Eric's Autos: 2025 Range Rover Sport

How much is not having a third row worth to you? How about $24,200? That is the difference -- in base price -- between a new Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport, which is basically the same full-size, ultra-premium SUV.

Aside from about 3 inches in length -- and the availability of a third row.

It's available with the same array of engines, though. Including a V8, if you can imagine that.

If you don't need to carry more than five people, this could be a way to save a lot of money and free up a little more space in your garage as well.

What It Is

The Range Rover Sport is a slightly shorter -- and much less expensive -- version of the Range Rover. Both are ultra-luxury (and ultra-capable) SUVs with full-time four-wheel-drive systems, height-adjustable suspensions and turbocharged six= and eight-cylinder engines. The main difference between the two -- other than about 3 inches of length -- is that the longer RR is available in an even longer iteration with a third row while the RR Sport comes only in one length and with only two rows of seats.

The RR Sport's base price -- for the P360 SE trim -- is $83,700. That includes a standard 355 horsepower 3.0-liter six augmented by mild hybrid tech that shuts off the engine when it is not needed to actually propel the vehicle, 21-inch wheels, the adjustable ride-height suspension, heated and ventilated leather seats and a 13.1-inch curved LCD touch screen and digital/configurable main instrument cluster.

In addition to the base P360 trim, the RR Sport is also available in six other trims, including the $90,800 P400 Dynamic SE -- which gets the 395-horsepower version of the 3.0-liter six -- as well as the $95,100 P460e -- which gets an even more powerful (454 horsepower) version of the 3.0-liter six plus plug-in hybrid capability and the ability to be driven about 21 miles on battery power alone, assuming a full charge to start.

The next up P530 Dynamic SE gets a 523 horsepower 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 engine, also augmented by a mild hybrid system, rear-wheel steering and an adaptive suspension system to improve handling that Land Rover calls Dynamic Response Pro. This one stickers for $109,700.

The $118,700 P530 Autograph adds massaging seats, 22-inch wheels, four-zone climate control, an ultra-premium Meridian audio system, refrigerated compartment in the centers console and a heads-up display. If you want even more power to go with that, the $123,400 P550e comes with a 540-horsepower version of the 3.0-liter six with plug-in hybrid augmentation.

At the apex of the pyramid is the $180,700 P635 Edition Two. This one comes with a 626-horsepower version of the 4.4 V8 (also augmented by mild hybrid tech), a 30-speaker Meridian audio system, upgraded Brembo brakes, 23-inch forged alloy wheels, a firmer-riding suspension system and unique-to-this model driver-selectable modes.

What's New for 2025

There are several new trims -- including the P460e plug-in hybrid and V8-powered P530.

What's Good

-- Six- and eight-cylinder engines befitting the brand -- and the price.

-- Legendary capability isn't just a legend.

-- Though only slightly smaller than the Range Rover, the Sport is much less expensive.

What's Not So Good

-- Both engines come standard with compliance technology (i.e., hybrid systems).

-- Available massaging seats and the superb 30-speaker Meridian audio system are only available in the more expensive trims.

-- Though capable of handling extreme off-road terrain, like all modern high-end SUVs, the RR Sport has easily damaged plastic front and rear clips that are also extremely expensive to repair if damaged.

Under the Hood

It used to be a given that when you paid this kind of money for a vehicle, the least you'd get was a six and an eight was usually at least in play. And so it is here.

The 3.0-liter inline six is available 355- and 395-horsepower configurations and with either "mild" hybrid tech or (in the P460e) plug-in hybrid tech. The so-called mild hybrid thing just means the engine gets automatically shut off when the vehicle isn't moving or is coasting/decelerating.

The available 4.4-liter V8 also comes in different horsepower configurations, 523 in the P530 SE and 626 in the top-of-the-line Sport SV. The latter can launch itself from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, according to Land Rover -- and it still manages 16 mpg city, 22 mpg highway.

There is also the P550e -- which comes with a 542-horsepower/plug-in hybrid iteration of the 3.0-liter six. This one can be charged up without driving it or by plugging it in. When the battery is fully charged, this version of the RR Sport can be driven about 50 miles without burning (or "emitting") any gas at all.

All RR Sports come standard with an eight-speed automatic and full-time 4WD with driver-selectable modes.

You can pull a maximum of 7,716 pounds with this SUV.

On the Road

The RR Sport is sportier than its longer and several-hundred-pounds-heavier brother.

It is certainly quicker when equipped with the same drivetrains as its bigger and heavier brother; the base P360 SE with the standard 355-horsepower, 3.0-liter six/mild hybrid combo can get to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. The P400 version, with the 395-horsepower 3.0-liter six/mild hybrid combo, can do the same in about five seconds flat. With the 523-horsepower V8, the time goes down to 4.3 seconds, a good time for a '90s-era Ferrari or Porsche that weighed less than half as much. The apex predator P365 SV -- with the 626-horsepower version of the 4.4-liter V8 -- is quicker than any '90s-era supercar from Ferrari or Lamborghini, and it can go seriously off-road too.

You can also raise or lower the ride height a couple of inches at the touch of a button and ford creeks that would drown a Ferrari or a Porsche. And the ride is vastly more serene.

Because it is only 196 inches long, the Sport has about the same-size footprint as a current midsize sedan such as the Toyota Crown, which at 196.1 inches long is actually just slightly longer than the RR Sport. Either fits comfortably in a standard-size garage or parking spot, which makes both easier to park and to live with. Though the RR is much taller than a sedan, it is as easy to get into and out of as a sedan; arguably more so because modern sedans tend to be pretty low riding -- so you sit down and then have to get up and out. You just get in -- and out of -- the RR.

At the Curb

While everything is "nice" now -- relative to how it was, once -- the interior of the RR is nicer. It is more tasteful, for openers -- being more reliant on high-end materials such as pewter inserts and black chrome trim rather than over-showy plastic (or even glass-faced) LCD touch screens, which it has but which do not dominate the interior. The main gauge cluster is digital but pleasantly smaller than what's common now, displaying the important info analog gauges used to display in a similar style and not much more than that. The secondary screen is big enough (13.1 inches) to make using it while driving easy but not so big as to be the focal point of the interior.

The available massaging chairs -- which also feature 22 ways of adjustability -- complete the first-class experience. One of the nice touches -- about the seats -- is that to adjust them, you just touch the door-mounted movement controls, and that brings up the other seat-control displays on the LCD touch screen. There's also a volume wheel for the stereo on the steering wheel that allows the driver to increase or decrease the volume without taking their hands off the wheel -- or their eyes off the road.

The exterior door pulls are flush-mounted and Tesla-like, and extend when you approach (assuming you have the key fob transmitter with you).

The Rest

The main weakness here is one that afflicts every new vehicle in that the front and rear ends of the RR are painted plastic that are extremely fragile and so very easily torn or even ripped entirely off the vehicle. This is not a safety issue; the structure that's behind the plastic is designed to absorb impacts. It is a vulnerability-to-damage issue. More finely, a vulnerability to very expensive damage because the plastic is not cheap if it has to be replaced and neither are the many cameras and related apparatuses that are part of these "fascias" -- as they are called.

The Bottom Line

The RR Sport is a great way to get into a Range Rover for about $25,000 less -- and there's a lot to like about that.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.