Sporty Cars

Detailed test drive and walkaround of a 2006 Range Rover Sport Supercharged with Chris from Chicago Cars Direct. Sport might be something an Australian calls his buddy at the bar. As in: “G’day, sport, can I get you a beer?” But as used in the acronym SUV, the term doesn’t usually apply that well. Most SUVs are just not that sporty, are they? However, in the case of the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, there’s an argument to be made for the accuracy of the addendum. First, just in case you’re as confused as we were, let’s explain that the Range Rover Sport is a shortened and sharpened Land Rover LR3, brought to market to compete with sportier SUVs such as Porsche’s Cayenne and BMW’s X5. In the course of reinventing this Sport model from the LR3 platform, the transformation resulted in a vehicle that’s about two inches shorter than the LR3 and offers much less interior room. Maximum cargo capacity for the Sport is 71 cubic feet compared with 90 for the LR3, and rear-seat space drops from 55 cubic feet to 49. Despite the smaller size, Land Rover managed to add weight. Our tester pounded the road at a porky 5866 pounds, whereas the last LR3 we tested weighed 5686 pounds. That could lead some to believe that this would be a slow and clumsy vehicle, but that’s not the case. With its generous mass balanced very nearly evenly on the two axles, the Range Rover Sport conducts itself with remarkable poise. It doesn’t hurt that the suspension is a combination of adaptive interlinked …

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