2014 Range Rover Sport: Video, Photos, Configurator & Specification

With the 2014 Range Rover Sport now in the open after its debut at the New York Auto Show, we have video, photos, detail, spec and the Range Rover Sport configurator.

James Bond reportedly got paid $1 million to drive the new Range Rover Sport briefly through Manhattan and Land Rover got endless column inches online and in print, trending status on Twitter and countless mentions on Facebook et al.

So, a triumphant launch for Land Rover – and probably the star of the New York Auto Show too – and a great start for the new version of what has been Land Rover’s best-selling car until the Range Rover Evoque landed.

But now, with the furore over the reveal done and dusted – and the reports of what the new Range Rover Sport has on offer a little rushed as the news broke at the live reveal – we thought we should look a bit deeper at what the new RRS has to offer, and publish some new Range Rover Sport video, photos, detail and the new Range Rover Sport Specifications we’ve got so far.

The original Range Rover Sport was always a bit of a mongrel, albeit a quite appealing mongrel. Its underpinnings started life as the Discovery and its body panels were designed to make buyers think this was a proper Range Rover. Even if it wasn’t.

But the new aluminium platform for the 2013 Range Rover has given Land Rover the chance to produce a properly sorted Sport which, although it gets the Range Rover’s platform as a starting point, manages to use parts that are 75 per cent unique to the Sport.

The end result is a Range Rover Sport that looks like the love child of the new Range Rover and the Range Rover Evoque (yes, we’ve said that many times before). But if that sounds like a criticism, it’s not.

In fact, the proportions of the new Sport look spot on, with the floating roof, more raked windscreen, butch wheel-arches  powerful haunches, more compact dimensions (than the Range Rover) and lower ride height, the new Sport shouts its intent loud and proud.

And even though the new Sport is just 62mm longer (just the size of your thumb) than the old model, Land Rover has managed to give it a wheelbase that’s 149mm longer (that’s six inches or, in man-speak, a full 9″) to make the new Sport not only look more balanced – with smaller overhangs – but providing much more room too.

Inside, the new Range Rover Sport takes the best bits of the old Sport – a more driver-focused position and cocooned feel – and mixes it with the best of the new Range Rover for an interior that looks more upmarket than ever before and devoid of clutter.

Lots of new tech – including the 12.3″ high resolution instrument screen and 8″ Infotainment screen from the Range Rover – keeps the clutter number down and reduces button count by 50 per cent, although there’s new stuff added like the heads-up display, rotary Auto Terrain Response 2 and a return to a proper gear stick to further signal the Sport’s intent.

Trim options are extensive with 11 interior colour themes on offer, 3 real wood veneers, 4 aluminium finishes, 3 headliner colours and the option of a 5+2 seating configuration for those times when you need a couple of extra seats for kids.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the old Range Rover Sport – certainly as far as having a chance of being as remotely dynamic on-road as cars like the Porsche Cayenne – was its weight. That was down to a modified version of the Discovery chassis – suitably covered in Range Rover look-alike body panels which made for great off-road abilities but put a dampner on on-road dynamics.

But now the new Range Rover Sport has an all new platform based on the aluminium jobbie underpinning the new Range Rover (itself based on the Jaguar XJ’s chassis) with the aluminium body structure comprising a combination of pressed panels  along with cast, rolled and extruded aluminium (that’s aloominum for our friends over the Pond) so the new Sport’s is concentrated where it’s needed and the whole structure ends up 39 per cent lighter than before.

The initial launch will see just two engines on offer in the UK and other markets – but not the same two.

For the UK and Europe, things kick off with the 3.0 SDV6 and 5.0 litre Supercharged V8, with petrol loving markets (which we should still be if we had any sense) getting the new 3.0 litre Supercharged V6 instead of the TDV6.

But because Land Rover has made the new Sport a chunk lighter, even the new SDV6 with 292PS will be reasonably lively and offer 0-60mph in 6.8 seconds and economy of around 37.5mpg, and the Supercharged V8 will see 60mph come up in under 5 seconds (so we assume 4.9s) and return official economy of around 23mpg.

Later in the year we will see a lower power version of the V6 Diesel with 258PS, which will be a touch more frugal and a touch slower, arrive as will – for the first time in the Range Rover Sport – the 4.4 litre TDV8 offering 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds and economy around 32mpg.

To follow later will be a four-cylinder version at a lower entry price and a diesel hybrid which Land Rover say will offer economy of around 44mpg.

All the engines in the new Range Rover come with the latest ZF eight-speed ‘box, stop-start, smart regenerative charging, Direct Injection and energy efficient electric power assisted steering which alone accounts for a 3 per cent reduction in CO2.

Toys abound in the new Sport, so it’s worth having a look at what Land Rover has on offer.

There’s a new digital camera system that helps improve driver awareness by capturing a view of the road ahead which is analysed to provide feedback.

That feedback manifests itself in a number of ways including Lane Departure Warnings, Traffic Sign Recognition, Automatic High Beam Assist, Flank guard (helps with parking), Adaptive Cruise (which now brings the car to a stop instead of giving up when you slow down as it used to), Blind Spot Monitor, Closing Vehicle Sensing (which tells you when another car is bearing down on you quickly) and Reverse Traffic Detection.

Other stuff on offer includes the latest Surround Camera System  Adaptive Xenons and an Adjustable Speed Limiter Device. Plus a plethora of other stuff you can option up.

Land Rover hasn’t wasted time getting a configurator up for the new Range Rover Sport, and if you feel like a play you should be able to waste hours. If you don’t, the following will give you an idea of what’s on offer.

Range Rover Sport SE (not available until January 2014)

The SE will be the entry-level spec for the Sport when it arrives next year and you’ll get a Dark Atlas Grill, wing and bonnet vents with grained leather seats in a choice of three colours and just the lower powered 3.0 litre TDV6 engine option.

Price from £51,550

Range Rover Sport HSE

The HSE trim was once top of the tree, but now it’s relegated to entry-level status unless you want the TDV6.

Opt for HSE trim and you get Light Atlas grill, wing and bonnet vents, Oxford Perforated Leather in a choice of five colours and the option of just the higher-powered SDV6 4.0 litre diesel. We expect the 4.4 litre TDV8 to be available in HSE trim too.

Price from £59,995

Range Rover Sport HSE Dynamic

The HSE Dynamic is the HSE with added Dynamic Pack (you’d never have guessed) with Gloss Black Grill, bumper and bonnet vents and mirror caps, Red Brake Calipers, Red Sports Badge, Oxford Perforated leather in a choice of five colours.

At the moment it’s Hobson’s choice on the engine front with just the 3.0 litre SDV6 available, but the 4.4 litre TDV8 will be added for 2014.

Price from £64,995

Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic

Top of the tree time with the Autobiography that comes with Gloss black for the grill, bonnet and wing vents and mirror caps, red brake calipers, red Sports Badges and a choice of Oxford Leather perforated seats in 11 colours.

Engine choice is either the SDV6 or the V8 Supercharged.

Price from £74,995 for the SDV6 and £81,550 for the LR-V8 5.0 litre Supercharged.

There are 17 colours on offer – some at extra cost – and not all are available on all trim levels:

Solid

Metallic

Premium

This is where you could easily push the price of your new Sport S/C up over the £100k mark with a bit of effort, with a wide range of options from Solar glass at £450 to black 22″ alloys at a few grand (Land Rover hasn’t had their abacus out on most of the options yet).

But the standard car is well-specced and you can walk away with a new Sport that comes pretty close to list and probably, certainly on the SDV6 models, have depreciation-free motoring for six months as demand will far exceed supply for a while.

There are plenty of photos of the 2014 Range Rover Sport to get a good idea what’s on offer, but a video gives even more insight.

We’ve got a short Land Rover ‘Dynamic’ intro to the new Spot, and a video that shows ‘Beauty shots of both the interior and exterior of the new Sport, enough to give you a pretty good idea what to expect.

It’s hard to see how the new Range Rover Sport won’t be another runaway success for Land Rover.

With lower weight, seemingly dynamism that brings the Sport up to the levels of on-road performance needed to compete with cars like Porsche’s Cayenne – without compromising off-road prowess – the new Sport seems to have it all.

All we need now is the new Range Rover Sport in for review to have a proper play – on road and off – to make sure.

By Cars UK