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The big, ‘proper’ Range Rover is an aristocrat, and the eldest child at that. They’re the one who’s going to inherit the stately home, the tenant farms, and the townhouse in Mayfair. The Range Rover Sport, by contrast, is the next child in line — the one who joins the Royal Marines, marries an actor, and possibly ends up being papped by a tabloid at Taylor Swift’s birthday party. In other words, it’s like the Range Rover, but a bit naughtier.

The current Range Rover Sport is closer, mechanically, to the big Range Rover than ever, sharing its aluminium chassis and all its engines, but it gets sharper suspension for a bit more back-road fun.

You could go for the likes of a BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q8, but none of those quite have the gravitas of a Range Rover Sport. It’s a handsome car, with a sort of brooding, glowering expression that makes you think of a four-wheeled Lord Byron. The styling is very clean, but you’ll still stand out a mile and get an earwigging from your local Green Party rep.

As with the bigger Range Rover, there’s tech aplenty, and a gorgeous, understated interior that looks and feels truly luxurious. It might be smaller than the Range Rover, and you might sit fractionally closer to the ground, but there’s still loads of space front and rear, even for very tall adults, and you get a very similar sense of imperiousness.

Watch: Range Rover Sport SV review

Overall cabin quality is excellent, although you will still find one or two cheap sections. The big touchscreen is pretty decent to use, and has been steadily improved over the years, but Land Rover’s recent decision to take out the handy multi-function rotary controllers and put everything onto the screen feels like a backward step.

The primary engine choices are a pair of plug-in petrol hybrids, both sharing the same 3.0-litre straight-six turbo engine, with an electric motor, a big battery, and of course four-wheel drive. There are P440e and P550e models, with horsepower outputs that match their badges, and an impressive claimed range of 74 miles on electric power, which isn’t too far removed from reality. Better yet, they provide almost diesel-like economy on a long run.

There are diesel options too, including a mild hybrid 3.0-litre straight-six in D300 or D350 forms that can provide very decent economy if driven gently. At the top of the range is a pair of V8 turbo petrols (also with mild hybrid tech) that run from 530hp in standard form to a whopping 635hp in the high-performance SV models. Better buy some shares in BP…

Thanks to clever twin-chamber air suspension, the Range Rover Sport, with any engine, is smooth and poised to drive on the road, although it lacks the incisive steering of a Porsche Cayenne.

It’s much better off-road than the Cayenne, with up to 281mm of ride height, and all manner of electronic off-roading aids, there’s really nowhere that even a Land Rover Defender can go where a Range Rover Sport can’t follow. It’s only really limited by its road-focused tyres, and even in standard form it can cope with up to three feet of standing water.

It’s just a shame that the Range Rover Sport no longer offers seven seats — there is a big 835-litre boot (measured to the roof) but you’ll have to look at a Discovery, Defender, or a long-wheelbase big Range Rover if you need to haul more people.

For the best price, check out Á«»¨Ö±²¥'s Range Rover Sport deals as well as Range Rover lease deals. You can also browse used Range Rover Sports as well as other used Land Rovers available through our network of trusted dealers. And when you’ve decided on your new model, you can sell your old car through Á«»¨Ö±²¥ too.

You’d assume that a car with a Range Rover badge is going to be hugely expensive, but while the Sport is certainly not cheap, it is competitively priced against the likes of the BMW X5 or Audi Q8.

In its cheapest form, the Range Rover Sport is about £2,000 pricier than a basic X5, and it’s a similar story with the Audi Q7 (the Q8 is considerably more expensive), and a Mercedes GLE.

Broadly, they match each other model-for-model, right up to the Range Rover Sport SV, which is give or take the same price as a BMW X5 M.

The outlier here is the Lexus RX, which comes only with hybrid or plug-in hybrid power, and which isn’t as overtly sporty as the Range Rover Sport, but which is incredibly well-built, reliable, and comfortable.

Quick and comfortable, but despite the name there are sportier SUVs

In town

The Range Rover Sport is a pleasure to drive around town. You sit up high, as you’d expect of a Range Rover, with an excellent view over the top of other traffic. Big door mirrors and the large rear window mean there’s a clear view behind you too.

Every Range Rover Sport is fitted with air suspension, and while it doesn’t flatten every bump with the authority of the big Range Rover, the Sport is a lot more comfortable around town than the likes of the Porsche Cayenne.

The automatic gearbox changes ratios smoothly, and every available engine has more punch than ever to leap into any gaps in traffic.

We’d choose one of the plug-in hybrids for town driving. The potential to run without exhaust emissions is a big plus, and the cabin is hushed while the petrol engine is held in reserve.

Whichever version you are driving, though, there’s no getting away from the Range Rover Sport’s sheer size. At just under five metres long, it takes up a lot of space on the road. A surround-view camera and front and rear parking sensors make squeezing into a tight parking spot that bit easier.

On the motorway

Long motorway journeys demand comfort, refinement, and performance – qualities the Range Rover Sport possesses in abundance.

The tautly controlled air suspension keeps things stable and comfortable at speed, and there’s little in the way of wind or road noise to disturb the peace. With supportive seats and a comfortable driving position big distances can be dispatched without an ache or twinge.

Whichever engine is chosen, the Range Rover Sport is somewhere between quick or blisteringly fast, but a more rapid response from the gearbox would help when accelerating into the outside lane.

If you have half an eye on economy, one of the diesels would be our choice to stretch a gallon further, although the plug-in hybrids are able to reach motorway speeds on electric power alone.

On a twisty road

The clue is in the name, or it seems to be. The Range Rover Sport is a sporty car, right?

Well, maybe ‘sportier’ would be a fairer description than ‘sport’. Even with the suspension in its dynamic setting and the gearbox turned to sport mode, the big Range Rover is a bit heavy on its feet compared with a Porsche Cayenne. On the other hand, it’s a lot more agile than the regular Range Rover.

It is not the sharpest SUV on a twisty road, but it is competent, capable, and quick. Is that enough? Perhaps it comes down to your expectations. This is no sports car on stilts, but it is a rewarding car to drive.

SUVs that are more comfortable than the Range Rover Sport are unlikely to handle as well, while SUVs that are sharper to drive won’t be as plush. For some of us, that means the sporty-ish Range Rover Sport hits the bullseye.

If you're committed to the Sport but want more cornering prowess, the SV is the model to go for. It's just as posh and refined inside, but has blistering performance and clever tech that makes it incredibly capable in the bends.

Big and roomy, although there’s no longer a third row of seats

Land Rover would have needed to work hard to make a car this size impractical, so it’s no surprise that there’s plenty of room inside for people and their luggage.

Up front, you’ll find plenty of space for the driver and front-seat passenger. You sit up high, although the position is not quite as lofty as in the Range Rover. It’s still an imperious seating position, though. You can look down – literally and metaphorically – on lesser vehicles.

No version of the Range Rover Sport is badly equipped, so you get electric steering wheel adjustment even with the entry-level SE model, along with electric front seats. These adjust in 20 different ways – yes 20 – and have a memory function to store your position. That applies to the front passenger seat as well as the driver’s.

Storage space is ample. There’s a double glovebox, as well as large door bins that are lined to stop items from rattling around. More space can be found tucked under the base of the centre console and beneath the driver’s armrest.

There are two cupholders between the front seats. They are unusually large, so can take a pair of Thermos flasks – after all, you won’t find a Starbucks drive-through halfway up Ben Nevis.

Space in the back seats

Adults can stretch out in the back with room to spare. And despite the transmission tunnel there’s still plenty of room for three, thanks to the width of the car, and the rear seats recline if anyone needs a nap after a busy day of hunting, shooting and fishing.

There are air vents between the front seats to keep everyone supplied with chilled air, and an arm rest folds down from the central seat when it’s not occupied. The arm rest includes a couple of hidden cupholders.

As you’d expect, there are three ISOFIX mounting points for child seats — two in the back seat and one in the front passenger seat — and they’re easy to access rather than tucked away between the seat cushion and back.

Some owners of the previous Range Rover Sport will be disappointed that there’s no third row of seats, but otherwise there’s not much to complain about.

Boot space

This is a big car with the boot space to match. The luggage capacity is 835 litres, so there’s more room for bags than you’ll find in many estate cars, but the measurement is taken loaded to the roof, as is Land Rover tradition, so the space you’ll use every day isn’t quite as big as it sounds if you’re comparing to alternatives.

Usually, ease of loading is a benefit of choosing an estate over an SUV as they sit lower to the ground. The Range Rover Sport gets around this, thanks to its air suspension. You can lower the car’s height to make loading and unloading easier. It makes a big difference if you need to lift something heavy, like a holiday suitcase.

There’s more storage under the boot floor – or a spare wheel if you tick that option on the order form.

Traditional luxury meets high-tech in the Range Rover’s stylish cabin, but it's not the best system overall

Interior quality used to be an area in which Land Rovers were off the pace compared with premium Germans SUVs from Audi, BMW and Mercedes. That’s changed with the latest generation of Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. Both cars have stunning cabins that live up to their elevated price tags.

Perhaps the finish in the flagship Range Rover is a cut above the Sport’s, but you could argue that’s how it should be given the extra money you must pay for the range-topping model.

You’d have to be incredibly picky to be left cold by the Range Rover Sport’s upmarket ambience, though. You can find some surfaces and components that don’t seem expensive, but you have to make a point of looking for them.

The infotainment system plays a big part in that premium feel, something you wouldn’t have said of a Land Rover a few years ago. The system is called Pivi Pro. It has haptic feedback so you feel a click when you press an icon on the screen. The colours are bright and vivid and the design is crisp, and the huge 13.1-inch screen gives space to clearly present lots of information at once.

There is a little bit of lag to the screen’s responses, which means it's not quite up there with the very best systems, and moving the climate controls to the screen makes it trickier to use on the move. Bring back the physical rotary controllers, please Land Rover.

The screen is curved, which looks stylish but serves a practical purpose too – it reduces the number of reflections you get in strong sunlight.

Instead of traditional dials, there’s another digital display in front of the driver, and it also looks sharp and clear. There’s a useful degree of customisation, so you can arrange the information you want right in front of you.

If you want more tech, the Range Rover Sport has gone big on audio options, and you can have speakers built into the seat headrests so that passengers can keep listening to tunes while the driver takes a phone call, and there’s even a ‘disco floor’ option that pluses and throbs to the beat of the music.

If you are looking for respectable economy and low emissions, the plug-in hybrids should be at the top of your list. These emit just 18-20g/km of carbon dioxide, depending on the exact spec. That makes for low tax bills for company car drivers.

All-electric cars cost business users even less in tax, and a pure electric Range Rover Sport is due, but as the bigger ‘full-fat’ electric Range Rover has been delayed until well into 2026, don’t hold your breath.

The PHEV models promise low running costs for private buyers too, so long as you can recharge regularly, and most day-to-day journeys can be completed on electricity alone. Vehicle Excise Duty is cheapest for these versions, too, but of course, given the Range Rover Sport’s price tags, you’ll be paying the expensive car supplement in years two to six.

If you rack up a lot of miles, especially if you don’t have somewhere convenient to recharge, the mild hybrid diesels will rival the economy of the plug-in models in longer-run real-world conditions. Both the D300 and D350 return an official 36.7mpg or thereabouts, depending on the exact spec and if you drive them really gently, you might get better than that.

If performance is all that matters then go for the SV. It uses the same 4.4-litre V8 petrol engine found in the BMW M5 CS and makes a massive 635hp. Its 0-60mph time of 3.6 seconds is supercar-fast and entirely believable – we saw 3.7 seconds in the wet. Naturally running costs will be massive, as we managed just 17mpg during our time with the car.

The Range Rover Sport has a five-star rating from the safety gurus at Euro NCAP. The scores for both adult and child occupant protection are 85%, with a 69% rating for pedestrian protection and 82% for driver assistance systems.

There’s a long list of sophisticated aids for the driver, whichever model you choose, including Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, and a Rear Collision Monitor.

It’s no secret that Land Rover doesn’t have the best reputation for building trouble-free cars, but the Range Rover Sport seems to be one of its more solid efforts. That said, there have been reports of PHEV battery issues, electronic faults, and problems with the exhaust system.

If you want a luxury SUV that’s unlikely to go wrong, you should take a close look at a Lexus instead.

On the other hand, if the improved finish in the cabin is a sign of a deeper-running quality, then perhaps today’s Range Rover Sport will prove more reliable than its predecessors.

The Range Rover Sport didn’t feature in the most recent Driver Power Top 50 Cars To Own list. In fact, no Land Rover model did, though the brand did manage a hugely impressive fifth place in the top manufacturers list, with owners loving the interior quality and exterior design.