Like its bigger Range Rover brother, the Sport has gone on a massive diet for enhanced agility, performance and economy
It perfectly suits the family look.
Yes indeed, because Land Rover says all Range Rovers must maintain the distinctive lines of the brand's latest design language.
The second-generation Sport you see here in official pictures made its debut at the New York auto show last week and encompasses a fairly handsome look, evoking details from both the bigger Range Rover and smaller Evoque.
The interior has also been revamped with higher quality materials ensuring its luxury SUV status against the likes of the Porsche Cayenne. Customers will be able to do a high level of personalisation in the Sport, according to the firm.
There's a 5+2 seating matrix in the Sport whose third-row bench can disappear into the floor when not in use. This is aimed at luring punters of the Audi Q7 and BMW X5.
Unlike the first-gen model that was based on the chassis-on-frame T5 floorplan of the Land Rover Discovery, the new Sport uses the full monocoque platform of the latest Range Rover.
In fact, Land Rover says the Sport was developed alongside the fourth-gen Range Rover.
How smaller is the Sport against the Range Rover?
Interior is said to use even higher quality materials.
Although both basically share the same 2,922mm wheelbase length, the Sport is 149mm shorter in length (at 4,850mm), 86mm narrower in width (at 1,987mm), 55mm lower in height (at 1,780mm) and 45kg lighter in weight (at 2,115kg for the lightest version).
In design terms, the Sport has a more raked roofline, a more dynamic-looking face and rear lights laid out horizontally rather than vertically. The Sport has wheel sizes ranging from 19 to 22 inches.
But the best news of the Sport sharing its tech with the Range Rover is about weight. With extensive use of aluminium, the Sport sheds a massive 420kg spec-on-spec with the outgoing model.
Such a regimen allows Land Rover to claim higher levels of driving agility, performance and fuel economy for the Sport.
Some dynamic improvements include the new electric steering system for more driving ease and the ability to operate an automatic parking guidance system for the first time.
The air suspension now has a wider ride height that can be raised by either 35mm or 65mm, as opposed to the single 55mm level in the old Sport.
Is there a new four-pot engine of some sort?
Not as we are being informed at the moment. But we see your point because Mercedes-Benz has already gone four-pot with its M-class in the guise of a diesel-turbo engine for the ML250 CDI.
Sport has lost around 420kg despite bigger dimensions.
Here are the initial engines Land Rover has announced for the Sport: the usual 5.0-litre supercharged V8 pumping out 510hp and a new 3.0-litre V6 variation delivering 340hp.
The diesels comprise 339hp 4.4-litre V8 and a 3.0-litre V6 producing either 258hp or 292hp.
All options are paired with eight-speed automatic and a four-wheel-drive system that's now claimed to be easier to use, thanks to the new-generation Terrain Response 2 that automatically adjusts to different road surfaces.
Also announced but with no technical details as of yet is the pending diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain which Land Rover says will be a performance hybrid.
When can I get one?
It should arrive on Thai shores in the fourth quarter of this year. The 258hp TDV6 would be the core-seller with prices kicking out at some 7.5 million baht.
While Land Rover has never been perturbed by the dated 220hp tax barrier in Thailand, we hear that they are now paying more attention to it because detuning power below that level can make the price drop by over half-a-million baht (excise tax falls from 50% to 40%).
Let's not forget that the Sport has tough competition ahead. Mercedes has just started promoting its locally assembled M-class, while Audi and BMW are readying their all-new Q7 and X5 in less than a year.
Today's Q7 and X5 both have 3.0-litre six-cylinder engines detuned specifically for the Thai market resulting in circa 6 million baht price tags.
If a rumour that there will be a 2.0-litre four-pot diesel-turbo for the Sport proves true, the excise tax would be crucially reduced to just 30% (if the power doesn't exceed 220hp).
The complete family: from left, Range Rover, Sport and Evoque.
