Rover HSE: A sportive class
The basics of cabin tech are here, including navigation and cell phone integration, but integration is poor. The navigation system gets shoehorned into the top of the dashboard, with completely separate controls and display from the stereo system. The voice command system seems to come from another vehicle entirely. But there are a few highlights, […]
The basics of cabin tech are here, including navigation and cell phone integration, but integration is poor. The navigation system gets shoehorned into the top of the dashboard, with completely separate controls and display from the stereo system. The voice command system seems to come from another vehicle entirely. But there are a few highlights, such as the Harmon Kardon audio system and the nav system’s off-road mode.
Test the tech: Sport SUV: Land Rover’s designation of this Range Rover as a sport model suggests that it handles on-road conditions better than its stable mates. We put this sport to the test by subjecting it to the same testing we gave the Porsche Cayenne GTS a couple of weeks earlier. The Range Rover Sport is a full two inches lower than the standard Range Rover, in both standard and off-road modes. The Cayenne GTS, also designed as a more road-worthy model, is about an inch and a half lower than the standard Cayenne. Both the Range Rover Sport and the Cayenne GTS have adjustable air suspensions and multiple off-road modes, which can be set from a cluster of controls on the console.
For our test, we ran the Range Rover Sport over the same rough section of pavement in San Francisco where we rated the comfort of the Cayenne GTS’ different suspension modes. We took the Range Rover Sport over the course with its suspension in normal, road mode, and noted that it was a rougher ride than we found in the Cayenne GTS. Unfortunately, the Range Rover Sport doesn’t have a Comfort mode or a Sport mode for its suspension, as the Cayenne GTS did, so our different tests involved trying out its suspension settings.
We first put the Ranger Rover Sport’s suspension into its highest mode, giving it 8.9 inches of ground clearance, and drove it along our route. The ride was slightly rougher than in standard mode, delivering stronger jolts to the cabin from imperfections in the pavement and potholes. We then put the vehicle into the third of its five terrain programs, this one designed for mud. With this program, the vehicle keeps its torque low to avoid spinning tires and maximum speed is about 15 mph. The ride seemed slightly rougher than the on-road mode. We also put the Ranger Rover Sport into its most extreme, rock crawler mode. Again the speed was severely limited, and the ride quality was about the same as the mud mode.
Overall, we found these suspension tests, although illuminating as to the behavior of the car, weren’t really comparable to the Cayenne GTS. For one, we couldn’t drive the Range Rover Sport at 30 mph for all tests, so the comfort level isn’t comparable. Also, the Range Rover Sport’s terrain settings aren’t about changing the ride quality for the passengers, but about getting over the rough stuff.
As a better comparison, we drove the Range Rover Sport over the same twisty sections of road we had driven the Cayenne GTS. With the transmission in Sport mode, we pushed the Range Rover hard around the corners. Where the Cayenne GTS felt like a sports car, the Range Rover Sport floated on its suspension. The big tires seemed to grip well enough, but the body of the car didn’t feel screwed down, tempering our speed. And where the Cayenne GTS delivered precise handling, the Range Rover Sport showed a lot of understeer as we maneuvered our way through the turns.
In the cabin: The cabin tech in the 2009 Range Rover Sport doesn’t look any different from that in the 2006 Range Rover Sport we reviewed. Although some of the features seemed impressive in that earlier model, the competitive landscape has changed. The navigation system, for example, is merely adequate when compared with what’s available today. The Range Rover Sport presents the driver with a massive console and instrument panel holding a bank of plastic buttons and a small, green monochrome display. The standard navigation system uses its own touch-screen LCD, set in the middle of the dashboard. No audio or phone information is shown on the LCD. We do like the keypad on the instrument panel, which makes it easy to dial phone numbers with a Bluetooth-paired phone. Two phone buttons on the steering wheel let you initiate and end phone calls. There is also a voice command button on the steering wheel, but it only works with the navigation system. When we delved into its help menus, it told us we could use the command “Display audio information,” along with a few similar commands, but none of these had any effect.
The navigation system does standard route guidance, offering a choice of three routes to a destination. It is DVD-based, but seemed quick enough to calculate routes, although we did notice some delays when it needed to call up a list of cities, for example. Appropriate for the Range Rover Sport, the navigation system offers latitude/longitude entry for destinations, along with the other more common address and point of interest. Also accessible in the navigation system is an off-road mode, which accepts that the vehicle won’t be traveling on any roads in its database, and will record a breadcrumb trail of the car’s route, making it easy to find your way back out of whatever you’ve gotten yourself into.
The navigation system also sports a compass mode, showing a virtual compass, along with location information, such as latitude, longitude, and altitude. Another useful screen for off-roaders shows a graphic representation of the car’s wheel position and terrain mode. This screen complements an external spotter by letting the driver see exactly what the wheels are doing as they tackle different obstacles.
As for the stereo, the sound quality is excellent, but the audio sources are limited. There is a six-disc in-dash changer that can read MP3 CDs, but it doesn’t show ID3 track information on the radio display, and there is no means of browsing folders on a CD. This system also has Sirius satellite radio as an option, but there is no iPod integration or other digital music option. On the other hand, the Range Rover Sport gets a 550-watt Harmon Kardon Logic7 audio system using 14 speakers. Audio adjustments are relatively simple, with bass, treble, and mid, but you can also set the subwoofer level. The system produces audio that is well balanced and very clear. We found no distortion or rattle with heavy bass tracks, while acoustic tracks came through with excellent clarity.
Similar to the navigation system, Bluetooth hands-free cell phone integration is fairly basic. We had an easy time pairing it with a Samsung phone, but its features are limited, lacking a phone book or even voice dialing.
All of the cabin tech mentioned above, except for Sirius satellite radio, is standard in the Range Rover Sport. A DVD rear seat entertainment system is optional. Our car had the Luxury Interior package, which places a small refrigerator in the console, with enough room for a couple of soda cans or a bottle of water.
Under the hood: On city streets, we found the 2009 Range Rover Sport very drivable, with a decent turn radius and good power-assist on the steering. There’s no mistaking its bulk–it is a big SUV–but good visibility and responsive driving controls keep it maneuverable in traffic. The 4.4-liter V-8 didn’t want for boost, using its 300 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 315 pound-feet of torque at 4,000rpm to get this heavy SUV off the line without hesitation. Land Rover also makes a version with a supercharged 4.2-liter V-8.
The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with drive, sport, and manual modes. In drive, it tries to keep the engine speed around 2,000rpm, while sport moves the tach needle up around 3,500rpm, making more power immediately available. Manual mode shifts were the usual slushy feeling change-ups afforded by an automatic transmission.
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