Range Rover Sport TDV6 (2010) CAR review

Land Rover has revised its most road-focussed SUV ever, the Range Rover Sport. There’s now new petrol and diesel engines (shared with the new Discovery 4, XF and XJ), a thoroughly revised interior, and a more modern exterior to match the look of the recently facelifted Range Rover proper. Read on to find out exactly how the new £50,695 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV6 drives.

And if I cough up £50,695 for a new Range Rover Sport what exactly do I get?

Quite a lot in HSE spec. There’s climate control, cruise control, bi-xenon lights, 20-inch wheels, metallic paint, parking sensors and a rear-view camera, keyless entry and start, leather seats (deep breath), plus sat-nav and a nine-speaker Harman/Kardon audio system, DAB tuner, MP3 connection and Bluetooth.

That’s not to mention all the off-road gear, which includes air suspension, a low-ratio ‘box, hill descent control and Land Rover’s Terrain Response dial that lets you tweak all the electronic controls to suit the, err, terrain. So forget shifting levers like you do in a Defender – instead you press a button or twist a dial and the Range Sport will clamber up, over or through pretty much any landscape you put in front of it. And all on 20-inch road rubber.

Talk me though these exterior tweaks.

Land Rover is giving the Range Rover family a new hierarchy, so the original Rangie has a three-bar front grille, three bars in the side vents side and triple-strake front and rear indicators. The Sport has two of each of these, which leads you to presume the forthcoming LRX must make do with just one…

The lights are now LEDs front and rear, with a smoked-effect finish at the back and a subtle circle of daytime running lights on the nose. There’s also a new front bumper, new exhausts, and although the tweaks sound fairly restrained, they all combine to make the 2010 Range Sport look lower and sleeker.

>> Click 'Next' below to read more of our Range Rover Sport first drive