2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SUV Review

The 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport drives like a sporting sedan, only it also has that unique dimension of four-wheel-drive mobility and everyday practicality that you expect from an SUV. It's always impressively sporty and utterly luxurious, whether you're driving to a summer concert at symphony hall or following the road to a winter adventure in the snowy mountains. And if you specify the optional third-row seat, you can take six friends with you.

For 2017 the Range Rover Sport’s wide-ranging capabilities have been enhanced with a now-standard suite of active safety features for all models, including autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and lane departure warning with lane keeping assist. A new low-traction launch mode also makes pulling away on slippery surfaces a no-stress affair. Finally, an updated infotainment system featuring a larger 10.2-inch touchscreen also makes its debut this year.

For all this, the Range Rover Sport is indeed an SUV and not a car, so it weighs in at more than 2.5 tons in its most powerful Supercharged and SVR guises. Combine this weight with those thirsty V8 engines, and you end up with particularly poor fuel economy. The optional turbodiesel powertrain boosts this husky truck's EPA estimates up to a respectable 24 mpg combined, and it's worth considering for those who'd like to avoid some of the potential pain at the fuel pumps.

Now that Americans have thoroughly embraced utility vehicles as a daily ride in all kinds of driving, there are lots of SUVs with sport-oriented personalities to choose from, including the Audi Q7, BMW X6, Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-Benz GLS and Porsche Cayenne. The Range Rover Sport with its full-time four-wheel-drive systems stands apart from them in its go-anywhere, all-terrain mobility, and it'll even climb a mountain trail in street-oriented 20-inch tires without dragging its undercarriage across the rocks (if that's your thing). It also has a softer, British-style interpretation of luxury than its rivals.

The 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport comes standard with antilock disc brakes, traction and stability control, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. Also standard are front and rear parking sensors and a rearview camera. New to the standard safety equipment list this year are adaptive cruise control with automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning and lane keeping assist.

Other available safety features include a surround-view camera system and a nifty self-parking system that handles both parallel and perpendicular parking scenarios. Its automatic space-exit feature ensures that you won't pull out in front of passing traffic or nudge the parked cars around you.

In Edmunds brake testing, a Range Rover Sport Supercharged came to a stop from 60 mph in 124 feet, which is about average for SUVs of this size and weight, though underwhelming given the model's sporting pretensions. An SVR model stopped in 122 feet.

The 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport is a midsize luxury SUV offered in five basic trim levels: SE, HSE, Supercharged, Autobiography and SVR. Five-passenger seating is standard, with a power-folding third row that boosts capacity to seven passengers available on all trims except the SVR.

Though it may seem unlikely for a vehicle this size, the 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport comes by that "sport" designation honestly. Although its reflexes on mountain roads might not be quite as sharp as those of the Porsche Cayenne, this luxury SUV corners with confidence, while its air springs ensure that you don't have to endure the harsh ride quality associated with other SUVs equipped with sport-tuned suspensions.

And when traction is compromised by ice, snow or mud, the Range Rover Sport shines brightly, not only due to the programmed modes built into Land Rover's Terrain Response system's electronics but also a body configured to keep its undercarriage from dragging across the rocks. It's probably unlikely that this vehicle will see anything more challenging than a slippery boat ramp or a snowy ski resort, but keep in mind that you'll need to opt for the available low-range transfer case if you hope to tackle boulder-strewn trails on the way to the mountain-bike trailhead.

As far as powertrains go, the standard V6 seems anemic when pushed hard, so it's really best for highway cruising. The supercharged V8 engines give you the power you want when you've got a full load of people or just want a more sporting drive, and abundant acceleration is on tap whenever you feel the need. The available turbodiesel engine falls between these two extremes, with a bit of initial lag followed by some serious get-up-and-go at middling rpm. This excellent engine makes the expected diesel noises in around-town driving, but the clatter quickly falls away as speeds begin to climb.

Inside the cabin, the 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Sport offers a stylish space with an especially sleek look, thanks in part to the new oversize center-mounted touchscreen. The quality of the materials is excellent, including supple leather upholstery and available wood trim. While you're in motion, road and tire noise is also subdued, something that not every large SUV can deliver.

The standard front seats are comfortable, and the available 16-way sport seats are even more supportive. The seating position is low relative to that of other Land Rover models for a more sporty impression, yet visibility is still good all around. Rear seats are adult-friendly in the outboard positions; as is often the case the center portion is considerably less accommodating. The available power-folding third-row seat is useful for young children, just as with third-row seats everywhere.

That new standard 10.2-inch touchscreen responds to smartphone-like gestures, including swipe and pinch-to-zoom, and it also features crisp graphics and rapid response times that make for easier access to settings and controls. We like the ability of the InControl App system to integrate Apple and Android-based smartphone apps right into the display.

The Range Rover Sport is shorter overall than a standard Range Rover in order to make it more responsive during driving, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that it offers 27.7 cubic feet of stowage behind the second-row seats. Fold all the rear seats down and you end up with 62.2 cubic feet of space, which is less room than in some compact crossovers but on par with the space in competitors such as the Porsche Cayenne. The foot-operated power tailgate makes it easy to load cargo even with your hands full.