2023 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SE

I've never cared for Land Rover's Range Rover Sport. The first generation, launched in 2004 as a 2005 model and code-named L320, was little more than a rebodied Land Rover Discovery. I get the decision to build the thing—amortize the costs of developing the chassis with two vehicles, as well as expanding the "Range Rover family." However, it wasn't nice to look at, and despite the word "Sport" in the name, it wasn't in fact sporty to drive. The L494 second-generation model was more handsome when it arrived in 2013, and it used the actual Range Rover platform. It was a bit sportier than the previous version, but every time I drove one, I came away with the distinct impression that it was a cost-cut Range Rover. Which of course, it was. Fast-forward to now, and I've just driven multiple versions of the all-new, third-gen Range Rover Sport in and around Madrid, Spain. Is this one better than before?

Hey, Handsome

Range Rover has entered the "polishing icons" stage of design. Think Porsche and the 911. You want anyone looking to know the car's a Porsche 911 from 1,000 feet, so don't change too much. It's difficult for the layman—and challenging even for the car-obsessed—to tell the newest Range Rover apart from the one that came before. Icon, polished.

However, although the new Range Rover Sport is obviously related to the L494, it looks so, so much better. I'll even go so far as to say that the Sport looks better than the actual Range Rover, something that's never been true before. There's just this terrific gangster lean to it, along with subtle curves and a squashed, sloping fast roof that helps to show off the rig's tremendously well-formed shoulder and beltlines. Honestly, the roofline reminds me of the prewar Bentley Gurney Nutting Blue Train car. Love it.

The Firenze Red Range Rover Sport P530 First Edition I drove on day one [so named because the lovely BMW-sourced V-8 engine makes 530 PS, or 523 hp] rode on 23-inch wheels and tires, and they looked smashing. Big wheels always run the risk of dwarfing the vehicle [and killing ride quality—more on that in a bit], making it appear smaller than it is. Not here. No, on the new Range Rover Sport, the big wheels simply work.

A Scottish friend of mine commented that the front end looks like a Kia Soul EV. I told him Kia wishes that were true, and pointed out the Sport actually resembles a sporty version of the new Range Rover, with a bit of Velar mixed in for good measure. The rear end is simply outstanding, avoiding the form fussiness that plagues the backside of big bro Range Rover. The quad pipes look good, and having the words "Range Rover" in black on a black strip shows that the brand is so confident in its design language it feels the SUV needn't be ostentatiously labeled. Like any icon, you know just by looking.

On the Inside

The cabin is Scandinavian in its sparseness, though the leathers are soft, thick, and plush enough that it somehow also feels like an old English wingback chair. Yet somehow sporty, too. I like the secondary fabrics on the door cards and seats, didn't mind the chopped carbon-fiber accents on the First Edition, and dug the open-pore wood I experienced in the P400 SE Dynamic.

Most of the controls are found within the quick-acting touchscreen. However, and notably, there's a Terrain Response control knob that lets you quickly and easily toggle through the various off-road modes. I say notably because with the otherwise wonderful Land Rover Defender, the Terrain Response controls are buried in the screen. This solution, which was first reintroduced on the Range Rover, is far better.

I found the seats quite comfortable, though rear legroom is a touch lacking. That said, the rear seat fully reclines, should you so wish. Also worth mentioning, wireless CarPlay is now standard. Amazon Alexa is in there, too. Perhaps most important, every module in the Range Rover Sport is now able to be updated over the air. I'm not just talking infotainment here. I mean everything, from CarPlay integration to engine programming, hybrid system tuning, suspension setup, and even the steering.

What's Under the Hood?

On the P530, it's that great 4.4-liter BMW N63 twin-turbo V-8 that produces 553 lb-ft of torque to go with the aforementioned 523 horses, the same specs as you'd get in a BMW X5 M550i. You may be thinking something along the lines of, "Why doesn't Land Rover just stuff its own V-8 in there?" A couple of reasons. The first is that ye olde supercharged Landy V-8 has about as much chance of passing Euro 6 emissions as Pete Davidson does avoiding shooting his shot with a female celebrity.

Forced, terrible metaphor notwithstanding, the ultimate reason is Jaguar Land Rover—like the rest of the biz—is going electric. Instead of spending precious R&D dollars on a new V-8, it's better to simply partner with a company that's already done the heavy lifting and concentrate on electrification. Also, you can expect a fully electric Range Rover Sport in two years' time.

The P510e Autobiography and the P440e Autobiography are both plug-in hybrids that feature the brand's Ingenium 3.0-liter turbo inline-six hooked to a 141-hp electric motor that's fed from a 39-kWh battery pack. The more powerful P510e produces 503 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque, whereas the P440e gets by with 434 hp and 457 lb-ft. The only difference between the two vehicles is the output of the inline-six. Land Rover is hoping the Range Rover Sport P440e will get an electric-only mileage rating of 51 miles from the EPA. We should hear by the time the vehicle goes on sale in October. Your mileage may be better than rated, however, as Land Rover claims test vehicles are returning anywhere from 60 to 70 miles of pure EV range. We Yanks are also getting the P400 SE Dynamic and P360 SE, both of which sport only the Ingenium six-banger, good for either 395 hp and 406 lb-ft in the former or 355 hp and 369 lb-ft in the latter.

All powerplants route their output through the ubiquitous-for-a-reason [it's great!] ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and on to all four wheels, permanent-style. The hybrid motor sits between the engine and transmission, in a pancake arrangement. The auto is hooked up to a transfer case with low gears.

Like all Range Rovers, the fancy off-road electronic suite is called Terrain Response—technically Terrain Response 2—and features several different off-road driving modes: General Driving, Grass, Gravel, Snow, Mud and Ruts, Rock Crawl, Sand, and Wading. However, the system defaults to Auto, the idea being based on what the tires are sensing, the computer will automatically choose the right mode to be in. For modes like Rock Crawl, the air suspension raises the vehicle even higher, creating yet more ground clearance, while rear-wheel steering makes the Range Rover Sport more nimble both off- and on-road.

Is It Good to Drive, Part 1: On-Road

Yes, very. Especially the P530. That holds true even when compared to the larger, heavier, statelier Range Rover. Based on experience in the full-bore P530 SWB Rangie, the lighter [by around 500 to 600 pounds, according to LR's numbers] but identical output Sport actually does feel sportier to drive. Acceleration is brisk enough, and although it's refined and quiet most of the time, flipping the P530 into Sport mode provides a nice little V-8 rumble.

I also like how the Range Rover Sport rears up on its haunches a touch when you floor it. About 30 miles outside of Madrid, a semi-truck decided I wasn't there, and at 85 mph I was forced to make what a driving school would term an emergency lane change. Didn't even freak my poor passenger out as she saw the truck trying to merge into our right front fender. This Range Rover Sport handles!

On a more winding road, I found myself impressed with how the Range Rover Sport P530 tackles corners. No drama is perhaps the best way to describe the experience, and that means that even if you push this SUV hard. Our European bureau chief, Angus MacKenzie, has decried the on-center feeling of the Sport, saying the off-center effort is too heavy to be on anything badged a Range Rover. I didn't mind the effort and thought it was a nice differentiator between the Range Rover and the Sport.

The more sporting rig is also lovely and graceful to drive at a modest pace. Speaking of graceful, I'm shocked by the ride quality. Based on the massive 285/40R23 tires on all four corners, I was expecting a harsh experience. The opposite turned out to be true. The Range Rover Sport is almost as cosseting and luxurious as it is fun to drive. The brakes work well, the transmission remains the best automatic in the business, and I'm really struggling to find any aspect of the Range Rover Sport P530 I didn't enjoy. I suppose I didn't look at the fuel economy, which is no doubt not very good. Back to the important stuff: Is this the best-driving Land Rover product ever? I'll go ahead and say yes.

The other powertrains? Among the plug-ins, I only drove the P510e Autobio, the one we're not getting in America, but it's the only PHEV Land Rover brought along. However, it weighs exactly the same as the P440e Autobiography we are getting, which will have 69 fewer horsepower and 59 fewer lb-ft. Land Rover says these models weigh about 500 pounds more than the P530, and you can feel the extra weight in the handling. Still good to drive, just not as fun.

Like with most PHEVs, you can choose between Hybrid, EV, and Save driving modes. Hybrid uses both power sources as needed, EV is electric propulsion only until the battery is drained, and Save uses the gasoline engine to maintain the battery's current state of charge. One cool feature is an automatically geofenced EV mode. Many European cities mandate or strongly prefer that within a city's inner core, PHEVs not use the gas engine. As such, the Range Rover Sport automatically switched into EV mode within the confines of Madrid. What happens if the battery is drained? The vehicle runs as a hybrid. This feature doesn't really make a difference to U.S. customers now, but consider it future-proofed against such legislation.

I also drove the P400, which Land Rover says comes in more than 350 pound lighter than the V-8 model. Not surprisingly, it felt slightly nimbler but also a touch poky. That's what a power deficit of 128 horsepower nets you. Powertrain verdict: I like the V-8 best, though if the PHEV can achieve 51 miles or more of electric-only driving, that is something to consider.

Is It Good to Drive, Part 2: Off-Road

Many times, when I've attended the launch of an off-road-capable SUV, the manufacturers pull a bit of a fast one. Meaning we have one set of cars to drive on pavement and another set with smaller wheels and knobbier, deflated tires to drive off-road. Range Rover pulled no such trick. Instead, after flinging the car all over some sweet Spanish twisties, we simply activated the Range Rover Sport's low-gear transfer case, waited a beat for the air springs to raise the car about 2 inches, and hit the dirt. That's right, even wearing ridiculous-by-off-roading-standards,  rubber-band-like 23-inch all-season Pirelli Scorpion Zero tires, the Range Rover Sport is an off-road ringer. I should note that we only took the P510e in the dirt, rocks, and mud, as Land Rover wanted us to experience what electric off-roading is like. That said, I must imagine that the lighter ICE versions would be even more capable.

We essentially drove using every off-road mode other than Wading, as there was no river to ford. But rainstorms had turned part of the trail into muddy ruts. Land Rover asked us to leave the vehicles in Auto and let the computers figure out what was needed. Worked flawlessly. The Range Rover Sport features both center and rear electric lockers that can both be automatically locked and unlocked as the computer sees fit. There's a display on the central screen that shows what's going on with both in real time. Yes, you can assume full manual control over everything if you so like, but Land Rover wanted to show off how smart and capable Terrain Response 2 is. Can you blame them? I spent most of the drive marveling at the purchase the Sport was able to find given we were on street tires inflated to street tire levels. Of course, this happens almost every time I take a Range Rover off-road—I wind up shocked by how truly capable these machines are.

The Range Rover Sport is likely as talented off-road as things like the Mercedes-Benz GLE, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and even the more workaday Jeep Wranglers and Ford Broncos. It can do some mild rock crawling [hey, there is a Rock Crawl mode], but big boulders would start bashing in the beautiful, pricey aluminum body panels. Still, the Range Rover Sport is much more capable than most owners would ever need or even consider possible. I should also note that the Range Rover's ride quality on dirt and gravel roads is among the very best in the industry, whereas those of a Bronco and Wrangler, uh, aren't. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting much in terms of off-road ability, and I came away duly impressed.

Conclusion: Zero to Hero

Before this drive, had anyone asked me if the Range Rover was worth the extra money over the Range Rover Sport, I would have said, "Yes ma'am/sir, without question." Now? I like the Range Rover Sport better. First, it looks better. Yeah, the Range Rover's design is evolutionary, a polished icon and all that, but I flat-out prefer the sportier, more aggressive metal of the Sport. That sentiment was simply not the case with the previous two generations. I also prefer how the Sport drives, especially the burly V-8. What does the Range Rover give you that the Sport doesn't? A larger interior with more rear comfort and legroom, primarily. But if you're the primary driver—and believe me you'll want to be—I advocate for the Sport. The V-8 if you have about $123,000 to spend, or around $92K for the P400 if you don't. What about the PHEV for almost $106K? If a 50-mile EV range appeals to you, go for it. Personally, I'd wait for the all-electric version in that case. No matter which version you choose, the third-generation Range Rover Sport is a deeply impressive SUV.