Road Test: Land Rover Range Rover Autobiography Sport

Richard Webb has just finished reading Richard Branson’s autobiography, ‘Losing My Virginity’ and finds himself brimming with great ideas about making enough money to buy a second Autobiography for the month.

Land Rover require me to hand over a cool R1.1 million to my local dealer for the shiny new Range Rover Sport version, which is a heck of a lot more than what Sir Branson required for me to receive his bearded worldly wisdom.

In fairness, for my money, I get a permanent a four-wheel drive sports car and a 4×4 capable of traversing off road conditions other four-wheel drives may consider reckless. Most Range Rovers, though, are confined to cosseting little Nicholas and Rebecca to and fro on the private school run and probably some motorway cruising, rather than exploiting their full capabilities, which are immense. Most owners use them like normal cars and only around 11 per cent of 4×4 drivers ever bother taking them off-road.

Branson once said, “Good brands reflect the histories of the time and the group of people that made them. They cannot be copied. They can not be recycled.” He may well have had Spen King’s original 1970 Range Rover in mind when he said it. No other vehicle before it had blended the Range Rover’s all-round ability with such a sense of luxury, a combination that is as successful today in its various forms as it was back in its original 1970 version.

Outside, the car looks like it’s been chiseled from solid granite: imposing, with the sense of invincibility and an impeccable look of class. Inside, the cabin is well appointed and comfortable. The leather and stitching is sumptuous, helping to create an isolated and serene interior, even if it’s not particularly spacious. The elevated road view was useful in seeing brake lights earlier and to help anticipate and avoid some of South Africa’s more suicidal driving techniques. Here, the level of refinement is quite astonishing. Wind noise is nonexistent in spite of the car’s blunt shape and the tyre hum is minimal.

The touch screen is not it as effective as the best from BMW or Mercedes, with too many screens to page through to get to where to you want to be. Expect this to be updated on the next Range Rover and to filter through thereafter, but the excellent front-seat lumbar support, 360-degree parking cameras and the DVD screens smartly sunk in the headrests are subtle ‘wow’ factors that make it a super place to be.

The beating heart of the Range Rover Sport is its supercharged V8. A real gem, whether it’s wrapped in a hulking great 4×4 like this or in the lithe Jaguar XKR. It comes with crushing linear power delivery and an addictive induction noise. The all-aluminum 5.0-litre V8 is force fed by a twin-intercooled Eaton supercharger, gifting the Sport some 375 kW and 625 Nm. No 2.5 tonne car has a right to accelerate from 0 – 100 km/h in 6.2 seconds, but this one does. There’s something theatrical about such a large SUV urging so quickly to the speed limit, its addictive eight-cylinder growl is both svelte and aggressive at once.

On road, the car is rather well mannered and surprisingly fleet of foot, even with its firm ride and low-profile rubber. Point it firmly into an apex and body roll is negligible for a car with such high centre of gravity. It goes exactly where it’s pointed and if you have enough ambition to keep your right foot planted, eventually, face-saving understeer comes to the rescue. Think of its handling as something more reminiscent of a the big GT car than a truly talented off-roader. The task of stopping the Rangie is Brembo’s responsibility, coupled with 360 mm discs up front and 350 mm at the rear. Brakes don’t get much better than this.

As talented as it is, however, what’s the point to the Autobiography? Spen King created the original Range Rover to be a utility vehicle like the Jeep. Before King died in 2010, he took a swipe at the very drivers of the cars that were spawned by his original Range Rover. He was angry that the cars he created for the great outdoors have become oversized toys. “The 4×4 was never intended as a status symbol, but later incarnations of my design seem to be intended for that purpose. To use the 4×4 for the school run, or even in cities or towns at all, is completely stupid.” Ouch.

Call it a guilty pleasure if you must, but there are few finer ways of travelling very swiftly in complete luxury and in near silence, yet be capable of handling boggy fields, snow and treacherous conditions like the Sport can. Mindful of the siren call for sustainability and better environmental credentials, Land Rover will reduce the weight of the new generation Sport by utilising more aluminium bits and a new turbocharged 3.0-litre V6. The magnificent supercharged 5.0-litre V8 will still be an offering for the new car if you choose.

So, for now, if you like your SUVs big, brutish and bling-full, look no further than the Autobiography. Despite its imposing performance, the V8 is still capable of achieving relatively decent combined average consumption of 14.9 L/100km with a CO2 output of 348 g/km. Land Rover South Africa is also committed to reducing their carbon footprint through conservation and humanitarian partnerships and wide ranging CO2 offsetting initiatives. Me? I think I’ll carry on thumbing through the bearded one’s advice till I have enough to place an order on the next generation Sport.

What we like…

• Unflappable presence and indecently quick too.
• It’s British. Kind of.
• ‘Pugilist in a tuxedo’ image.

What we would like…

• Richard Branson’s resources to acquire, run and maintain it
• Next year’s smaller V6 turbo unit to assuage my environmental conscience.

Images via Mad4Wheels

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