gave my subjective opinion..but you obviously didn’t like my subjective
opinion !
a person driving Range Rover will most probably go to Waitrose, not Tesco
Bob, you say 'first class' and 'masters'. Well, actually I have a Master's Degree and they're not awarded with a Class. You're thinking of a First Degree, which would be a BA or BSc. Clearly, if you had any of the above, you would know this. I therefore expose you as a charlatan.
actually ur right ! my error it is a first! but I went to conventry university ... Transport design degree course, with enginneering masters at warwick you may check it out it exsists, many famous british designers have originated from Coventry , it's is one if the worlds best course for this field....anyway of no consequence to prove! if by me saying first class rather than first.. makes my degree or education fake so be it my friend .. if that is your arguement talking about a Range Rover..you may have it, well done for correcting my grammar though ! well done!
I liked the Evoque, the RR more, but the RRS is the best.
RR should be congratulated on producing three very desirable cars. And that's despite them being British, not because of it.
You don't write a to state an opinion, you write as to assert a fact. You then assert that if anyone is honest it's not a good design.
That's not giving a subjective opinion, that's attempting to impose your own. Fortunately, most will ignore you.
Hey you shaddapayaface I studied a gcse city and guilds phd baccalaureate high school diploma from the Fiorentina Universidad of Fine Art and Automotive Beautiful design under Profesorio Harrisio Mannio. And I acknowledge that Bob has a B.Sc (well drop the c off the end and that's more like it).
Range Rovers are easy to park in Tescos or anywhere. Usually next to the transits and Westfalia campers that also park in there no problem.
*Coventry
Daniel even managed a smile!
Can anyone tell me why this Company had to be sold by Ford to be a sucess?
Whew!!! This article got the [so-called] design experts out, ranting and raving and swapping jibes and insults. Shame. Gentlemen, there is no accounting for taste.....and that's a compliment! So I'm in for my twopence worth. Firstly, taking over 400kgs out of a vehicle from one model to the next is spectacular, considering weight is the killer of efficiency. Serious congratulations JLR. My brickbats stop though at some 'design features'. As acknowledged by McGovern, the vehicle now has tizz/bling [that silly front mudguard pseudo vent] to detract from the purity of its design. And for my taste, the bum has been over-styled to death, and looks dreadful. Sadly JLR seem to have been sucked down the vortex of mindlessly following some leader[??] into that puerile battle of 'ours has more seats than yours', even though the said [excessive] seats will hardly ever be used. What documented research shows accurately how 7 seats are used, for the life of the vehicle. 10% at most? I think not. I suspect people buying a 7 seat version will be sucked into paying a premium for seats that will hardly be used, if at all. At the time Ford dumped JLR, LR was turning over 1 billion pounds. I seriously pray, venturing into the arena of so-called trendy and transient design, does not dilute either the 'brand' value, or their turnover......
I've seen this car and I like it so much that I am going to go painfully over budget to get one. JLR garage tell me that the list of people wanting one is growing fast so I have go myself on it and I will still be waiting for several months after launch before I can have one. Just as well, because I will need that time to save my cash! This car is the closest to perfect that I have seen. The extra 2 seats are just an option which I won't need, so no need to make a big deal about that. JLR going from success to success even in these economic times. I'm with the glass half full side of life. How about the rest of you? Any excuse for a cry?
This is great. A better model than it's predesscor and is mush lighter which means the car is more economic. This vehicle should sell well as it mixes some of the popular Evoque's look, while also giving something new to the public.
Land Rover has a great future ahead of them.
Ford had massive control over the company, and not in the good way. They also tried to change the brand into something its not and did not invest as much as they should have in the company. JLR are now working with a massive amount of freedom to do what they want allowing them to be responsive to the their customers and are investing massively to suceed. There is massive amounts of change in the company, you only need to see the number of people they have recruited to see that the company has big ambitions. JLR products are only going to get better! I can't wait to see what's next.
As an avid range rover fan, i am dissapointed... With the pricing!!! Has anyone configured one yet? I have a very highly specced 12MY Autobiography for the wife, I specced a new 3.0 one this morning to the same spec (albeit I added Meridian and 7 seats, which is about £6k) and its just short of £90k!!! That's bonkers for a sport. As a comparison, I just took delivery of a new 4.4Sdv8 autobiography RR, which cost only £10k more and has almost all the options they have very nicely deleted from standard spec on the sport. Range Rover have made a mistake here, a standard spec one might not be too pricey but put options on one, and it's way too close in price to the new one for it to make sense (and the new Range is AWESOME :)
And "slightly above £55k" as a price, only if you want a poverty spec one you could never sell again!! JLR need to reduce the price by 10% on this, even my local dealer said they couldn't justify the cost of a decent spec one as its too close to the new RR!
I wish that car magazine journalists would learn that, when they say "aluminium" what they mean is "aluminium alloy" when describing parts of cars!
Bob... if there's one thing this country lacks, it's national pride. Instead, we replace it with sticking the boot in at the earliest opportunity. For you to write-off the Range Rover Sport, and in the same breath not even mention the utter lack of design credibility from the likes of the Germans proves this. Just say you don't like it, it's ok - but leave it at that.... and for goodness sake don't bring up national pride favouring JLR. All I see is the world liking JLR more and more, as the British get more scornful.
...But on that note, I'm not a fan of the back end.... it looks too wimpy - and doesn't suggest the intended sporting potential of the car! Suppose the 5 grand dynamic pack should fix that lol.
I saw the new Range Rover Sport in white near Goodwood, Chichester with the newly designed silver flowery designed wheels. It wasn't the new Range Rover if that's what you thinking because this had the evoque styled rear lights.
I'll give it 5 years and pick one up for £20k. Lovely.