New Range Rover Sport preview. Updated with ride and drive event.

18-6-13 I went along to one of the Range Rover Sport preview events last night. Nice venue in the Cotswolds. Daylesford Organic Farm, Stow On The Wold.

Nice evening with free champagne and food!

Only a 2 car static preview last night as it was a pre-launch event but nice to look around what looks like the Evoques big brother! Very similar experience sitting inside I must admit!

A few photos took with my phone here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGc4p35

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Interesting to see the screens showed the Land Rover logo and not Range Rover?

I went to the one in Canary Wharf.

Nice cars. Well made and very good size boot and I liked the 7 seat option!

Interestingly the pano roof is split in the middle - so two piece glass but I forgot to ask if it opens!

Nice styling - quite conservative although I think the side vents and rear bumper look cheap. Also the gearshifter is a step backwards in design IMO.

Agree on the shifter. I wonder why they went back to a stick type?

On the back of last night I have just had a phone call from Land Rover offering me a place at the Range Rover Sport Ride and Drive event at Gaydon! Result!!

(19-06-2013 12:54pm)RRSteve Wrote:  Agree on the shifter. I wonder why they went back to a stick type?

On the back of last night I have just had a phone call from Land Rover offering me a place at the Range Rover Sport Ride and Drive event at Gaydon! Result!!

Nice, I haven't had a call yet - when is the Gaydon event?

I bet the stick is the result of customer feedback!

(19-06-2013 02:42pm)WB Wrote:  Nice, I haven't had a call yet - when is the Gaydon event?

I bet the stick is the result of customer feedback!

I was told at the one I went to,that it was indeed because of customer feedback, apparently it's easier for off-roading rather than the flappy paddles.

The sunroof does indeed open...

How many times to those things go off-roading though I wonder?

I prefer the paddles now myself.

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I wonder if the Evoque will ultimately lose the paddle shifters?

So few that the serious off road package is now optional whereas it was standard before! Also I imagine removing the low ratio/ transfer gearbox saves weight = lower CO2

When you say the off road package is optional is that 4wd or just low range?

Top Gear liked it: http://www.topgear.com/uk/land-rover/ran...rt/verdict

So last Sunday (7-7-13) me and the Wife went on the New Range Rover Sport ride and drive event we were invited to at Gaydon.

I though I'd share if your interested.

Fantastic weather for it and what a fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning! Got to Gaydon at 8.30 as our event was at 9am. It was at the Land Rover facility there not the heritage center so we had to wait outside the security gate and be escorted to a car park just inside the gates. There were around 5 other people there when we got there as they had 3 events on that day so we were the first group.
We got chauffeured to the event HQ in our own (one per couple) chauffeur driven Range Rover by chauffeurs that looked like they were dressed straight from a James Bond movie!
Once at the HQ which was a purpose built temp structure (and very nice it was too), we registered signing the usual disclaimer forms and showing of driving licenses and given a selection of tea or coffee. We were then told we couldn't use cameras on the event and we had to have a security sticker placed over the lenses on our phones because of the sensitive areas we may see while there!

We were then led into a presentation about the new RRS showing design and capabilities of the new car. Then we had a show with lights and lasers showing us the car (like something from a launch event at a motor show!!). Very impressive that was and very interesting talk.

We were then given our itinerary which was: 1 hour road drive in the 3L V6 diesel. Self drive following a set route on the sat nav (each car had a tracker so they knew where each car was, who was driving and at what speed!).
Then it was back to base and straight onto the dynamics track in the 510 bhp V8!
After that it was back into the V6 on a self drive on the off road course following an instructor in a Discovery. Each car had a radio where the instructor gave us instructions on what settings to have the car set on and driving tips on the various sections.

The on road drive was a great mixed road route and the V6 was a very nice car to drive. It really did feel like a big Evoque and the exhaust gave a very nice un-diesel like sound! Went well too!

On the dynamic section back at Gaydon, it was basically on their test track in the 510 BHP V8! We had an instructor in each car so I drove first then the wife. First off the instructor showed us what it was capable of handling wise using avoidance driving. That was both very exciting and a little scary at times!!
Then it was our turn to drive. Out on the test track the car was put into Dynamic and Sport mode. The instructor basically gave us tips on where to brake and accelerate. Out of turn 1 there was a very long straight. He told me to just floor it and take the speed to where I wanted or dared. The wife on her run got 138MPH, I got it flat out at 154mph (it was still going towards 160MPH as these cars were unlimited, but a corner got in the way!!) I managed the corner at the end at around 100MPH taking the guidance of the instructor when to brake and when to hit the power! Very impressive turn of speed for an SUV and it sounded fantastic!!!! They way it pushed you back on hard acceleration was also impressive. Next we drove a coned slalom test. Almost 65MPH trough cones I got to and the thing hardly rolled and felt well planted. Next was the braking test. Big Brembo brakes on this one and the stopping power was phenomenal and very controllable. 0-60 is 5.0 seconds!!

Then onto the off road circuit. In Low ratio and AUTO on the gearbox settings, the car raises up on its suspension quite a bit actually! We were led around a course that wasn't too OTT but still was scary in places, especially the banked section on dust and gravel! Driving along the side of that I actually looked down at the wife sitting next to me! Also the hill climb and decent was scary as you couldn't see any track going over the top! That hill decent electronics works so well! Felt strange taking your foot off the pedals though and letting the car control it!! (This is also on the Evoque but I haven't had cause to try it our yet!!). They way it handles the very rutted section and the tight corners through the bushes was also impressive!

After that it was back to event HQ for an 2 course À la carte lunch! The sound system was playing James Bond style music so I guess it may be in the next Bond movie!
They had static displays of the cars you could have a good look around. There was also free coffee and cake and you could just chill outside on the decking in the sunshine at your leisure and there were tech guys to answer any questions. Very nice! When you were ready to go, you let one of the girls know and they summoned your chauffeur to drive you back to your car.

All in all a fantastic 4 hours! Well done Land Rover!! You have me hooked!!

I managed to get a few shots with my phone (being me!!) but only at HQ and the wife took some on the road.















The gauges were all digital graphics. The needle actually passed under the numbers so they were never obscured and not all the numbers were visible all the time. The number (speed) you were on showed up and the other number before and after faded in with the others faded to black! Very interesting!




All in all it's a very accomplished car and unless you want top down driving, I cant figure out why you would want anything else to be honest, especially that V8 (although it was showing 8MPG on that track!).