2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Review

The Land Rover Range Rover Sport is a luxury SUV that has everything you’d want in a luxury off-road vehicle including ample power to turn mountains into molehills. Beautifully appointed on the inside, those with the means to afford this type of luxury drive won’t find much in the competition that can match when it comes to leaving the beaten path.

With an invoice price in the $70,000 range, the 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport is a luxury SUV with all of the right moves and a cockiness from its designers that may be well-deserved. Improvements to this year’s model include the interior and exterior features as well as engine upgrades that bring this year’s base model within striking range of last year’s touted Sport’s model.

Added to the Land Rover family of cars just a few years ago as a cross between the top of the line Range Rover and the smaller, lighter, and more nimble LR3, the Land Rover Sport, fills its niche well, borrowing elements of style and functionality from both cars.

Performance

The 2010 Range Rover Sport has received substantial upgrades to its engines and performance capability. A 5.0-liter V-8 with direct engine that spits out 510 horsepower was co-developed with the fine folks at Jaguar is just the beginning for the engines in the 2010 sport. Capable of zero to sixty in just over five and a half seconds, this new Sport is a capable mover and shaker. The baseline HSE model engine only does 375 horsepower, but even still, can perform on the off-road in a matter that far outdoes its peers like the BMW X6. Even though it is quite capable in the off-road, on the streets and highways the 2010 Range Rover Sport still leaves something to be desired for its control and performance feel.

Fuel economy for a vehicle that moves so very well is, as you may well imagine, nothing to write home to mama about. Demanding a gallon of gasoline every paltry 12 miles traveled is enough to make all but the most hardy buyer blanch and think twice before shelling out the $73,345 base price for one of these Sport Rovers.

Exterior Features

Looking much like its larger brother, the Land Rover LR4, the 2010 Range Rover Sport is a boxy, lumbering-looking vehicle. Exterior features include some perhaps gimmicky glowing LED headlamps and a different grille as well as new fenders designed to provide clearance to the 19 or 20-inch wheels that are default on the Range Rover Sport. The rear includes some minor changes to the taillights which round out the overall contemporary, yet boxy look.

Interior Features

Auto reviews call the interior of the 2010 Range Rover Sport “light and airy”, and luxury is not far behind in any description. Quality leather with beautiful stitching and wood paneling cover most surfaces. Rotary controls cover the center console and are tactfully arranged and kept to a minimum of clutter using buttons and levers with minimalist efficiency.

Safety & Specifications

Advanced Emergency Brake Assist and Forward Alert are some of the new safety features available on the Range Rover Sport that add impressive capability. It scans the road ahead in order to match the vehicle speed with the vehicle ahead in order to keep a gap distance as set by driver preference while the Forward Alert system will give an audio warning if that space decreases. The Emergency Brake Assist features are designed to detect an impending collision and assist the driver with braking to avoid an accident.

Six airbags, dynamic stability control, standard rear view camera and roll stability control are all features that improve the safety of the Range Rover sport in 2010 and which should give drivers peace of mind. Optional safety features include a surround camera system which uses five cameras around the vehicle that allow the driver to see all around the car with just a touch on the touch-screen.

Upgrade Options

The Luxury Sport comes with, not surprisingly, a wide array of upgrade options, including a large choice of wheels from 19 to 20 inches in different alloys and formations, an upgraded Harman Kardon Logic 7 surround sound system, upgraded Bluetooth connectivity for mobile phone communications, a Hill Descent Control system, Terrain Response, and a choice of interior features, trims, colors and styles that run the full range including heated front and rear seats, and enhancements to the climate control systems.

Improvements from the 2009 Range Rover Sport

The engine and power improvements from the 2009 Range Rover Sport includes some chassis features that make the ride and handling much nicer. Shock absorbers are now adaptive and make constant adjustments in order to improve the ride and reduce the body roll, and the new supercharged versions of the Range Rover Sport have a Terran Response system that will stiffen the shocks even further.

There are improvements inside as well with this luxury SUV being decked out in leather and wood and other high-quality materials that beg to be caressed with a loving hand. The controls have a more modern feel and look to it and are reminiscent, according to some auto reviews, of what you would find inside a Rolls Royce or Aston Martin.

How the Range Rover Sport Compares to Other Luxury SUVs

Competition for the 2010 Range Rover Sport includes the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne – neither of which are better vehicles off-road, but on-road is a different matter. If you are looking for a luxury off-road vehicle, and don’t mind the poor gas mileage and higher pricing, then the Range Rover Sport is for you. If an SUV is more of a city vehicle, then you would do well to consider the competition.

Conclusion: Is the Range Rover Sport a Smart Buy?

IntelliChoice 5-Year Cost of Ownership for the 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport is not favorable at all landing in the Average or Below Average range when the car pricing, car insurance, safety, gas mileage and other features are factored in. For what Range Rover is well known for – luxury and off-road capability, the purchase is not a bad one at all. For any other purpose, the purchase is questionable at best.