- suv 104,568
- 15,800 high price
- Laredo, TX
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- autoshopper.com
- suv 104,568 grey automatic
2007 land rover range rover sport review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. And competition from these vehicles, more than the occasional large horn driven angrily through an aluminum door, constitutes the biggest threat to land rover's territorial dominance. so just last year (2006) land rover released the all-new range rover sport: spirited, sporty, agile, with a snazzy look. (ok, maybe not all that snazzy, but for a range rover, it's snazzy.) and frankly more comfortable on the road than off. range rover sport also plugs a gap in the land rover model range, between the full-size, hyper-expensive range rover and the entry-level, family-friendly lr3. Range rover sport is in fact built on a mechanical platform derived from the lr3, but with a shorter wheelbase that emphasizes handling over seven-passenger capacity. Sport also costs a solid $20,000 less than the full-size range rover, but only about $4,000 more than a fully equipped lr3. new for 2007: standard equipment levels are improved with the addition of a personal telephone integration system with bluetooth capability, and one-touch power window operation at the front passenger's position. The dynamic response system, exclusive to the supercharged model last year, is now available (along with brembo disc brakes) on the hse. Supercharged sports now come standard with sirius satellite radio; and with a choice of line oak or cherry interior wood, lux or sport leather, and standard or stormer 20-inch wheels. lineupland rover makes shopping for the range rover sport easy. Just two versions are available, the hse 57,235) and the supercharged 70,535). The hse comes with a 300-horsepower, 4. 4-liter v8. Not surprisingly, the supercharged has a supercharged v8 displacing 4. 2 liters and making 390 horsepower. Both engines drive through the same six-speed commandshift automatic that's also fitted in the top-of-the-line range rover. Stormer alloys of equal size are an exclusive s/c option 1,000), as is adaptive cruise control 2,000). To the extent there are differences, they are confined to dimensions and subtle styling cues. although nominally based on the land rover lr3 (formerly known as the discovery), the sport is smaller on the outside in all but width, and that by less than half an inch. The sport is more than two inches shorter than the lr3 in overall length; its wheelbase is shorter by more than five inches. It's not as tall, by three inches. In one significant measure, it's identical to the lr3, and that is its track, the distance between the wheels from side to side, which is also less than an inch narrower than the taller and longer top-of-the-line range rover. appearance-wise, the sport so closely resembles the top-of-the-line range rover that it's like the disneyland version of main street: it looks just like the real one built to a slightly smaller scale. Only the most discerning and trained eye will notice that the hood, or bonnet, as they call it on the other side of the pond, is mostly flat, missing the full-size range rover's castellations, those longitudinal humps running along the top outer edges back from the headlights. Or that the windscreen and backlight (rear windscreen) are faster, or more raked. Or the presence of understated side skirts, front air dam and rear spoiler. Maybe the front quarter panels' side vents are more obvious, being closely patterned after the lr3's and in stark contrast to the range rover's vertical louvers. because, other than striking a slightly more rakish pose with its rounder, more tapered lines, the sport contains all the major styling elements of its full-size kin. The compound headlight clusters are indistinguishable. The grille finishes are alike, with the hse's a matte gray and the s/c's a bright metallic. The roof gets the marque's trademark floating look, achieved by blacking out the roof pillars. A similar character line runs the length of the body side, but with the door handles positioned beneath it to reinforce the sport's lower profile. Taillights repeat the larger range rover's stacked look, only not quite as tall and with the elements staggered from the vertical. And just like the full-size range rovers, the supercharged sport has chrome-tipped dual exhausts in place of the hse's bare, single exhaust. interiorwhile the range rover sport's exterior unabashedly mimics the top-of-the-line range rover's looks, the interior stays truer to its lr3 underpinnings. the dash top, instrument cluster and steering wheel are direct transplants from the lr3, right down to the stacks of cruise control buttons and redundant audio controls next to the thin, vertical, metallic horn buttons along each side the airbag cover in the steering wheel hub. Curiously for a serious off-road vehicle, the tachometer has no redline, leaving drivers dependent on the sport's computers to coordinate engine speed and gear selection with terrain idiosyncrasies. Although the center stack structure lays back at a more ergonomically friendly angle than the lr3's, the switches, knobs, buttons and display screens are the same as the lr3's, too, which while plentiful, are fairly easy to decipher. Infinitely adjustable, inboard arm.
15,800 Laredo, TXLaredo, TX at autoshopper.com