New Range Rover Sport Rides on Modified LR3 Platform
In the luxury sport utility market, nothing quite compares with the resplendent luxury available in a Range Rover. The
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| Land Rover is hoping its upcoming value priced Range Rover Sport will steal performance SUV buyers away from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. (Photo: Land Rover) |
top-tier Land Rover model, originally developed by BMW which owned the premium SUV division previously, takes quality of interior materials to new levels, with rich planks of real wood, solid aluminum switchgear, thick wool carpeting and sumptuous leather seats and trim.
So why don't more buyers buck up for the near $100K ($70K-plus) SUV? Well, the price is obviously a stickler with some, as rival luxury sport utilities from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche offer much of the same prestige with nearly as much luxury for a fraction of the entry price, and many offer better on-road performance.
While it's BMW-derived 4.4-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V8 makes 282 horsepower
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| The Range Rover Sport is not based on the current Range Rover, but rather rides on a modified Land Rover LR3 platform. (Photo: Land Rover) |
at 5,400 rpm and 325 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm, it doesn't come close to matching even the base V8-powered Porsche Cayenne at 340 horsepower. The Cayenne Turbo delivers 450 horsepower of flagrant excess while a new upgrade boosts output to 500 horsepower. Mercedes-Benz' ML55 AMG will now make similar mid-400 numbers when the 2005 edition hits the road, while the top-line X5 4.8is gets at least a respectable 355 horsepower. Heck, even Volkswagen is about to launch a 450 horsepower W12 Touareg, while Audi will be following up in a similarly sporty Q7 and VW owned Lamborghini is making rumblings about a long overdue replacement for its LM002.