Fifty millimeters - wow! What parameter are we talking about? This is the total thickness of the instructions (the main - 412 pages!) And the Range Rover Sport service book. Really everything needs to be read? I got bored after ten minutes. Whether from a restless character or from being brought up on a completely different, not electronic, computing technique, he is inclined to learn the wisdom of machines not from long, boring descriptions, but in practice. Will it be possible to find a common language with this car?
Perhaps, the epithet “natural” is best suited to the salon. There is no doubt: these panels, as written in the list of equipment, are made of cherry. It is easy to make out even the knots and hinds created in the tree by nature. It is difficult to confuse such a panel with plastic or “plywood”. Yes, and the skin! Even without being an expert in furrier services, you understand: the breed! And about the fact that nowhere does it wrinkle and does not take off, and there is nothing to say.
But a little settled down in a British self-propelled castle, you feel - there could be more space here. The driver is close to the door (a trait inherited by all Rover all-terrain vehicles from the very first, legendary model), the seat cushion is short. And if you push the front seats back for the convenience of the driver and passenger, they are noticeably taller than average, the rear ones feel a little cramped. In general, you expect more space from such a solid car.
This British dandy does not seem to be traveling: what are the promised 300 forces doing? Ah, so the speed is already under 100! This excellent noise isolation, excellent radio acoustics and high landing, creating a certain detachment from what is happening outside the windows, played a joke with me. By the way, the speedometer and tachometer would be brighter, with larger numbers. But I did not push the tight pedal (this should be on such a powerful machine) the pedal to the floor. So, a little more than half the stroke.
But he immediately checked the brakes: they are in line with the dynamics of acceleration. The pedal is understandable, inspiring confidence. By the way, pecks of the car are minimal even at an abrupt stop.
Standing in a traffic jam, I impatiently begin to master the transmission control by turning the handle between the front seats. The car responds to my not too confident actions with inscriptions and pictures on the display in the middle of the dashboard. Very interesting movie …
Well, everything is clear without instructions! Symbols are readable: this mode is for snow and ice, this one is for movement in a rut, another click is desert (that is, sand), and you can also pass through stones and other high obstacles. Everything is great! But nevertheless, the one who is brought up on levers, handles, rods, communication with electronic “it” is a little dumbfounded. The driver’s business is only to rotate the knob, and what and when to switch, slow down, block, the machine decides. Even the handbrake is turned on with a small lever! And you can turn it off only by pressing the brake pedal. About this, as well as about other errors, "it" reports on the display between the "pancakes" of the tachometer and speedometer. Well, okay - I'll just step on the pedals and turn the steering wheel. Moreover, in the city on dry asphalt all this “music” is not needed.
Looks like it started too late before the turn! Surprisingly, neither the body, nor the “grand piano” - the huge hood, didn’t much bank. It turns out that this “Rover” was called sports not only for a more rapid posture and a different finish than the standard “Range”? Here is a well-known, hundreds of times passed on different machines turn. Yes, it can be taken at a completely passenger speed: rolls of a rather high body and the clarity of feedback on driving movements are not characteristic of other off-road vehicles. Of course, on small irregularities, these qualities are “surrendered” to shaking, which even air suspension is not able to smooth out: a compromise is a compromise. Nowadays, designers are able to combine a real all-terrain transmission (with a locking center and rear differential, which includes, however, not the driver, but the “it”, and a ground clearance that can be changed from 172 to 227 mm) with sporty dynamics and reliable handling, and even limousine comfort. But without sacrificing at least part of the qualities inherent in less universal models, it is difficult to do so. Rather, it is impossible.
Patency? Does such a car need it? At least in the sense in which it is understood in the Russian outback. On the steep, wet grassy slope, the Range Rover feels like on the floor. Solid obstacles, such as the highest borders, overcomes effortlessly. By the way, first lifting the body to the off-road position and completing off-road exercises, carefully lowered the car. Until I realized that “it” would do it on its own, as soon as the “Range” picked up decent speed. In the snow, the older brother - the usual Range Rover, I remember, behaved perfectly. The design of the "Sport" is almost the same - which means that it does not save. Well, I can’t imagine this car in the wet spring arable land.
The Range Rover Sport is a typical child of this century: in addition to combining qualities that seemed previously incompatible, he (why hide!) Attracts many with his illustrious name, that is, prestige. This "option", as you know, is not measurable in liters and kilometers, but it is very expensive. However, comparable classmates, as a rule, are slightly cheaper, and among them, the “Briton” looks quite worthy.
SUMMARY
A powerful engine, a transmission with wide capabilities, sophisticated electronics and a luxurious finish are very expensive. Add a margin for prestige.