The Range Rover Sport has always been a formidable go-to for those who want a slightly smaller version of the full-size Range Rover but don’t want to compromise on the luxury and sporty appeal offered in such an SUV. For the 2023 model year, the Range Rover was completely redesigned, bringing forth a larger vehicle that places the Sport model closer to its grander sibling. After last year’s review, having another go at the new Range Rover Sport with the base engine makes me appreciate what Land Rover has done to the Sport model to add a taste of efficiency in its mild-hybrid force-fed inline-6-cylinder powertrain wrapped in a classy-looking package.
The new Range Rover Sport in its redesigned form offers four powertrain options, whereas my test vehicle, the midlevel Dynamic SE, gets the P400 mild hybrid 3.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged inline-6-cylinder engine that’s good for 395 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, which, together with the engine, conducts itself in a rather lethargic manner until you really put your foot firmly down on the gas pedal. Such a characteristic is often discouraging as you’re required to give the Range Rover Sport heavy throttle inputs to get things moving at an acceptable pace. That’s not to say that the powertrain lacks power; there’s a good amount of it without turbo lag – it’s just that you must find it with a rather heavy right foot.
When you do demand power, the Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE is good to hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds from a stop. Getting up to such a speed isn’t void of some other offsetting characteristics in the vehicle, such as feeling heavy out on the road and tending to lean and roll into turns more than I would like. Overall, there’s an easy-going softness to the Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE that you must overcome, or you’ll feel uneasy about pushing the surprisingly big SUV.
The air suspension remains soft, and the adaptive dampers do well to quickly react to undulations and rises in the road to keep body movements in check. However, the Range Rover Sport almost feels better going off-road than it does on pavement. It has quite the capable off-roading systems through the Terrain Response 2 setup, offering a variety of selectable off-roading programs along with an automatic mode that leaves the computer to sort out the long-travel suspension height, all-wheel-drive gearing, traction programming, and throttle response. The frustration is that there’s a lack of ‘Sport’ in the Range Rover Sport, something I didn’t expect even in this trim level.
The Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE, with its mild hybrid system, has decent fuel economy, getting as much as 25 mpg on the highway, which I consider to be respectable for a high-stature SUV like this. The mild hybrid aspect is mostly a power-adding element as the engine is required for propulsion, and the somewhat aggressive start/stop system doesn’t benefit much from turning the air conditioner off when the engine stops where the air gets stale for those few seconds. Around town, the 19-mpg city EPA estimate is on par in the real world, as is the 21-mpg combined figure.
Inside the new Range Rover Sport is a lavish cabin, as you expect out of Land Rover. However, there’s a slightly different and new approach to interior materials where the typical dashboard soft-touch surfaces have areas with a mix of accents that still include the typical soft leather wrapping. The seats are nicely padded and feature soft perforated leather with heating and ventilation up front and in the rear outboard seats. They all prove to be comfy even if they are a step down from what you find in option packages or the higher-level SV or Autobiography trims.
The new focus of the dashboard, as explained in my Range Rover Sport First Edition review last year, is the new Pivi Pro infotainment system featuring a 13.1-inch curved touchscreen. The system combines most vehicle interface controls, audio, and the climate controls all in the single unit. Such a setup leaves way for Land Rover to create a minimalist dashboard that’s presented in a clean yet functional fashion. The new infotainment unit eventually becomes a welcomed component in interacting with Range Rovers after a slight learning curve. The user-friendliness of the system also shines brighter as you navigate through controls and discover short one to three-touch steps to access essential and often-used functions, along with wireless integration of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Seating areas are shockingly large as the Range Rover Sport has typically been a smaller version of the larger Range Rover. However, it seems Land Rover kept things on the large side, and it feels like it in driving the Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE, which somewhat departs from my experience last year with the Range Rover First Edition with the powerful Supercharged V8 engine. The Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE doesn’t feel nearly as buttoned down as the more powerful trims.
There are numerous active safety features featuring the expected ones for a luxury SUV, such as lane departure warning/lane keep assist, blind spot monitors, forward collision warning/emergency braking, and rear cross path detection/emergency braking. The vehicle also has an updated 360-degree camera system that can be activated at any speed, offering several 3D angles and a virtual view of what’s underneath the vehicle for safe off-roading. While I found the adaptive cruise control system to work well, adjusting the distance gap with the steering wheel buttons was somewhat awkward as they didn’t respond with each press.
While the typical pricing and market of automobiles has risen considerably, Land Rover followed such a trend with a slightly higher scale, where the mid-level Range Rover Sport Dynamic SE P400 starts at $90,700. My test vehicle, which includes several standalone options and option packages, comes to a price of $101,150, which includes a destination and delivery charge of $1,475. In such a luxury market, there are many competitors, and the Range Rover Sport finds itself in quite a competitive battle that may come down to personal appeal.
