Best SUVs of 2022 and 2023

[MUSIC PLAYING] RYAN ZUMMALLEN: Hola! Today, I'm in beautiful Spain with this-- the fully redesigned 2023 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. So what sets this apart from other luxury midsize SUVs? Well, there's a lot, but one of the main things is that it can do an off-road course like this. Well, probably, anyway. We're about to find out. So let's see how I do out here. And then after that, I'll tell you why this commands such a high price tag and which features are really worth it. Let's do it. To get us started, go ahead and click that Like button in 3, 2, 1. Thank you very much. Also, don't forget to hit Subscribe and go to edmunds.com/sellmycar if you want to sell your car. You do that, and you can get a cash offer right away. [MUSIC PLAYING] OK. So I put it in low range here, and that automatically puts the Range Rover Sport in its highest suspension setting. So we've got maximum ground clearance. We're about to go down a pretty steep incline, so let's see how it does. Crawling, crawling, crawling. And I'm almost straight down. [LAUGHS] But no scraping. The front bumper is coming to the ground, and no scraping there either. So impressive approach and breakover angles, which you don't often see in the luxury midsize class, especially on something that has 23-inch wheels like this does. We've got a lot of technology helping us out here. First of all, there are two locking differentials, a center and a rear. Those will turn on automatically if it senses that the car needs more traction to help us claw out of some of the really loose terrain. Or if one wheel is up in the air, it'll send the right amount of power to the wheel that needs it most. On top of that, we also have all-wheel steering on this car. And we'll see that in action right here. We're coming to a tight bend with rocks very clearly outside right here. I could reach out and touch them if I wanted to. And to get around that without hitting the rocks on the other side, the rear wheels are steering in the opposite direction of the front wheels. And that's helping the car swing itself around so that you really have pinpoint accuracy here. OK. Made it. Made relatively light work out of what was a very technical tricky situation right there. And this is hairy stuff. I would really like to see a BMW X5 or a Mercedes GLE attempt something like this. Whoever the owner of that car is would not like to see that because I don't think it would come out unscathed like the Range Rover Sport is at the moment. And on top of that, we've also got Land Rover's Terrain Response system. Now, that handles the grip and the amount of traction that the car is able to generate when things are really loose or you're in a really steep incline. Now, it's important to know you're not going to get all of that off-road equipment on every version of the Range Rover Sport. But this one is a first edition. So with that, you get not only a twin turbo V8 under the hood, but all of those extra goodies that I just talked about. What you do get on every Range Rover Sport is that air suspension. So you'll have adjustable ride height and what amounts to a very smooth, comfortable ride over rocky terrain. Another feature we can use out here is off-road cruise control, and that does exactly what it sounds like-- low speed, automatic crawling where you don't have to use the gas pedal. So with Terrain Response, too, you get several different driving modes, and there are multiple different off-road settings. Right now, I'm in mud and ruts. That does two things. It keeps you at the maximum ground clearance, and it keeps the rear-wheel steering active. So if you're in some other settings, you can use rear-wheel steering in certain situations, but it will toggle on and off. And when you're in a mode like mud and ruts, it stays on all the time. That's very important in this situation because I need it. I mean, pretty often here, we're pointing at the ground around 25 to 30 degrees and have not heard a scrape yet. Not today, rocks. Sorry. [MUSIC PLAYING] This is the first fully redesigned Range Rover Sport since 2014. And you may be looking at this thing and thinking, that looks baller. Hell yeah, it does, amigo. Now, baller or not, the Range Rover Sport competes in a very crowded segment. Here's how crowded. You could also go for something like a Mercedes AMG GLE, a BMW X5 M, a Porsche Cayenne, or on the sporty side, an Audi SQ8. It's kind of hard to believe there are so many performance-minded luxury SUVs around 100k these days, but that's a fact. So the Range Rover Sport needs to stand out. Now, one way the Range Rover Sport stands out is with its available powertrains. This version is going to carry the model all the way into the battery-powered age, so there will be an EV version coming in 2024. But until then, you've got a range of different powertrains to choose from. First off, there's the Range Rover Sport P360 SE. That's got a turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine with a mild hybrid system attached, and it's making 355 horsepower. For a little more juice, you can move up to the P400 SE Dynamic. That's got the same engine and mild hybrid powertrain, but it bumps up to 395 horsepower. After that, there's the P440 E Autobiography, which is a fully plug-in hybrid, so you can run on electric power alone for short periods of time. That gets a bump up to 434 horsepower. Finally, at the top of the lineup, there is this guy. This is the P530 First Edition. And under the hood, there is a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 engine making over 500 horsepower. I know what you're thinking. Twin turbo V8s still exist in new cars? Well, yes, but you can't have one. The first edition is limited to around 1,000 units, and Range Rover says they are very nearly all sold out. So if you want to hold on to that last bit of hope, give Range Rover a call. When it comes to the issue of pricing, the Range Rover Sport is not cheap. Previous models sold for around $70,000 to start. But to get into a base P360 SE, you're going to be looking at about $85,000. This particular P530 First Edition, that's going to set you back $121,000 plus the destination fee. Pricing can be a sensitive subject with Land Rovers and Range Rovers because sometimes the technology and the electronics are just a little glitchy or not all the way to the level of their competitors. But let's call a truce today. A, we only have a short amount of time with the car today, and B, based on my last video where I compared a full size Range Rover to a Mercedes GLS, I learned that our viewers don't really care whether the tech is glitchy or not. They just want to see cool Range Rovers doing cool stuff. Message received. Let's see if the Range Rover Sport can wow us today. [MUSIC PLAYING] Let's take a look around the interior, starting with this touchscreen. Right in the center, it's 13.1 inches. And I don't know if you can see this, but it's slightly curved this way, which gives it a nice presentation to the driver. I feel like I can see all of the angles really clearly. Navigation is standard, and you've got these big, clear maps that are very easy to see and follow directions. If you don't want to use that, you'd rather use smartphone integration, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are also standard. You can also connect to Alexa if you'd rather do it that way. The screen itself is easy to scroll around, swipe, press buttons, find your home panel. There is an option to include haptic feedback on the screen so that when you press something on the screen, you can feel it pressing back. I'm not personally a fan of that. I'd rather it just be clean and easy to swipe around and move things without having to wait to feel that feedback. But certainly, it's a distinction for Range Rover in the class. Moving from that screen up to this screen, we have a 13.7-inch digital information display. You've got your gauges, your speed, and then turn-by-turn directions in between there, which is very helpful to use. So you can look at it and still keep your eyes on the road. Now, this particular model is the plug-in hybrid Autobiography, and so there are a few unique features. For instance, within the driver information display, your tachometer essentially turns into an energy gauge too. So it's got a little icon that shows me how much percentage of battery life I have left from the lithium ion battery pack stored underneath the car. And it also tells me when I'm using energy or recharging it back into the system through coasting or braking. There are a couple of different ways you can use that energy, and you can control it with this button right here next to the off-road settings-- in between them, actually. With one click, I can go into hybrid mode using gas and electricity. I can go into EV using electricity only, or I can go to save, which is going to preserve that energy in the battery and rely on the gas motor so that I can use the EV system when I get into the city. Moving on through the interior, I will say this. I spent a lot of time in the full-size Range Rover, and I actually like the seats much better in the Range Rover Sport. They're not quite as plush and cushy, but the actual structure is very nice-- big bolsters that hold you in place and then a lot of back support, especially in the lumbar area, which is adjustable over here as well. And the Range Rover Sport has other surprises in store throughout the interior as well. For instance, underneath the screen, there's a little cubby for your phone that includes a wireless charging station. And below that, I've got my notebook here. And there's a little storage tunnel where that can just slide right in very nicely. Other storage surprises include a center console with a refrigerator option to keep your drinks cool. And then two holders up here, but you can also slide that out of the way to reveal a pretty deep second storage console. You don't get that in the full-size Range Rover. Now, there is a fair bit of piano black glossy plastic. This entire centerpiece right here is made of the stuff. It looks nice, but at the end of the day, it's just plastic. However, the Range Rover Sport makes up for it with other materials. For instance, this cloth insert is really nice and long the doors. And everywhere you're going to be touching or resting your arms, including the soft steering wheel, is just very comfortable. I also really like this forged carbon look right here and along this door panel. It just gives it a really modern, luxe feel. Speaking of that, one of my favorite features in the full-size Range Rover is these leather handles, which just feel really nice and, I think, look great too. They return in the Range Rover Sport. And if you're like me, that's a big win. So yeah, cars are getting more expensive across the board, and the Range Rover Sport is no exception. But just show me that you didn't do the bare minimum. Show me you were willing to go the extra mile for me. With stuff like this, they've done that. With that, into the second row. As you can see, I'm sitting in the lap of luxury with this nice reclining seat and my privacy screen. Very cool. The nice materials from the front continue into the back with these soft leathers, cool cloth, and the forged carbon panel right here. I'm 6 feet tall. I've got long, gangly legs. And as you can see, a whole lot of room. Range Rover increased the leg room and knee room in this version of the Range Rover Sport compared to the last one, and I can tell right away. This would not be a bad place to lay out and take a nap on a long road trip. I might just do that. Elsewhere, we've also got this giant panoramic sunroof which does not seem to impede my head room at all. I've got a really nice space here. Finally, a cool pull-down center console with cup holders and storage cubby. Let's check out the back. Cargo space was one of the key areas that we at Edmunds felt the Range Rover Sport could improve. And in fact, it did. For this new 2023 model, there's now up to almost 32 cubic feet of space behind the second row. That's up from about 27 and 1/2 in the previous one. On top of that, there are buttons to automatically fold down the second row. And once those are down, you've created even more space for yourself. Congratulations. [MUSIC PLAYING] So now we're behind the wheel of the Range Rover Sport in the beautiful Spanish countryside. Earlier today, I drove the V8 First Edition. And while that may have a lot of power-- and it does-- it's not quite the visceral performance machine I was expecting a little bit. You have to wait for those turbos to come on. And when they do, there's a lot of roar, and speed comes with it. But it's not inherently agile. I also thought the brake pedal was just a little bit mushy. What we're in now is the plug-in hybrid Autobiography. This particular one is a different version from what we'll get in the US. Same hybrid and battery system, but this engine is just a little bit more powerful. Now, earlier, I was driving through downtown Madrid on pure EV power. And as you'd expect, it's seamless and smooth, eerily quiet. And those are all things you would want from an electric vehicle, and the plug-in hybrid Range Rover Sport is a surprisingly effective EV in those situations. Once we get onto the highway, though, it merges into hybrid mode, so you are getting power from the engine as well as electricity. And what I found is that juice from the battery seems to fill in some of the roughness and some of the gaps that I was feeling in the V8 earlier. One thing that has surprised me pleasantly in the plug-in hybrid is I like the feel of the brake pedal a lot better. It's not brick-ish at all like you get in some plug-in hybrids, and I'm not getting the mushiness that I was getting in the V8 either. Kind of a shocker, but I like driving the plug-in more than I like driving the high-horsepower V8. Go figure. But here's a plus that comes in every version of the Range Rover Sport. That's the standard four-corner air suspension. This helps to really smooth out the ride. So the same thing that helped us on that off-road course is also making virtually any road surface very smooth. So while the Range Rover Sport may not be the high-intensity performance machine I thought I was getting into, it is a very smooth and comfortable luxury SUV with a surprisingly effective plug-in hybrid system. [MUSIC PLAYING] Turns out there is a lot that separates the 2023 Range Rover Sport from its rivals. For instance, show me a Mercedes GLE that can handle those rocks or a BMW with an estimated river fording depth. The Range Rover Sport is like if you took a Porsche Cayenne and gave it the 4-by-4 system from a Land Rover Defender. Now, is it perfect? Of course not. But it is intriguing, particularly this plug-in hybrid model, which, from my short time with the car, seems like it might be the one to get. As soon as we can, we'll bring a Range Rover Sport into the Edmunds lab for a full instrumented test so that we can give it a rating and figure out where it ranks among the competition. Until then, thanks for watching. I'm off to find some paella. [MUSIC PLAYING]