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New Models
DRIVEN: A Range Rover For The Street
Smaller Sport model is well-equipped with off-road capability, but street tires signal that it is destined to stay on the pavement.
Range Rover Sport performs with surprising agility on the street, but highway tires limit its exposure to the back country. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
Whenever I had a Range Rover or Land Rover to test drive in the past, I always made sure I checked out its acclaimed prowess on rugged terrain. But no more.
In central Arizona, back-country driving means negotiating tough desert trails that are strewn with sharp-edged rocks and boulders that can do a number on even the toughest off-road tires. Wide open, waterless, sparsely populated and often really hot, the Arizona desert is no place to get stuck with a flat.
So during my recent test of the 2011 Range Rover Sport, I stuck to paved roads. Because despite its superb off-road capability and advanced electronic enhancements, the Sport had a major flaw: a set of low-profile car tires on 20-inch alloy wheels.
Sure, they looked cool and helped Sport handle with agility, but take them off-road? No way. And to add insult, the Range Rover is equipped with a wimpy space-saver spare that wouldn’t last 10 seconds on an Arizona trail.
Range Rover is apparently acknowledging the reality that 99 percent of their customers have no intention of taking their glory wagons off road. So the chosen tread is geared toward on-road comfort and handling rather than off-road traction and durability.
But that seems to be how most drivers want them. When I see late-model Range Rovers running around Phoenix, most are accessorized with giant rims and other shiny bling rather than off-road equipment.
In Range Rover fashion, Sport is set up with the brand’s renowned four-wheeling system, including hill-descent control and Terrain Response that allows the driver to dial in various types of difficult surfaces, including snow, sand, gravel, mud and rocky desert; there’s even a logo of an Arizona saguaro cactus next to the desert setting.
The thing is, Range Rovers and Land Rovers are amazing trail vehicles, able to crawl through just about any rocky or slimy situation with ease while coddling the people on board. It seems like such a shame to let that world-famous ability go to waste.
So Range Rover Sport is something of an enigma, at least it is to me. Why all the off-road gadgets if it’s not heading off road? Why not just outfit it with the kind of electronic all-wheel drive most often found on luxury SUVs and be done with it? It could be lighter and possibly less expensive.
Oh well. As a street machine, Range Rover Sport certainly does well enough. The drivability is first rate, ride and handling are excellent and the standard 375-horsepower 5-liter V8 makes it perform and sound like an aggressive street rod. There’s also a supercharged version with 510 horsepower if you really want a street rod.
Fuel mileage for the normal V8 Sport has improved slightly, but it’s still a paltry 13 city and 18 highway. That could have something to do with its 5,540 pounds of heft.
In central Arizona, back-country driving means negotiating tough desert trails that are strewn with sharp-edged rocks and boulders that can do a number on even the toughest off-road tires. Wide open, waterless, sparsely populated and often really hot, the Arizona desert is no place to get stuck with a flat.
So during my recent test of the 2011 Range Rover Sport, I stuck to paved roads. Because despite its superb off-road capability and advanced electronic enhancements, the Sport had a major flaw: a set of low-profile car tires on 20-inch alloy wheels.
Sure, they looked cool and helped Sport handle with agility, but take them off-road? No way. And to add insult, the Range Rover is equipped with a wimpy space-saver spare that wouldn’t last 10 seconds on an Arizona trail.
Range Rover is apparently acknowledging the reality that 99 percent of their customers have no intention of taking their glory wagons off road. So the chosen tread is geared toward on-road comfort and handling rather than off-road traction and durability.
But that seems to be how most drivers want them. When I see late-model Range Rovers running around Phoenix, most are accessorized with giant rims and other shiny bling rather than off-road equipment.
In Range Rover fashion, Sport is set up with the brand’s renowned four-wheeling system, including hill-descent control and Terrain Response that allows the driver to dial in various types of difficult surfaces, including snow, sand, gravel, mud and rocky desert; there’s even a logo of an Arizona saguaro cactus next to the desert setting.
The thing is, Range Rovers and Land Rovers are amazing trail vehicles, able to crawl through just about any rocky or slimy situation with ease while coddling the people on board. It seems like such a shame to let that world-famous ability go to waste.
So Range Rover Sport is something of an enigma, at least it is to me. Why all the off-road gadgets if it’s not heading off road? Why not just outfit it with the kind of electronic all-wheel drive most often found on luxury SUVs and be done with it? It could be lighter and possibly less expensive.
Oh well. As a street machine, Range Rover Sport certainly does well enough. The drivability is first rate, ride and handling are excellent and the standard 375-horsepower 5-liter V8 makes it perform and sound like an aggressive street rod. There’s also a supercharged version with 510 horsepower if you really want a street rod.
Fuel mileage for the normal V8 Sport has improved slightly, but it’s still a paltry 13 city and 18 highway. That could have something to do with its 5,540 pounds of heft.
2014 Cadillac CTS
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