The Land Rover Range Rover Sport is currently one of the newest additions to the high-performance SUV segment. The British engine comes with either a plug-in hybrid powertrain or a BMW-sourced twin-turbo V8. It has a sporty feel to it but isn’t it too heavy to go fast around corners? It’s time to find out.
In the United States, PHEV models feature a powerful electric system with a peak output of 434 horsepower (323 kilowatts) and 619 pound-feet (839 Newton-meters) of torque. This is enough to sprint from rest to 60 miles per hour (0-96 kilometers per hour) in just 5.5 seconds, but straight-line acceleration is always an easier task than cornering. Our colleagues at km77.com decided to see how well the new Range Rover Sport does on the moose test.
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What they used for their evaluation was the Range Rover Sport P510e, which is a slightly more powerful version of the same PHEV model. It rides on 23-inch wheels with all-season Pirelli Scorpion 0 tires. The example tested weighed just 6,680 pounds (3,030 kilograms) without the driver with a nearly perfect weight balance with 49.2 percent/50.8 percent front-rear distribution.
Although the Range Rover Sport’s suspension has been revised compared to the regular Range Rover, the SUV’s performance stood no chance of passing the moose test at 46.6 mph (75 kph) – not even its electronic stability system. stay on track without hitting any cones. Drivers say the vehicle feels much more controllable than the Range Rover, which km77.com also tested recently, but the RR Sport is too heavy.
After several tries, the driver passed the moose test at 42.9 mph (69 kph), which was an acceptable result, especially when compared to the 39 mph (63 kph) achieved by a regular Range Rover. The tests clearly show that the sportier model is much more agile with less noticeable body roll and understeer. Still, the weight of a plug-in hybrid SUV doesn’t allow it to reach higher speeds.
