Go big or go home

This decadent British SUV is a masterclass in putting a svelte and sumptuous spin on a gloriously hulking car. It is the best-looking large SUV in Australia. It brooks no argument.

Range Rover Sport Dynamic HSE P510E Electric Hybrid

Andrew Chesterton

3 min read

12:00AMJuly 11, 2023.

Updated 6:34AMJuly 13, 2023

Wish

It is possible that this Range Rover Sport is the very height of luxury. Or, to put it another way, it’s pretty damn luxurious, and definitely very high. A Rolls-Royce Phantom is probably more plush and a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class will deliver smarter driver-friendly tech, but few vehicles make the high life feel quite so high as this decadent British SUV.

This is a full-size SUV, akin to a Toyota LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol, and it’s even fitted with a whole heap of properly rugged off-road kit, including the ability to automatically raise the ride height even further to help you soar over obstacles, as though the already lofty Range Rover Sport has climbed atop velvet-cloaked stilts.

All this, says Range Rover, makes the Sport every bit as tough as the toughest of off-roaders, though I suspect you’re more likely to see someone spelunking draped in Savile Row’s finest than you are to spot this $200,000 SUV tackling Big Red outside Birdsville.

In the real world, the Range Rover Sport will typically be seen navigating the city or the suburbs, its driver and passengers cocooned from the outside world by thick glass and sumptuous leather. Polo fields are another likely destination.

I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but the Range Rover Sport is the best-looking large SUV in Australia. It brooks no argument. The company’s designers have a special knack for making the hefty and hulking look svelte and sexy, and they’ve done exactly that here.Minimalism is the name of the game, and when it’s parked you’ll see no protrusions from the velvet-smooth curves of the Range Rover’s exterior. Push a button and the door handles emerge from their flush-fitting hidey holes. Push another one in the cabin, and a tow ball appears as if by magic from the rear (because let’s face it, tow balls are ugly. And more than a little testicular). This latest version is also Range Rover’s take on electrification, with a plug-in hybrid powertrain acting as a stepping stone to the fully electric versions that are just around the corner. But for those, you can wait. Because right now, this is probably the best tech you can get in a car like this.

Range Rover Sport Dynamic HSE P510E Electric Hybrid.

Sure, you’ll soon be able to get this very vehicle with a 467kW twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8, but even the most hedonistic among us have to admit that all that’s a bit stupid. A 2.5-tonne SUV is not a sports car, no matter how powerful, and your weekly fuel bill would make incoming Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson break out in a cold sweat before reaching for the cost-saving scissors.

Believe me, this is the smarter option. This P510e version pairs a turbocharged six-cylinder engine with a 105kW electric motor to produce a total of 375kW and 700Nm. That’s plenty, even for a car this big, and it will see the Range Rover Sport push to 100km/h in just 5.4 seconds.

But the party tricks don’t end there. Lock it into EV mode and you’ll get up to 125km of guilt-free, all-electric driving range. Remember to plug it in at night and you’ll be visiting petrol stations less frequently than you ever thought possible. Or, you can just let the Range Rover decide the best time to use the engine, the electric motor, or both, and you’ll see fuel use below 10 litres per 100km in the real world. That’s not going to entirely save the planet, perhaps. But it’s not bad for something this substantial, either.

It all just somehow adds to the overall Range Rover experience, too. Slinking off in soothing silence, powered only by electricity, but with a punchy petrol engine (and the soundtrack that accompanies it) waiting in the wings for when you gather speed.

Happily, it also feels smaller and tighter than it looks from behind the wheel. Parking in smaller spots can be a slightly embarrassing challenge – even with all the on-board wizardry guiding you – but once you’re on the move the Range Rover Sport pleasingly shrinks around you, making city manoeuvring a breeze.

The ride is predictably supple, too, and you never feel as though you’re forced to manhandle the steering, even when cornering at speed.

There are some quirks, though. Whoever wrote the options list needs a spell in Gotham’s Arkham Asylum. Our test car was painted in the (admittedly very pretty) Eiger Gray Satin paint, which adds an eye-watering $13,351 to the list price. The fancy sunroof? That’s another $4420. Four-zone climate – so your backseat passengers can set their own temperatures – will set you back a further $3370.

But even without all that frippery, this is a seriously special-looking SUV. It’s big, and it’s beautiful.