It turns out, I was imagining the Range Rover Sport all along.
As the child of a man with subscriptions to every car magazine, I grew up imagining that the Range Rover was the perfect vehicle. But I grew up into an automotive journalist and was alarmed to discover that I didn’t particularly like driving the Rover. Too softly tuned. A ride too pillowy on pavement (though that’s what you want on rock and sand).
I wanted a car with that classic Range Rover burly handsomeness but sportier tuning. And then I drove one.
I spent a week driving Range Rover’s more performance-oriented midsize luxury SUV around Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, challenging its suspension with conditions no more rugged than a construction zone.
Behind the wheel of the Sport, I found the Range Rover I’d imagined all those years ago. It has the not-too-soft, just-a-little-sporty suspension tuning I had imagined.
Colleagues long told me this was one of the great performance vehicles, but somehow, I’d never spent much time with one. In a week of living with it, I had my quarrels – its touchscreen-forward cabin is what some buyers want, but it isn’t for me. But, for the most part, I found it scratched an itch I’d felt since before I could drive.
Which Trim Level
Land Rover builds the Range Rover Sport in a remarkable number of configurations, including several special editions, with prices ranging from the low $80,000 range to over $170,000. Buyers can choose from two turbocharged inline 6-cylinder engines and one twin-turbo V8. Shoppers can even choose from more than a dozen colors. My tester was one of the more affordable options, in Sport Dynamic SE trim with a 395-horsepower turbocharged 6-cylinder in Varesine Blue with an ebony interior. I’ll admit a preference for the other interior options available on this one, including a classic Caraway leather and a beautiful Deep Garnet cabin.
New 2026 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Prices
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Retail Price
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Fair Purchase Price (92620)
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|---|---|---|---|---|
TBD |
TBD |
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$79,450 |
$77,500 |
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$85,550 |
$82,900 |
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$92,650 |
$90,600 |
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$105,550 |
$104,000 |
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$120,550 |
$118,000 |
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$122,750 |
$122,000 |
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$153,850 |
$150,000 |
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$163,450 |
$159,000 |
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$171,350 |
$167,000 |
Favorite Feature
In most SUVs with any real off-road capability, I find myself fiddling constantly with the suspension settings. They’re tuned very softly for navigating rocky terrain, which I find uncomfortable when I’m not. I spend time looking for a setting that’s firm enough to stay relatively flat through sharp turns but not jar you with every pothole and railroad crossing.
In the 2026 Range Rover Sport, I didn’t have to.
Range Rover’s excellent Terrain Response 2 system constantly analyzes surface conditions and adjusts to compensate. In Auto mode, it has near-perfect balance. Should you find yourself on snow, mud, or other non-asphalt surfaces, you can select modes like Mud and Ruts or Grass, Gravel, and Snow to compensate.
What It’s Like to Drive
“Sport” appears in the name Range Rover Sport, and for a nearly 5,000-pound vehicle, it’s light on its feet.
The inline-6-cylinder engine in the Sport Dynamic SE model gets it to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds, according to the manufacturer. The V8 version is nearly a second faster, but you don’t need that second.
An available plug-in hybrid version gets more horsepower (454, compared to 395 here), but is technically 0.1 second slower to 60 mph due to the added weight. But it can travel an estimated 51 miles on electric power alone – a truly impressive number that means many owners could rarely use gasoline.
This one feels plenty powerful, and snarls beautifully when you put your foot down. If you don’t, it’s so quiet I once hit the start button a second time because I didn’t realize it had started.
The adaptive air suspension is this car’s best feature. It won’t make it handle like a sports coupe, but it will make you think, “Wow, this isn’t far off from a sports coupe.” The Sport Dynamic SE rides on 21-inch wheels, and I’d be reluctant to trade up to the optional 22- or 23-inch models, which could make bumps more unsettling. At this size, they’re well-cushioned.
Brakes are firm, and will teach you a light touch. But that’s a positive — if you need to slam them down, you know they’re powerful.
I had the Sport only in good weather, so I didn’t get to test its traction.
Interior Comfort and Technology
If you’re test-driving luxury SUVs this year, you’ll notice two camps in interior design. All luxury SUVs have an extraordinary number of features. Some automakers use an extraordinary number of controls for them. Their cabins have touchscreens, but also many buttons and knobs. Others send everything through the touchscreen for a minimalist look.
The Range Rover Sport is very much the latter. A single touchscreen handles nearly everything. There’s not even a separate volume knob.
This allows a luxurious expanse of soft Windsor leather on the dashboard. An Extended Leather Upgrade, standard on the Sport Dynamic SE, adds it to the doors and parts of the instrument panel. It conveys a sense of softness everywhere.
But it means you rely on that touchscreen for everything. Steering wheel controls let you avoid it for some things. There’s a learning curve with them, but once you’re used to the car, they are genuinely useful. All the same, I would appreciate separate HVAC controls and a volume knob. I find they help keep my eyes on the road, as I’m not tapping through menus to make simple adjustments.
The materials in the cabin are sumptuous. Sport models often get stiff sport seats, but the Range Rover Sport sticks with well-padded thrones that are long-haul comfortable.
Rear seat accommodations are tight, with just 37 inches of legroom, near the low end of its class.
The cargo area is close to average for a midsize luxury SUV and has one fantastic feature: You can raise and lower the entire vehicle with buttons near the tailgate. When you’re loading in heavy materials, giving yourself a lower lift is a luxury.
Limitations
Luxury midsize SUVs are surprisingly skimpy on second-row space. Even by those standards, the second row legroom in the 2026 Range Rover Sport leaves a bit to be desired. If you routinely drive clients, you might want to consider alternatives, including the larger flagship Range Rover SUV.
Key Considerations
The Range Rover Sport competes with other sport-oriented midsize luxury SUVs, such as the Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5, and Maserati Grecale. They’re a uniformly excellent group, but this one has a mystique that appeals to some of us from childhood. All the same, I would note that special-edition versions like the Battersea and Twenty editions are lovely but pricey. Owning this Sport Dynamic SE would give you most of the same experience at a lower price.
