2023 Range Rover Sport revealed, Australian launch confirmed

Land Rover has sold more than 800,000 Range Rover Sports worldwide since the second-generation model launched in 2013.

That’s why the third-generation Range Rover Sport looks very familiar at first glance – you don’t mess with success.

Up close and in the metal, however, the 2023 Range Rover Sport is a very different beast.

Though its basic proportion and stance are very similar to the outgoing model, JLR's chief creative officer Gerry McGovern’s reductionist design philosophy has resulted in an exterior defined by beautifully rendered surfaces and sophisticated details, and a significantly more luxurious, modernist interior.

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The front end features a narrower grille framed by narrower headlights, and bumper fascias that wrap smoothly around to the body sides.

As with the Range Rover, the tops of the doors roll over to meet the flush side glass without a visible seam or rubber seal, and the D-pillar is hidden under glass. At the rear are new horizontal format LED tail-lights linked by a black panel. The number plate has been repositioned from the tailgate to the bumper.

The rear graphic is not as overtly dramatic as that of the new Range Rover. But, like the rest of the body design, the execution is superb. Look closely and you’ll notice a gentle crease that effectively wraps around the rear of the car, subtly adding strength to the whole rear end.

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One touch of visual flamboyance is the longest roof spoiler ever fitted to a Rangie. It makes the trademark rearward rake of the Range Rover Sport roofline look even more dramatic. The optional Dynamic appearance pack delivers a sportier, more dramatic treatment of the front splitter and rear faux diffuser.

That smoothly finished exterior isn’t just for show: The new Range Rover Sport boasts an impressive drag coefficient of just 0.29, a 15 per cent improvement over the outgoing model.

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The re-architected interior has been designed to deliver a sportier, more driver-focused ambience than the ultra-lux vibe of the big Range Rover. The steering wheel has three spokes and is of a slightly smaller diameter than the Range Rover wheel, and the high centre console, which puts the transmission shifter and various minor controls within easy reach, unapologetically delineates the driver and passenger zones in the front cabin.

The key dimensional changes over the outgoing Range Rover Sport – a 74 millimetre increase in the wheelbase and a 67mm increase in overall length – mean rear seat passengers benefit from 20mm more legroom and 15mm more knee room, and the rear load space has 55 litres more capacity.

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At the centre of the dash is a curved 13.1-inch haptic response touch screen to control the Pivi Pro infotainment system that Nick Collins, JLR’s executive director of vehicle programs, says makes the Range Rover Sport “a powerful connected device in your daily life”.

Among the apps the system can run is Amazon’s Alexa, and with its 12 ultra-sonic sensors and four cameras, the system will allow the Range Rover Sport to park itself with the driver standing outside the car.

Standard audio is Meridian’s very good 400W 15-speaker system, but those who want the ultimate sound can opt for the 1430-watt, 29-speaker Meridian Signature Sound System.

You’ll hear the difference rather than see it – many of the speakers are hidden behind a new woven acoustic fabric on the door panels. Speakers hidden in the headrests are used for a noise cancellation system that counters tyre noise picked up by microphones in each wheel well.

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It’s a Range Rover, so of course the seats are leather trimmed. But in addition to the three leather grades – standard, Windsor, and semi-analine – the Sport’s reprofiled seats can be trimmed in a leather-like Ultrafabrics trim that JLR's colour and materials manager, Mel McWhirter, says is odour-free, anti-microbial, anti-allergenic, weighs 30 per cent less than traditional leather, and produces one-quarter the CO2 in its journey from raw materials to finished product.

Codenamed L461, the new Range Rover Sport has been developed almost in tandem with the new full-size L460 Range Rover, sharing its aluminium intensive MLA-Flex vehicle architecture and powertrain components. MLA-Flex has been designed to accommodate mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full battery-electric powertrains, and JLR’s powerful EVA 2.0 electronic architecture.

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Powertrains start with the 3.0-litre Ingenium turbocharged straight-six petrol and diesel engines with the 48V mild-hybrid (MHEV) system. The petrol Ingenium is available in P360 trim with 265kW and 500Nm of torque, and P400 trim with 294kW and 550Nm. The diesel line-up comprises the 183kW/ 600Nm D250, the 221kW/650Nm D300 and the 258kW/700Nm D350 versions.

The top petrol engine is a BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 that powers the P530 model. It produces 390kW and 750Nm and JLR says it will hustle the Sport from 0 to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds. That makes the P530 as quick as the outgoing Sport SVR, yet the engine is claimed to be 17 per cent more fuel efficient.

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The most interesting powertrain, however, is the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that marries the 3.0-litre petrol Ingenium straight-six with a 105kW e-motor to deliver a total system output of 375kW and 700Nm, enough to scoot the PHEV Sport to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds on the way to a 242km/h top speed.

A 31.8kWh battery (that’s its usable capacity, which is three-times previous PHEV Land Rover battery packs) delivers a 125 kilometre pure-electric driving range, and helps achieve a total real world distance of 740km.

The range will later be expanded with the addition of an all-electric model in 2024. JLR insiders remain tight-lipped on the details, but the electric-powered Sport will have e-motors front and rear to deliver the mandatory all-wheel drive, and sophisticated control systems that will allow infinitely variable torque splits to ensure good handling on the road and good capability off it.

Outputs north of 375kW and 700Nm seem logical, along with a 500km or better driving range courtesy of a battery pack that looks to have around 100kWh capacity.

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The MLA-Flex architecture and revised suspension hardware gives the new Sport on-road dynamic capability far beyond that of the outgoing car, says vehicle programs chief Nick Collins. The body structure is 35 per cent stiffer, and the dynamic air suspension features two chamber air springs to help reduce pitch and roll, and Bilstein dampers to better control body motions.

Off-road capability hasn’t been compromised, however. All models come with a high/low range transfer case, wheel articulation is 546mm, and the air suspension can hoist the Sport 135mm above its standard ride height to give it 281mm of ground clearance. It will climb a 45-degree gradient, and wade through 900mm of water.

“No other SUV has the Range Rover Sport’s breadth of capability,” insists Nick Collins.

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The optional Stormer Handling Pack – named after the dramatic 2004 Range Stormer concept that previewed the original Range Rover Sport – adds active stabiliser bars with electric motors that can apply 900Nm of twisting force in 200 milliseconds, and a maximum of 1400Nm helps control roll during cornering, plus torque vectoring by braking, an active e-diff at the rear, and rear-wheel steering to improve agility.

Rear-wheel steering will be standard on P510e and P530 models. The system turns the rear wheels up to 7.3 degrees in the opposite direction to the fronts at speeds up to 50km/h to make the Range Rover Sport feel even sportier in the twisty bits and reduce the turning circle. Above 50km/h the wheels are steered in the same direction to improve stability on high-speed changes of direction.

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The new Range Rover Sport is available to order now, with prices starting from $139,160 plus on-road costs, and first deliveries are expected in the fourth quarter of this year.

A First Edition model will be available in D350 form throughout the first year of production, and a limited-edition P530 model will be available in an exclusive online sales event later this year. Both will be based on the lavish Autobiography trim level.

We’ll wait until we drive it, of course, but at first acquaintance the new Range Rover Sport looks like a thorough and deeply thoughtful rework of a formula that’s found favour around the world. And with good reason: You don’t mess with success.

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