Range Rover Sport review - performance and 0-60 time
Performance comes despite the car’s substantial mass, itself a bi-product of the trademark off-road capability
In truth, SUVs don’t need to be this fast. The 519bhp V8 petrol hits 62mph in a claimed 5.3 seconds, but given the startling weight transfer on a full-bore start, it feels faster yet. In most driving scenarios you’ll not get close to unleashing all of its horsepower, but on the occasions you do rev out a couple of its gears, it’s shockingly rapid. The 567bhp SVR model hits 62mph in just 4.5sec, with both the remapped engine and faster-acting transmission explaining the substantial time saving over the lesser V8.
Performance from all the new Ingenium 6 engines is strong, you can thank both the torque-rich nature and slight weight reduction over comparable predecessors. The D300 and D350 reach 62mph in 7.3sec and 6.9sec respectively, while the P400 reduces this further down to just 5.9sec. The plug-in P400e does the same sprint in 6.3sec, which is impressive considering it’s on-the-road weight is approaching 2.6-tons. Even the entry-level P300 petrol makes a decent fist of the 0-62mph sprint, passing the milestone in 7.3sec.
No non-V8 powered Range Rover Sport feels genuinely fast on the road though, not like the latest crop of rivals from BMW, Mercedes or Porsche. While they have continued to trim away excess mass from their respective packages and imbued their powertrains with yet more performance, the Range Rover’s bulk never disappears, making it feel a tad laborious in direct comparison.
