New Range Rover Sport 2014

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

“Land Rover Range Rover Sport” is quite a mouthful, but the lengthy moniker hasn’t disadvantaged the British luxury sport-utility in the marketplace. In fact, the Range Rover Sport was Land Rover’s top seller in the U.S. last year, finding more Yankee buyers than any of its other four models (Evoque, LR2, LR4, and Range Rover) by significant margins. In fact, the Range Rover Sport single-handedly outsold the entire Jaguar brand in the U.S. in both 2011 and 2012.

This is perhaps even more significant because, until now, the Range Rover Sport was a Range Rover in name only. Since its introduction for 2006, the Sport was based on the Land Rover LR3/LR4, with its heavy, steel ladder frame and beefier mechanicals. Although the Sport adopted much of the flagship Range Rover’s exterior appearance and interior appointments, it was still, underneath it all, a stalwart LR4. The formula changes for 2014, with the new Sport switching over to the all-aluminum unitized body construction of the Range Rover flagship. In the bargain, the “Sport” loses around 800 pounds of mass, while gaining the eight-speed automatic transmission, independent suspension, massive ventilated four-wheel disc brakes, and electric-assisted rack-and-pinion steering from the range-topper.

The 2014 Range Rover Sport also debuts with a new base engine, asupercharged 340-hp 3.0-liter V-6 that also sees duty under the hoods of the Jaguar XJ and XF sedans. (The six also will be offered in the big Range Rover.) Land Rover estimates the V-6 Sport will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds, 0.3 second quicker than last year’s more corpulent model with the 375-hp naturally aspirated V-8. Another supercharged mill, this one a 510-hp 5.0-liter V-8, carries over from last year’s Range Rover Sport. Land Rover estimates the Sport with the blown V-8 will sprint to 60 in 5.0 seconds, nearly a second better than it predicted for the heavier, six-cog utility with the same supercharged engine. (We recorded a 5.1-second time for the old supercharged V-8 model.) No word yet on official fuel-economy estimates, but with the reduced mass, electric steering, eight-speed tranny, and an engine stop-start feature that will be standard on all 2014 Range Rover Sports, we expect a noticeable improvement.

Another benefit of switching to the Range Rover platform is technology sharing. For 2014, the Range Rover Sport will be available with the new Terrain Response 2 all-wheel-drive system that analyzes the terrain ahead and automatically determines which of the five settings (general, grass/gravel/snow, mud/ruts, sand, or rock crawl) is appropriate. A next-generation air-suspension system provides four different ride heights, and other systems such as active roll control, a dynamic active rear-locking differential, and torque vectoring by braking will aim to enhance control and agility.

Even with the 800-pound weight reduction, the 2014 Range Rover Sport is longer, lower, and wider than the 2013 model. The Sport makes good use of the extra seven inches of wheelbase, packaging an optional plus-two third-row seat for children and occasional adult use.

As before, the cabin of the new Range Rover Sport has a similar look and feel to the Range Rover’s. An available 12.3-inch high-res display replaces analog gauges on top-end trims. A second eight-inch touch screen on the center stack eliminates about half of the buttons for climate control and infotainment functions. Other Range Rover trickledown items now available include such smart technologies as lane-departure warning, traffic-sign recognition, automatic high-beam assist, Flank Guard (ultrasonic sensors for the sides of the SUV), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision sensing, cross-car traffic detection, parallel-parking assists, and more.

Land Rover has announced a base price of $63,495 with the supercharged V-6. The least-expensive 2013 model was the $61,490 HSE, powered by the naturally aspirated V-8. At the top of the 2014 Range Rover Sport food chain sits the $93,295 Autobiography trim with its 510-hp supercharged V-8. The modest price bump is perfectly understandable considering the expense of aluminum construction, and we’re frankly a bit shocked that it didn’t rise by more. Given that, plus the additional features, increased efficiency, and likely improved dynamics, we have a hard time seeing sales of the Sport going anywhere but up.