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First Drive: 2014 Range Rover Sport
Car Reviews

First Drive: 2014 Range Rover Sport

By: 
·
September 3,2013
·
5 min read

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Land Rover, in association with Al Tayer Motors, held a full day event for the media to drive the 2014 Range Rover Sport. The plan was to first take it for an off-road drive in the desert near Bab Al Shams, then lunch and finally to go for a quick spin on the tracks at Dubai Autodrome.

Exterior

The 2014 Range Rover Sport looks like a mix between the Range Rover Vogue and the Evoque and rightly so since it sits between them in terms of price range. But they all took design cues from the Ford SUVs, especially if you notice the head and taillights. Overall, it looks a lot better than the previous iteration and it is a bit smaller in size which raised questions about the legroom. Other than that, it was glowing with premium paint and other premium finishes thus making it a head turner on the roads. It’s pretty!

Interior

Like any other premium SUV, Land Rover did not hold back on the features and gave it a ton of buttons to operate. Frankly, we did not get enough time to check out all of its features but we can definitely agree it has all the basics of a premium SUV covered. We were delighted to see they removed the knob-styled auto gear and opted for a BMW-styled one. It was a bit confusing, in the beginning, for us to operate the gear but it was soon overlooked after observing all the plush interior leather trimmings. The seats are quite comfortable (the V8 ones have seat coolers which is a necessity in this weather) but unfortunately not much leg room for people in the back, considering it is a premium SUV, unless you don’t like to lean back and drive like us. It can seat 3 adults in the back but they might be cramped. The in-dash screen looks bigger but the user interface does require a bit of a learning curve to operate. Well, that’s the case in most of the vehicles these days. The A/Cs were on, the music kicked in and soon we hit the road as we were eager to check out the different driving modes in the car.

On Road

The RR Sport feels a bit like a spaceship floating on the road. The ride is comfortable for the most part, though we were expecting more. There was a hint of wind noise in the car we were driving. But, we were more interested in the powertrain of the vehicle. And why not? We had both V6s and V8s to drive.

The 340 BHP V6 was just adequate while cruising along. Power is always at our disposal and there is no time delay but when it’s time to floor the gas pedal, you can feel the lack of torque compared to the V8. Also, there was a weird engine noise while driving on the road which we felt could improve.

The 510 BHP supercharged V8, on the other hand, is a complete rejoice. That amount of seamless power at disposal made us smile whenever we floored it. Though, most of the credit for that smile goes to the glorious sound of that monstrous V8. It was as if the engine is begging us to floor again and again. But, we had to follow the speed limit so we had to control our urges. Next stop, the desert.

On Sand

One thing we must admit is that the 2014 Range Rover makes off-roading look very easy. Even though, we did not actually go for hardcore dune bashing but whatever we did, it was impressive considering it’s not a true 4x4 like its elder brother Vogue. We tested both the V6 and V8 in the desert. We switched to sand-mode off we went.

The V6 felt twitchy while driving on sand and required flooring quite a lot to make it up the dune. The engine was screaming most of the time but the car did not manage to get stuck anywhere so we were happy. 

The V8, on the other hand, was sheer pleasure. The car seemed in control and was smoothly going up and down the dune without much hassle. It made us feel quite at home in the desert even though the car is not meant for it per se. All in all, both cars were impressively quiet off-road. 

We headed for lunch after off-roading and then back to Autodrome for track day. By that time we did feel a bit tired as the stiff-ish seats were getting somewhat uncomfortable while off-roading. Or maybe it's just me!

On Track

We were waiting for this moment the entire day to test the 510 BHP out at full throttle on the track, thus we wasted no time. After the safety briefing, we suited up and headed out to the track. We only had the V8s so it was time to really unleash that monster of an engine. Time to switch to dynamic mode. 

To be honest, we were a bit skeptical about driving an SUV on the track but we were in for a pleasant surprise. The car just feels alive on the track. The brakes and acceleration are simply best in class. The drop in curb weight, by going with an aluminum chassis, makes a difference and the dynamic suspension provides nice grip and stability with minimum body roll coupled with responsive steering. What this means is anyone can have a great time on the track and utilize all the power under the hood. Even though, we had only 10 minutes to drive, we managed to finish 6 laps around the track and it’s sufficient to say that 10 minutes is not enough. But sadly, we couldn’t get more time to race as they wanted to end the session by 5:30pm.

Hence, we ended the day with a smile on our face and a sweet & sour feeling because the new Range Rover Sport is more expensive than the previous version and it’s definitely more fun. 

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