The all-new, second-generation Range Rover Sport has been spied testing. Judging by the prototype’s disguise, it looks set for a showroom debut by the middle of next year, hot on the heels of the Mk4 Range Rover.
Our pictures were taken during the car's test programme at the Nürburgring. Reader, Simon Eddison, spotted the car being put through its paces in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Like its larger sister car, the latest Sport is based on an all-new bonded and riveted aluminium platform, and will be built on a production line currently being finalised at Land Rover’s Solihull HQ.
Sources suggest that the switch from the heavy-duty T5 platform to new aluminium architecture should slash the model’s weight by hundreds of kilos, perhaps enabling the lightest version to hit a Porsche Cayenne-matching 2000kg.
Despite the heavy disguise, it’s clear that while the new Range Rover Sport is more dynamic looking than the current model, it hasn’t strayed too far from the car’s well established design language.
Compared with the more upright Range Rover, the Sport has a more inclined windscreen and a lower and more sloping roofline. It also features a clamshell bonnet tapering towards the grille, plus smaller windows which result in much deeper sides than on the current car. At the back, the rear window and C-pillars are more inclined, while the rear overhang is shorter than the new Range Rover’s.
Engines are expected to include an all-new V6 petrol in naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, the former primarily aimed at the US and Chinese markets. The most popular motor in Europe is expected to be a tweaked version of the well established 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel.
The combination of serious weight saving and improved engines should help ensure that the new Range Rover Sport benefits from improved handling and a combined fuel economy figure in the high 30s.
