Picked up a range rover sport
 

So, this was unexpected. A friend who works at an LR dealer hooked me up with an employee pin deal on a 2020 RRS HSE. Asked that I not disclose the terms but the lease was comparable to the x3 40i I had been considering. Catch was that I had to take delivery by Nov 30th. My wife was excited by the prospect (and she does most of the driving these days) so we made the decision to go for it. Picked it up Saturday morning and did a road trip with the family this (about 300 miles round trip), so already have some initial impressions.

Likes:
-Looks: i've always liked the looks of the current gen RRS. The facelift in 2018 made it even sharper, IMO. Unlike the X3, I actually glance back at this when I park it. Very nice. Not usually into white cars, but it looks good on this vehicle (Had a choice between a red and white one so we went with white). Wish it had the black contrast roof option but oh well.
-Engine: this one has the new inline 6 with turbo + electric supercharger (similar to mercedes system in the "53" engines). Night and day better than the old v6 (i test drove one a couple years ago) in terms of smoothness, responsiveness and performance. Feels quicker than our x3 35i. I'm sure any "40" engined BMW would blow it away though. Fuel economy is about the same as we were getting in the x3. Start/stop is the best i've ever experienced-- no need to shut it off. Very smooth and restarts instantly.
-Seats: Feel stiff at first but very comfortable on a road trip- even more so than the multicontours in my old F10 though less adjustable. These have heating and cooling (which I've never had before).
-Build quality: Doors have an 80s Benz vault-like feel to them, no squeaks/rattles, very nice materials, great fit/finish. Was a a bit worried given LR's reputation, but so far so good.
-Digital cluster: Sharp graphics and very configurable. I settled on a 1 dial layout w/ media on the left and map on the right. Lots of information without looking cluttered. Not as easy as Audi's digital cockpit to change views though.
-Adaptive cruise control: another feature I've never had before. Tried it out in a traffic jam and it was great. Really lowers your stress level.
-Steering: Was surprised by this but the steering actually has better feel than my x3 did. You can feel the road surface, it loads up in corners and has just the right amount of weight (not adjustable).
-Handling: Better than expected /hides its weight well. Not in the same league as an x3 40i of course. Much more controlled and balanced than the Q7 i rented over the summer. Doesn't pitch or roll noticeably.
-Interior overall: Really nice leather, simple + pleasing design with just a touch of wood. Just makes you feel good to be there.

Dislikes:
-Infotainment: I already miss idrive. It's slow to boot up and can be slow to respond. Voice control of nav is like a 2011 era BMW. No online voice POI search. Does come standard with Carplay thankfully. Too bad cause the female british nav voice is perfect--I could listen to her all day and I like the intergration on the cluster. Graphics are nice looking atleast.
-Storage. the X3 had a larger door bins and various compartments in the cargo area which this lacks. Has a full size spare which I guess explains the lack of underfloor storage-- but still. It came with this Land Rover branded storage thing, which is fine, but it still takes up room. There is a nice large hidden compartment under the front cupholders though.
-Feels stiffer than expected at lower speeds on crappy roads. My wife disagrees fwiw. Think they should include adaptive dampers as standard like bmw does on the x5.
-Turn signal sound: Too loud and just sounds annoying.
-Parking it in tight spots. It's noticeably bigger than the x3 and I wish it had the surround camera option. Rear camera doesn't seem as good as BMWs. Visibility out the back is decent.

Overall my wife is thrilled and i like it better than I thought I would. She does about 80% of the driving these days so that's good. Our 5 year old kept saying "this is the nicest car I've ever had"- lol.

Whoa, nice!

More pics needed.

It’s a Range Rover sport ... no need to say more :thumbup::thumbup:

Beautiful truck ... love it !! Big time congrats !!

Hey, very cool. And a fun change.

BTW, Siri has a female British voice, which carries over to Apple Maps nav...

Enjoy!

Nice! I like those.

Yeah, those are pretty cool looking. Engine sounds interesting; kind of cool that everyone is going back to inline sixes. Or at least JLR and Daimler are, anyway.

As much as I want to hate these things, I do love the look. Congrats.

Sweet, congrats:cool:

Congrats! They definitely look better than the bmw X's.

Excellent. Always liked Range Rovers and concur on the superior looks.

Ha - I know what you mean


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's not just a look, they have the smoothest ride and they have beautiful interiors ... both of my brother in laws have them and they are really beautiful trucks.

Nice! do they have RR sports specifically or full size range rovers? Do you know which model they have (HSE, supercharged, etc)

True- but British Siri doesn't hold a candle to the LR nav voice. If that movie "Her" ever becomes reality...

Yeah everyone is jumping on the modular inline engine bandwagon that was started by BMW. Actually, I think Volvo may have been way ahead of their time in the 90s when they had an inline 4/5/6 all based on the same architecture. Not sure why they went with an electric supercharger to boost low end response instead of just a small electric motor. That being said, I'm wondering if they also use the belt-integrated starter to get the car moving when start/stop is used. I say that because it actually feels slightly more responsive accelerating after a start/stop.

Thanks! Probably not the kind of pics you were asking for but I found this hilarious. The car is in love with itself. In addition to projecting a stylized artists sketch on the ground when you unlock it, you see 2 pictures of it on the cluster while the infotainment system is booting

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...71bef5ccc3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c88fb4156f.jpg

One of them has a full size current model I think it’s a year old and is the hse model though I’m not positive, it is white like yours he also had in the past the previous Range Rover sport.

His car is absolutely the smoothest car I have ever been in and is incredibly nice.

My other brother in law has the previous gen full size model.

:lol:

Nice. Although the current sport is built on the same platform as the full size (they even have the same wheelbase) the sport is tuned stiffer so it doesn’t have quite that same wafting ride.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Per carmudgeons tradition, figured I'd post impressions after a few months.

Overall, my initial likes/dislikes have stayed pretty much the same though the annoyances with the infotainment have faded as i've grown used to its idiosyncrasies while my annoyance w/ the low speed ride quality and transmission behavior have grown. Like all ZF 8 speeds i've been in, the 1-2 and 2-1 shifts are a little jerky and around town it starts to get annoying. I'd say its smoother than my 528 was, but maybe slightly jerkier than the x3. Hard to avoid this transmission these days though. Not sure why all the journalists foam at the mouth about it. I see why automakers like it (allows for better 0-60 numbers and highway fuel econ) but in terms of drivability I think the previous 6 speed was better. Interestingly, there's a "drivability" update for the transmisison software available. So next time i take it in, i'll ask to have that done. Maybe it'll help.

Also, this car has more "road feel" than you'd expect. Like the chassis and steering wheel telegraph all the little road imperfections. I mean, it's kinda cool that they managed to engineer steering feel into a heavy SUV w/ an electric rack + air suspension but also a little incongruous. Maybe BMW and LR should swap chassis tuning depts. Tradeoff is that it handles well for its size and i always have a lot of confidence placing it on the road. Even our much smaller X3 didn't quite give me that feeling. My wife shares neither of these observations (she finds the transmission and ride quality to be very smooth).

This car has started to get under my skin though. It looks great, and i love being in it (so comfortable and such a nice interior). Build quality continues be solid too (no squeaks/rattles). Great visibility. So quiet that my wife, kid and her brother all fell sound asleep on a road trip yesterday. Adaptive cruise and comfortable seats made easy work of the trip for me as well. Got stuck in extensive stop and go traffic and was so nice to just let the car do the work. Keeping a bunch of seltzers cool in the center console fridge was a nice bonus too.

Im starting to have FC-like fantasies of maybe keeping a LR around in some fashion. In my version of the fantasy I'd pickup an older V8 powered version of the sport (with extended warranty) when the lease is over and hold onto it. Who knows.

That sounds like a really great review, really glad to hear you are enjoying it to the point you feel it might be a keeper. They really are beautiful trucks both inside and out.

They are making cars so good nowadays it makes it harder to consider getting rid of them.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Very nice!

Haven't driven the newer RR's, but definitely like the 07 to 13 generation, even with their pork. Nice steering and ride... I can only imagine they have improved by shedding weight. Do you have air suspension?

I also drove their cousin, the F-Pace, a couple of times, found the suspension/steering quite decent, certainly ahead of the JGC and even the Cayenne (comparable to the Macan). The interior felt unfinished compared to RR's though.

The previous gen has grown on me and I think I prefer its interior design with its traditional knobs and buttons along with the nice slabs of wood on the doors. Abysmal gas mileage though due to the weight.


Yep it does have air suspension - which makes it even stranger that the ride can feel choppy at times. Non runfkats as well set to the light load tire pressure setting (55 series tires so not low profile). It must have stiff dampers in an attempt to control body roll. Curious to drive one of the upper level trims with adaptive dampers (though they really should be standard as in the x5)

Agree on the f-pace interior. Hopefully it will get a similar treatment as the refreshed XE which looks much better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking forward to hearing about the long term ownership experience.

I can’t get myself to trust Land Rover, even in the 21st century.

Understandably. I did lease this vehicle so it will depend on what you consider "long term". Also it likely helps that this close to the end of the model cycle for the current RRS (although the engine it was brand new for 2019.5).

In the LR forums it's funny to me to see people complain that their LR4, after 100k miles (especially when bought used with 60k+ miles), needs more attention than their previous 4Runner, Ridgeline, etc.

The LR4 has proven surprisingly reliable (particularly for those who look after it and know what to watch out for), but I did not buy mine with the expectation of trouble-free 15k miles/year for a decade. I knew it would be expensive to run and I knew we'd put an average of <8k miles/year. After 6.5 years and 42k miles, it's doing very well.

It's no cost of ownership value champion, but with my miles, condition, and spec, my car is probably worth $30k+. I paid 60k in 2013, so I will take it.

Leasing seems prudent here.

And yes, I have mostly questions about engine gremlins.

Time flies. It feels like it just came out. Although the full RR came out a couple of years before. But it certainly is a mature platform.

Yep. And the platform will live on for a while longer in the defender (and discovery).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can't help but recall one incident my brother had with his Discovery.

His transmission went out so he took his truck to the dealer.
They gave him a loaner while his was being repaired.
The loaner was a Discovery as well.

The next morning he got in his loaner to go to work... and...

The transmission in that one died as well. The loaner would not move an inch... LOL

I can't help but recall one incident my brother had with his Discovery.

His transmission went out so he took his truck to the dealer.
They gave him a loaner while his was being repaired.
The loaner was a Discovery as well.

The next morning he got in his loaner to go to work... and...

The transmission in that one died as well. The loaner would not move an inch... LOL

He sold the truck shortly after getting it fixed....

Ha- sounds like a classic Land Rover story. Curious- was it a gen I or 2 discovery? A friend of mine has the gen 2, and told me that there's only 1 "good year" (I think 2003?).

:lol:

I don't recall directly - but I think maybe a bit later... 2005, 6...???