Upgraded the RR Sport

Sagalout

Sagalout

Sagalout

Soldato
Joined
13 Nov 2003
Posts
5,671
Location
Harrogate
After owning the Range Rover Sport for almost three years, I decided it was time for a change. I've loved this car so much though, the only options were the new Sport or the Full Fat.

Initially I was convinced I wanted to buy a 5.0 Supercharged petrol...I wanted to 'tick off' the V8 petrol whilst there are still some around, so booked a test drive in a 2013 FF....and was massively underwhelmed. I'm sure it's a great engine in something like the F Type, but it really doesn't suit the Range Rover. It was forever changing gear and felt relatively frantic. Wasn't all that quick either, although I test drove it a few days after the Tesla which has warped my sense of speed a little. It was very refined, but in my head I wanted a proper V8 rumble and it just didn't have it....again it wouldn't have suited the car if it did I suppose.

I then took out the V8 and V6 diesels. The V8 was a little bit gruntier....in every sense. A bit more torque and power, but also noiser (it's an older design than the V6). I found the ride very strange as it has active suspension to cope with the extra weight. On some roads this was great, keeping the car flat, but on others (uneven B roads) it felt like it couldn't keep up and and created a rocking effect that made me feel a little sick!).

The V6 for me was perfect. The car is noticeable lighter and more nimble (200kg less, right over the nose compared to the other engines) and what it lacks in outright power it makes up for in buttery smoothness and refinement, helped by the 8 speed ZF gearbox. I'd describe it as just the right power for the type of car, with a 0-60 of 7.4 seconds. Economy is good too at a real world 30-35mpg. For bonus lol's it even cheap on road tax at £225 per year ;)

I then had to decide on age vs spec. Whilst I liked the idea of some of the toys, when I test drove the Supercharged in Autobiography spec, I was actually bored of them by the end of the test. Even the Vogue is well specced anyway , so I plumped for a 2015 Corris grey which had a few key upgrades including the sliding full panoramic roof, electric deployable tower (£2k after market cost - I need this for Motocross and cycling rack) and the wood and later steering wheel.

Full spec:

Corris Grey paint with contrasting grills
Ivory leather with maccassar wood interior
Adaptive Xenons
4 zone climate control
Heated seats with memory
Heated steering wheel (wood and leather)
TV / DVD player
Fridge
Bluetooth music / nav etc
Powered split tailgate boot
Deployable tow bar
Roof bars
Side steps


I think I'm getting old as I love the smooth drive and ride quality. Its surprisingly agile when pushed, but you just don't want to push it as it's so relaxing!

I doubt I'll take this off road as much as the Sport....I might save up and buy a defender for that, but just in case I downgraded the wheels from the 22's in the picture to 20's for better tyre choice!

I did test drive the new Sport, but whilst it was an improvement over mine, it didn't feel 'special' after driving the FF and definitely has moved more towards the Evoque in terms of styling.

Overall, absolutely delighted with the car and looking forward to driving it up to Scotland in a couple of weeks :)

IMG_0551 by Dave Wrightson, on Flickr

IMG_0548 by Dave Wrightson, on Flickr

IMG_0564 by Dave Wrightson, on Flickr

IMG_0570 by Dave Wrightson, on Flickr
 
Very smart, not a fan of the alloys personally though.

Are the seats the same as those in the late L322's?

e: Oh wait, if the lower picture has the alloys you have on now then I like a lot :)
 
Worst SatNav / Entertainment ever. Why they couldn't have used the Android version in the Disco Sport, I'll never know. Still a cracking car though :)
 
Cleisthenes said:
Very smart, not a fan of the alloys personally though.

Are the seats the same as those in the late L322's?

e: Oh wait, if the lower picture has the alloys you have on now then I like a lot :)
Click to expand...

Not sure on the seats - they are comfy though!

And yeah, the wheels in the top pic were from the test drive - I changed them to the ones in the bottom pic :)
 
Django x2 said:
Worst SatNav / Entertainment ever. Why they couldn't have used the Android version in the Disco Sport, I'll never know. Still a cracking car though :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is disappointing for the cost of the car. It all works...but slowly. The design of the UI is poor in terms of usability and design. To be honest through I mostly have the radio set to Radio 2 or stream from the iPhone.
 
Very nice. Would love one of these myself, just can't justify one just now :(

Excellent choice on the wheels too. The 22's look terrible for a ~£80k car. The new 20's suit it perfectly.
 
Good choice. Including on the wheels. :)

I also get motion sickness from the air suspension on these cars. After 8 hrs in a Disco I needed to lie down for 2!
 
Like it and agree on the smaller wheels as well!

The interior is lovely but the nav does look poor though. :o
 
Beautiful car. The new wheels are a vast improvement - I'm amazed the 22" ones are OEM - look like something you'd get from halfords.

I can see the reasoning behind your engine choice - personally I'd have gone for the 5.0, but as you say, it's not like the V6 is exactly slow.
 
geekman said:
personally I'd have gone for the 5.0
Click to expand...

Of course you would, you are responding to a thread on an internet forum. It's the rules - when appraising somebodies expensive car you'd always personally have gone for the better model, right? Yet when you actually end up in a position to get one the reality of buying cars like this will mean you'd likely make the same or similar choice.

'Yea, nice Veyron, but to be honest I'd have gone for the Pur Sang model. Anyway, I'm off to work now in my diesel 5 series'

:D
 
[TW]Fox;29072700 said:
Of course you would, you are responding to a thread on an internet forum. It's the rules - when appraising somebodies expensive car you'd always personally have gone for the better model, right? Yet when you actually end up in a position to get one the reality of buying cars like this will mean you'd likely make the same or similar choice.

'Yea, nice Veyron, but to be honest I'd have gone for the Pur Sang model. Anyway, I'm off to work now in my diesel 5 series'

:D
Click to expand...
But you wouldn't say "Nice, but I'd prefer a disco sport" would you?! ;)
 
[TW]Fox;29072700 said:
Of course you would, you are responding to a thread on an internet forum. It's the rules - when appraising somebodies expensive car you'd always personally have gone for the better model, right? Yet when you actually end up in a position to get one the reality of buying cars like this will mean you'd likely make the same or similar choice.

'Yea, nice Veyron, but to be honest I'd have gone for the Pur Sang model. Anyway, I'm off to work now in my diesel 5 series'

:D
Click to expand...

The 5.0 isn't really the "better model" though is it? For most people, the SDV6 is better - still quick enough, better range, cheaper to run, and will probably hold it's value better. In the same way your 530d is "better" than a 550i.

I can pretty much guarantee that if I was lucky enough to have that kind of money to spend, I wouldn't have gone for that engine, but I understand it's the better choice for 90% of people. In the same way that I currently do 20/30k per year in a petrol V8 - I understand for most people it would make far more sense to get an A6 TDi, but I enjoy it, so it makes sense for me.

It's hardly like I've gone and said his car is rubbish is it? It's clearly a fantastic car.
 
To be honest I was all set beforehand to buy the 5.0. I worked out that for my mileage it would only cost me £1K a year extra, which in the context of overall cost and depreciation etc wasn't an issue. The one I looked at was a 2013 with only 13k miles. Once I test drove it though it just didn't suit the car, at least with the 8 speed gearbox. It's hard to describe but it just seemed that it was quite revvy and changing gear all the time, and the extra power showed it up as it lurched more between the gears, upsetting the soft suspension. It would probably suit the RR Sport a lot more which is much firmer and suited to being driven hard.

The lower powered, but more refined V6 just suits the wafting style of the car more, at least for me personally. You don't even feel the car changing gear most of the time.

Once that decision was made I bought the newest car I could for the budget.
 
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