Range Rover Sport - Interior, design and technology
A striking exterior, along with a luxurious cabin, means the Range Rover Sport can mix it with its premium rivals
With its flush-fitting door handles and smoother body styling, the third-generation Range Rover Sport has a cool, minimalist look. Land Rover describes the Sport as having an evolutionary design, which, while hardly radical, will no doubt keep potential buyers looking to upgrade from their older models happy.
There is a wide variety of metallic and matte paint finishes available for the Sport, although a number of the more interesting shades come with a hefty price tag. There’s one free shade (Fuji White), followed by six reasonably priced metallic colours for around £900, with Giola Green and Firenze Red being the most photogenic choices. Then there are the 12 bolder SV Ultra Metallic paint finishes that certainly help the Sport to stand out, but come in at around £8,000 each. If you fancy going for a matte colour scheme, better set aside an additional £10,000 for one of the nine satin finish colours.
What is the Range Rover Sport like inside?
Despite offering lots of onboard technology, the cabin doesn’t feel overburdened with buttons and switches. A 13.1-inch touchscreen takes centre stage and is a huge improvement over the previous model’s infotainment system, boasting sharper graphics and quicker responses to inputs.
One small gripe we found during our time with the car, however, was that the steering column didn’t provide enough reach adjustment – a design point which may impact the overall driving experience for some. We do like that you get a handy button on the steering wheel that allows you to select one of three settings for the driver assistance system. You can have all the systems active, or select a saved pre-set selection if you want to quickly turn off the audible speed limit warning or lane keep assist system.
Used - available now
2021 Land Rover
Range Rover Sport
59,509 milesAutomaticDiesel3.0L
Cash £28,600
2022 Land Rover
Range Rover Sport
52,000 milesAutomaticPetrol2.0L
Cash £29,950
2022 Land Rover
Range Rover Sport
36,036 milesAutomaticDiesel3.0L
Cash £44,810
2022 Land Rover
Range Rover Sport
28,855 milesAutomaticDiesel3.0L
Cash £45,985We’re not so fond of the fact that the innovative second screen of earlier versions that sat below the main central touchscreen has been removed. This means that the easy-to-use pair of climate control and heated seat dials we used to praise the Sport for have also gone, which is a blow in terms of usability because all of the climate functions are now relegated to the touchscreen, making simple tasks such as adjusting the temperature a far more distracting process than before. Even Land Rover’s famed Terrain Response system has been shorn of its separate dial that was near to the starter button. You can argue that rivals like the Audi Q7 have also gone to touchscreen-only controls, but it seems a shame the Sport has fallen into the same trap, given that ease of use was an area where earlier versions stood out against the competition.
What is the interior quality like?
The attention to detail inside the Sport’s cabin underlines the luxury theme, with plenty of leather and soft materials used for the areas you regularly see and touch. Yes, you will find some more rigid plastics on show in less frequent touchpoints, but everything feels solid and well-built.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
The Range Rover Sport uses a vast 13.1-inch display with fantastic resolution to back it up. However, due to the removal of the second screen, there are now more functions shown on the central screen, so it isn’t quite as uncluttered as before.
There are shortcuts running down either side of the screen to bring up temperature and heated seat controls, and these are large enough to be relatively straightforward to use. But if you want to do anything beyond that, it becomes a more involved process of diving into submenus, which we find more distracting. The rest of the screen is split into three vertical sections, and you sweep between different menus, but we don’t find this very intuitive, especially when on the move.
The sat-nav system isn’t the swiftest system around, and as a result, it can be a little bit behind your actual location, which could cause confusion at unfamiliar junctions. Still, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay fill out the screen when they’re connected, so it’s no hardship to make the most of your smartphone’s tech instead.
A 400-watt, 15-speaker Meridian sound system comes as standard with the S trim, with a more powerful 800-watt, 19-speaker system fitted to the Autobiography specification. Wireless phone charging is provided throughout the Sport range.
