One would think if you’re spending $120,000 on a new vehicle that you wouldn’t need to spend a lot of extra time selecting, or paying for, well, extras.
One would be wrong, at least when buying a Land Rover.
Range Rover Sport Autobiography (silly trim name) plug-in hybrid listed for $120,325 to be exact, but then needed to add 12 extras, including its dark gray paint for $1,750, to finish at $128,865. That’s way more than my house cost back in the 1990s, and I didn’t have to pay for a special exterior color.
Let’s start with that, which is where car companies, especially luxury brands such as Rover, are adding to their profits in a big way. This was Carpathian Gray, so reflective of Eastern European mountains, one supposes in winter before it snows. It’s a dark metallic gray that looked pretty salty white after a few days slogging around wet Wisconsin roads after a minor snow, but major salting.
White, ironically, is the only paint color one mustn’t pay extra for on the Rover Sport. And it wasn’t long ago that a premium color was $1,000, now $1,750 and I must remind you, dear reader, that a BMW X5 I drove last year slapped on a charge of $5,000 for its flashy red paint job. Could one just request bare metal, er, composite?
But, as the late H. Ross Perot used to say, here’s the deal. You do get quite a lot for your $120k.
First, the Rover Sport delivers excellent power (542 horses, 590 torque and a top speed of 150 mph), a luxury SUV ride that’s well cushioned, and good handling, much quicker than most other mid-size to large SUVS. It’s fun to drive, and comfy.
Intend to take your luxury ute off-roading? Well just like a Jeep Grand Wagoneer that runs well north of $100k, this Rover will perform in the mud, ruts, and on rocks like, well, a Jeep or Rover. There are multiple off-road settings, if you can find them on the massive 13.1-inch info screen. By the way, there are 30 (count ‘em) icons to choose from on that screen, but that requires quite a bit of scrolling to see them all. More on that in a sec.
But you can adjust for four-wheeling to your heart’s content, or your significant other’s patience. Once you do, you can ford a stream or small pond up to a smidge over 35 inches. For us nonmetric folks that’s nearly three feet of wading ability. Likewise, via that high-tech screen one can adjust the ride height of the Rover from its standard 8.5 inches of ground clearance while fording asphalt, to 11 inches off-road. Best to clear the rocks, not scrape along them.
Get this though, this Autobiography model is also a PHEV, meaning you can plug it in and go gas-less for the first 53 miles. That’s a nice perk, or via the screen hold that charge until you’re out in the state forest before switching to all-electric to avoid polluting as you crush the saplings and vegetation below your fancy 23-inch wheels ($3,450 extra).
Most of us would likely use those miles to hustle in comfort to a Target or CVS, though. Don’t want to scratch that expensive paint job.
Must say that range is among the highest I’ve witnessed on a PHEV, so kudos. And it just took 36 hours to go from 0% to 100% on my standard 110-volt garage outlet.
Rover, which is still built in England despite being owned (along with Jaguar) by Tata Motors of India, also loads up its SUVs with luxury looks and functionality inside.
There’s enough semi-aniline leather in here to terrorize any cattle herd, and it’s beautiful. The Sport’s interior was black over white, and I mean bright white. Dash and door tops are black with white leather below and the plush seating is all white leather as are door panel inserts. Seats are cushy, even including fold-down armrests up front.
Of course, they are heated and cooled, again accessed somewhat awkwardly through that massive screen, unless you tap the right icon on the home page that usually (but not always) pops up when the Rover is first started. These seats also massage, but, well, that’s not easy either. In fact, it took quite a number of taps to activate many of the functions on the screen.
Curiously it even takes about 10 seconds for the radio to fire up. Most info screens react more quickly these days.
For the record, those 30 iconic options really are wide ranging, everything from Off-Roading, to Seat Massage, to Ride Height to Vehicle Health. You can also tune your steering, engine performance, gear changes (eight-speed automatic) and suspension settings there.
I mention that ride height again because for us 5' 5" folks and shorter, you’ll want to lower the Rover Sport each time before disembarking. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a drop and equally hard to climb aboard if the Sport is not at its lowest setting. No running boards.
Also, there’s a button inside the power hatch that allows one to power down the second-row seats, but also lower the vehicle height to make loading and unloading the large cargo area easier. Reaching the hatch’s power down button on the hatch itself is nearly impossible for short folks without the vehicle being lowered entirely.
Back inside the rear seats are roomy and have plenty of plugs and such, plus are heated and cooled and will power recline. Nice for long trips with tall sullen teens who prefer their ear buds and snoozing to parental interaction.
Overhead is a panoramic dual-pane sunroof and oh, you can fold down the rear seats, again via the screen, just wait until the teens are awake, or have exited.
Power front seats are conveniently adjusted via buttons on the doors and there’s a three-memory set of buttons for the driver there. Rover’s steering column also is power tilt and telescope, a must in a luxury boat, er, SUV of this price.
Grab handles are plentiful too and for the musically inclined Rover packs in a 29-speaker premium Meridian sound system. Sounds fantastic, but it should.
Not to be too much of a negative Nancy for such as snazzy luxury liner, but the door handles so perfectly blend into the doors’ arm rests that I found myself feeling and fumbling for them on occasion and one passenger asked where the release was located.
For the record, this high-powered 3.0-liter twin-turbo I6 engine with 48-volt hybrid system and PHEV drinks premium fuel when needed. I managed 24 mpg in a week of driving that included one full electric charge. Not bad considering the power and weight, (6,025 lbs.) of the Sport.
Note this also will tow more than 6,600 pounds.
Will you need all these options that took this from $120k up to $128,865? Probably not. And if one wants the Rover look and still quite respectable power, the entry point is the Sport P360 hybrid with 355 horses. It lists for $81,325, quite the bargain.
There are several other trim levels and gas or hybrid versions, but to impress the neighbors you may want to take out a second mortgage and go all the way up to the SV Edition Two listing at $182,325 and touting 626 horsepower from its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8. Reportedly it’ll do 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. But that’s just silly.
Fast Stats: 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Autobiography (PHEV)
Hits: Strong power, good handling, nice ride and off-roading ability in spades and 53-mile plug-in hybrid range. Panoramic dual-pane sunroof, heated/cooled plush massaging seats, heated steering wheel, Meridian 29-speaker sound system, 3-memory seat buttons on door, power tilt/telescope wheel, giant info screen vehicle height adjustment, power rear hatch, a lot of grab handles.
Misses: Awkward multi-choice screen functions, especially for off-roading, hatch closing button too high, door releases hard to see, drinks premium fuel, and COST.
Made in: Solihull, U.K.
Engine: 3.0-liter twin turbo I6 w/48v hybrid, 542 hp/590 torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Weight: 6,025 lbs.
Wheelbase: 118 in.
Length: 194.7 in.
Ground clearance: 8.5-11.0 in.
Cargo: 31.9-118 cu.ft.
Tow: 6,614 lbs.
MPG: 53 MPGe/21 gas
MPG: 24.0 (tested)
Base Price: $120,325 (includes delivery)
Invoice: NA
Major Options:
Carpathian Gray paint, $1,750
SV Bespoke 23-inch dark gray/carbon insert wheels, $3,450
Premium interior protection & storage pack, $740
23-inch spare wheel, $560
Laminated front and rear side glass, $450
Cold Climate pkg. (heated windshield, heated washer jets), $450
Wi-Fi enabled w/data plan, $360
Basic rear seat convenience pack, $265
Wheel protection pack, $225
Domestic plug socket, $150
Emergency pack, $75
Range Rover handbook pack, $66
Test vehicle: $128,865
Sources: Land Rover, www.kbb.com
