[BlackPearl]

I think I am still in a dream as I type this post. I have pinched myself several times, but still can't believe. It will take a lot of time to realise that we actually have got ourselves a Sumatra Black Range Rover Sport HSE SDV6. It is a 61 reg vehicle. That means it was first registered in the second half of 2011, 17th November to be precise. That happens to be our marriage date. This car was destined to be ours, though I don't believe in numerology or destiny!

Presenting the Range Rover Sport, lovingly named The Little Devil



Though this vehicle was registered in 2011, it is actually a 2012 model. There were quite a few changes compared with the 2011 model - rotary gear selector instead of the stick type, 8 speed gearbox compared to the 6 speed one earlier, etc.

A quick summary of likes and dislikes after driving for more than 3000 miles -

Likes

1. Great seating position, one of the best I have driven till date.
2. Lots of standard equipment and does not feel outdated even today
3. Solid build quality
4. Superb engine and gearbox combination. A V6 diesel engine churning out 256 PS mated to an 8 Speed gearbox from ZF
5. Surprisingly good handling for a 2.5 Tonne SUV. Steering feels just perfect.
6. Off-road ready - Low Ratio GB, Terrain Response System, Adjustable ride heights (227 mm GC in off-road height), 700 mm of water wading. It is engineered for off-road travel. Engines have deep, die-cast oil pans to accommodate extreme tilt angles. The belt drives, the alternator, the air conditioning compressor, the power steering pump and the starter motor are waterproofed
7. Superb road presence and smashing looks if you are a lover of boxy designs. It is simple, elegant and though heavily modernised, it still carries the cues of the original Range Rovers
8. Beautiful cabin, looks rich but not overdone
9. Surprisingly good fuel economy. I am getting 11-13 Kmpl in a combination of urban and highway driving
11. Impressive 11 speaker Harman Kardon music system
12. Sports mode with dynamic response selected makes the gearbox behave exactly like a manual. It will not change gears even if it hits the redline. I simply love this mode

Dislikes

1. Mediocre rear seat legroom for such a big vehicle
2. A few rattles from here and there
3. Suspension is on the harder side and tends to crash into potholes
4. No grab handle on the A Pillar like other 4 WD SUVs

I had made a small video of the first few days after buying the Range Rover Sport. It is very amateurish though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wohe2pWxbWg

[BlackPearl]

A bit of background:

It all started way back in 2008 when the 4x4 bug had bitten me after meeting UBS Sir. I started looking for a Jeep or a Land Rover. I had even started this thread in 2008 - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...es-ii-iii.html (Wanted: Landrover Series II or III)

I had finally bought a Jeep from the Panagarh scrapyard after my search for Land Rover did not yield any result. This was thread - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-v...army-jeep.html (Just bought an ex-army Jeep)

My love for 4WDs continued and I bought a Bolero 4x4 in 2012. But brand Land Rover was eluding me. When I came to UK in 2013, I was bowled over by the Defenders and made up my mind that one day I have to get one. Went back to India after a year and bought a Thar, though I wanted to buy a Safari 4x4.

Fast forward to 2018 and I landed in the UK again. This time I was hell bent on buying a Defender. But a survey showed that the Defender prices in the used market flared up after Land Rover stopped production in 2016. The owners were asking ridiculous prices but I still checked out a few Defenders. Though it might come as a shock to the Defender fans, it felt like the saying "Never meet your heroes". After driving the Thar and Bolero, frankly the Defender did not seem much different. Bare-bone interiors, bad handling, uncomfortable seating and lack of features suddenly felt unacceptable although I am used to all these things and love them in the Bolero and Thar. In fact I have kept on saying all these years that I love simple mechanical vehicles that are rugged and built to last! But why this sudden change of mind? Because I had driven a Range Rover Sport. I started thinking that if I have to pay the same amount of money for a Defender and a Range Rover Sport, then why not go for the luxurious one. This might be my only chance to own a luxury brand like Range Rover!

Selection Process:

Started reading online about Range Rover Sport and joined a few Range Rover groups on Facebook. It seemed that the Range Rover brand has mixed feedback. Lot of people absolutely love them, but almost an equal number of people are quite vocal about the issues. The most common issues are related to the air suspension, lower arms and electrical problems in general. After going through a lot of online reviews I was in doubt. At this point I started looking for more reliable options like Toyota and Lexus. But every time I looked at the pictures of the Land Rovers, I yearned for owning one. I looked at a few LR Discovery 4 as well, the vehicle on which the Range Rover Sport was built. Finally after a lot of deliberation and research, I made up my mind to go for a Range Rover Sport. The hunt started and looked at quite a few vehicles. We liked one and were planning to pay the booking fee. It was not black but the condition of the vehicle was really good. On the day of the payment the dealer said that someone had come the previous night and got the vehicle, paying full amount in cash! We were disheartened, but the dealer showed us another vehicle and it was black. I am not a fan of beige interiors, but this one really well maintained and somehow suited the Range Rover Sport.



On top of it, the vehicle had just 58K miles on the odometer. We went for an extended test drive, checked all the buttons and functions and we were extremely satisfied.

Rajsri smiling after testing the 11 speaker Harman Kardon music system



There was no way we were going to let this one go. Checked the full history of the vehicle. It had been fully maintained at Land Rover. MOT details were showing correct mileage for the car. Plus RAC had done a full inspection of the vehicle and had given it a clean chit. Once satisfied with all the checks, paid £200 as the booking amount and booked an appointment for the next weekend for taking delivery. The driver side sun visor mirror light was not working. The dealer promised to fix it and give the vehicle a good polish along with new MOT.

For the next one week I kept on looking at the pictures of the vehicle posted on the dealer's website. The wait was excruciatingly painful.











The website showed that the car has been “ordered”. It had been updated after we had paid the booking amount.



Next job was to get the insurance quotes. The dealer had told that it would be about £1500 per year. But I was pleasantly surprised by the quotes that I got online. My driving license in UK was just 1 year old and such a quote for a new driver in the UK is unheard of, that too for a comprehensive cover!



I went for Admiral as my Mini Cooper is insured with them as well. There was further reason for happiness regarding this. In a few days time I got a call from Admiral and they reduced the combined insurance cost of the Mini Copper and the Range Rover by more than £200!

[BlackPearl]

The D Day - Taking Delivery

After dreaming about the Range Rover Sport for 7 days, finally the Saturday arrived. We were so excited that we went to the dealership one hour prior to our appointment. The sales advisor Mr. Ray Roy was ready and the process took just about 30 minutes. Once I paid the full amount, he submitted the name transfer process online. This is the first time I had purchased a vehicle with a debit card. It felt strange. Next was the road tax and extended warranty from RAC. The road tax for the Range Rover Sport diesel is a staggering £550 per year. I opted for the 2 year warranty from RAC and it costed us a further £1500. This includes free road side assistance. The total cost of everything except insurance came to about £18000. It is on the higher side for a 2011 vehicle, but one rarely gets such pristinely maintained Range Rover and that too with a low mileage.

Signing the documents


I was ecstatic to say the least. Rajsri said that I was jumping with joy and had a broad smile on my face, the like of which she had never seen before.

Shaking hands with Mr. Ray Roy






All set!


After taking a few pictures and videos, we went straight to the nearby Shell fuel station to fill up. Almost 100 pounds of diesel went in.





We drove down to the beautiful countryside near Chiltern and clicked quite a few pictures.







The drive was simply amazing. I could not believe that it would be such an easy vehicle to drive. It is very easy to find the perfect seating position, the steering is just perfect and car is surprisingly nimble around corners. The dynamic mode stiffens up the suspension further and I was thoroughly enjoying the drive through the winding B roads. I started using the paddle shifters (Command Shift mode) and it was pure joy. In sports mode with dynamic response selected the gearbox behaves just like a manual. It will not upshift even if the rpm hits the redline! I loved this feature.

While we had stopped on a country road for photoshoot, a few people were passing by. They stopped to ask if our car was giving any trouble. The light bulb in my mind about the infamous Land Rover reliability switched on! I have never been asked before when shooting the Mini.




We went to a lovely place for a late lunch to celebrate the occasion.







After lunch we roamed around Chiltern for some more time before going to a friend's place in Surrey.

The first problem - a minor one

On the way, we stopped the car on the side of the road and Rajsri gave a call to a friend in Kolkata to break the news. Till this time we had told no one and wanted to give a surprise. She made a video call and was showing around the vehicle. While switching on the cabin lights, she got a nasty surprise. The lights were not working. Not good when you plan to surprise a friend sitting thousands of miles away. There was disappointment in her face. She had been equally excited about the vehicle and this thing was a dampener. Though it is not a major issue, it made her quite unhappy. We had checked all the lights when we took the test drive and we had pictures as well. I started thinking if this is the notorious Land Rover reliability that so many people talk about. Then I realised that the visor lights were also not working. The person who had fixed the visor must have done something. We did not let this turn of event bother us much longer. I promised Rajsri that I will call up the dealer the next day and get it fixed.

Next morning, as promised, I gave a call to Mr. Roy and he sent me the address of the garage. He told me that this would be fixed free of cost. I went to the garage and met the guys. I had a bad feeling the moment I entered the workshop. Sixth Sense? One guy with a lot of attitude looked at the lights and said that he will check the bulbs first. I asked him how the bulbs of four or five lights can go kaput at the same time? He did not pay any heed to my question. He changed the bulb of one light and as expected, it did not work. Then he told me that it looks like a big problem and I would have to keep the vehicle for a day. I was shattered as I had no trust on those guys. Moreover I did not want to part with the vehicle just a day after getting it. I asked them if there was any fuse they could check. They looked at me as if I was an idiot. I told them that I will call them and come over at a later date to give the vehicle. Went straight back to my office parking lot and started pondering. Took out the manual and browsed through to the fuses section. Found it quite easy to locate the fuse box in the cabin just behind the glove box. Within a few minutes identified the fuse for the cabin lights. As suspected, it was blown. The spare fuses were in such a location that I could not get them out. The opening was too narrow for my hands and I did not have a tool box. So I searched on the net for the nearest Halfords. It was just a few miles away and I quickly drove down there to buy the fuse. Got a 10A fuse and voila, the lights started working after I fitted it! Patted my back and went back to office.

[BlackPearl]

Technical Specifications

1. ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS (V6 DIESEL)



2. CAPACITIES



3. WEIGHTS



4. DIMENSIONS



5. TYRES

[BlackPearl]

FEATURES: It is quite a long list, especially for a person like me, who is used to Bolero LX and Thar! I particularly like the heated seats in this cold weather, the driver seat memory, auto dimming mirrors, electrical boot and the paddle shifters.

[BlackPearl]

Styling and Design - Exterior and Interior

I might be biased as I am a die hard fan of old school big boxy SUVs, but I think most people will agree with me, the Range Rover Sport looks absolutely stunning on the road. That unmistakable Range Rover family look that has remained unchanged for almost 50 years, the stunning road presence, the understated elegance... I can continue for a long long time! It is pure emotion on wheels. Frankly speaking, I am not qualified enough to find any flaw with the exterior or interior design of the vehicle. It is just perfect. Except maybe the lack of space inside for a vehicle of its size.

Absolutely love the headlights and the tail lights.








Interior styling is again a personal choice. I had mentioned earlier that I am not a big fan of beige interiors, but the black and beige combination in the Range Rover Sport is very pleasing. The cabin is a lovely place to be in and I have spent hours in it.

In car entertainment

I don't know much about in car entertainment and hardly listen to music while driving. Rajsri said that the 11 speaker Harman Kardon system is very good and I will take her word for it. The 5 inch TFT screen of the entertainment system is the perfect size as I find bigger screens a bit intrusive. The best part is that the screen can be changed to show a clock with a black background that is quite easy on the eye at night for those long drives, or can be switched off completely.





The reverse camera is supposed to be useful, but I am not used to it. I still turn around to see where I am going. I think it will take some time to get used to.

[BlackPearl]

Safety

The Range Rover Sport offers a full complement of standard safety equipment, including advanced stability control, hill descent control, active roll mitigation, lots of airbags and anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution and brake assist. I have found the brakes to be just perfect, neither too aggressive nor too soft.

Engine and Gearbox

With 256 PS on tap and a superb 8 speed ZF gearbox, the Range Sport just hustles forward under heavy acceleration in Sport mode. It is not a slouch in normal mode either. No doubt it is one of the most versatile high performance SUVs available. As I have mentioned above, I absolutely love the CommandShift feature of the gearbox. With Sport mode and Dynamic response selected, the gearbox does not upshift on its own. Most of the times I use this mode. I can't believe that I am saying good things about an automatic gearbox after fighting for manual boxes all my life. I believe it is due to age!
People have complained about the 8 speed box being too sensitive and frequently hunts for gears in order to improve fuel economy. I have not faced this and feel that it upshifts or downshifts at the time it is required to. I need to drive a few more automatics to be able to judge better.




Ride and Handling

The Range Rover Sport is quite big in size and weighs more than 2.5 tonnes, yet it is extremely easy to place on the road because it is basically a big box and you can see all of the corners of the car. I think that is a very Land Rover thing as all of their cars are very easy to drive both on and off the road. The engine, chassis and the gearbox seem to be perfectly matched in this vehicle to provide an exhilarating driving experience. The handling is simply unbelievable for an SUV, it is superb fun to throw around corners. But there is a downside to this. On a well paved road the vehicle is extremely comfortable and seems it can handle bad roads as well. But throw it a challenge and it gets unsettled. It cannot cope up properly with speed bumps or potholes. I am not kidding, the Tata Safari Storme handles them far better, though the Safari is no match in terms of handling. I think that is a conscious decision by Land Rover to make the RRS handle like it does. Still I will treat it as a chink in its armour. At a similar price point compared to the Range Rover Sport, I believe the Volvo XC90 is better in terms of ride quality, but it is far less capable in terms of off-roading.

Fuel Economy

This is the first time I started using a mobile app to check the fuel economy. All these years I have never maintained any record. Though online reviews say that the fuel economy is quite bad, I found it to be quite impressive in city and highway driving.

The best I got was 36.25 mpg (12.8 kmpl) and the worst was 17.07 mpg (6.04 kmpl) due to some really spirited driving in the Scottish highlands. Average has been 25.39 mpg (8.98 kmpl) over 3500 plus miles. That translates to 5600 Kilometers plus in 2.5 months and Rs 90K worth of diesel. I have to reduce my monthly driving!

A screenshot from the mobile app

[BlackPearl]

Off the road

It is a Range Rover, so it must be excellent off the road. With 227 mm ground clearance in off-road height, 700 mm water wading, low range gearbox and intelligent terrain response system, there can be hardly anything more that one will need unless deliberately looking for trouble!

Posting a bit of details about the different terrain response modes and the air suspension ride height selection. The control panel looks like this -





The modes are:

1> General Program - This is the default mode and should be selected when driving on surfaces which are similar to a hard road surface.

2> Grass/Gravel/Snow - This program should be used when a firm surface is covered with loose or slippery material.

3> Mud-Ruts - This program should be used for terrain that is muddy, rutted, soft or uneven. Low range is recommended for this program

4> Sand - This program should be used for terrain which is predominantly soft dry sand or deep gravel

5> Rock crawl - This program should be used for terrain that is predominantly rocky, including for crossing river beds with submerged rocks

6> Dynamic - This program is associated with a driving style, rather than a type of terrain and optimises traction, handling and driveability, for maximum feedback and responsiveness. This program should be selected to exploit the vehicle's full on road potential.

I absolutely love the way the air suspension raises or lowers itself when off-road height or access height options are selected. There are 3 manually selectable ride heights and one automatically selected -

1> Normal Height (manually selected)
2> Access Height (manually selected)
3> Off-road Height (manually selected)
4> Extended Off-road Height (automatically selected) - If grounded in severe off-road conditions, the system may automatically enter Extended mode. The off-road height indicator flashes and a message will be displayed in the message centre. In extended mode, the suspension will raise above the road height to assist in clearing an obstacle. Once extended mode height has been achieved, the driver may request additional lifting if required.

These informations can be found under the "Extra Features" option in the touch screen. It looks like this -



I have not done any off-roading yet, just did a bit of “green laning” In the countryside.

Green laning is typically the mildest, least technical type of off-roading. It involves driving anywhere without a paved road -- usually forest trails, the countryside or on roads that have fallen into disrepair.

A short video of trail driving at night -

https://youtu.be/VLdM4GF_sxU

[BlackPearl]

The first long trip

A week after getting the Range Rover Sport, we went on a 2000 mile trip to Scotland in search of snow. Unfortunately did not find much snow in-spite of travelling to a few skiing resorts. The drive however was fantastic. Posting a few pics from the trip here. Will try to write a travelogue.













The vehicle performed flawlessly, except while returning it showed a warning that brake pads had worn out. After coming back to London, got the vehicle checked and found that the previous owner had changed the brake pads without changing the associated brake pad wear sensors. So I had to change the brake pads as well as the sensors. There are two sensors, one at the front and one at the back. Luckily this car does not have Brembo brakes. Otherwise it would have been a costly affair.


Maintenance

Till now I have spent only on a 10A fuse and the brake pads. The next servicing is due in March. I have opted for a 5 years' maintenance plan from Land Rover. This plan is supposed to reduce cost as it protects the customer from inflation. The whole amount for 5 years in £2330 which will be deducted via monthly EMI. Land Rover says that these are the benefits of the plan -

> Protection from inflation as agreed service costs are frozen for the duration of the plan
> Protect the resale value of the vehicle with full service history, without the worry of bulk 'on the day' costs
> Small monthly budget option via Direct Debit payments
> Transferable to the next vehicle or buyer

I went ahead with this plan as I found it quite reasonable for maintaining a luxury vehicle. I hope that I will not be disappointed.

Closing Notes

I have never written such a long ownership thread about any vehicle, maybe because I have never been so happy! This is my second vehicle with an automatic gearbox, the first one was a 1998 Honda Accord. I hated it so much that I traded it for a manual Accord within 2 months. But this vehicle has been different. I never thought an automatic vehicle could be so engaging to drive. I drove a Jaguar F-Pace last year for a few thousand miles, but I feel the Range Rover Sport has more character. I hope the Range Rover Sport will be reliable if maintained properly and I can explore the countryside and take it to off-beat places as it is meant to be. I don't want to be accused by the environmentalists for driving a V6 diesel 4x4 only in Kensington or Chelsea !

Thanks for reading and I will keep on updating the thread as and when possible.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

Wish you many happy memories with this handsome SUV, BlackPearl!

[raj_5004]

Hearty congratulations on the Little Devil!

Reliability issues aside, the RR is the ultimate luxury SUV and the styling of the last gen still draws attention.

Glad you got the car in black!

A RR in off road terrain looks so much cooler than the boringly reliable Land Cruisers and Patrols. Even my dream is to buy a RR Sport or Merc G wagon, hopefully some day!

[Eshan Joshi]

That's one mad looking RR you've got there. Do consider changing the stock rims to black rims on your ride . It will sure make it stand out. Anyways enjoy your ride and i hope your RR does not give you any problems.

[arvind71181]

First the Mini, now the Range Rover!! Congratulations on owning 2 fantastic cars. Wish you many happy miles in the years to come

[Baddychat]

Absolutely brilliant review Black Pearl. Rating your thread a well deserved 5*'s and also wishing you thousands of happy and safe miles with the Little Devil.

Loved the pictures as well and looking forward to your Scottish travelogue.

[turboNath]

Congratulations on getting this absolute beast of a machine! Hope to see you conquer more terrains on this. It looks beautiful in all the pictures. Loved the travelogue !