Range Rover Sport Review

Lusting after a Range Rover but can't quite swing the $80,000 (typically equipped) price tag?

How about a near look-alike that lets you keep $20,000 in the bank? The Range Rover Sport is actually based on the mid-size (for Land Rover, anyway) LR3, but re-bodied to look like the big Range Rover. Unless you're especially observant (a few inches missing from the overall length and a less-upright rear window are the biggest giveaways), you've probably looked at Sports and thought they were the flagship.

On the inside, Land Rover has created an ambiance that suggests you're not settling for less...and an extra $3,000 buys still more...the Luxury Interior Package with premium leather seats (heated front and rear), a heated front wind screen (the UK term for windshield), heated washer jets, adaptive front lamps, wood trim and a cooler box.

The "sport" part comes from the more compact dimensions and a 300 horsepower V8, with 315 pounds per foot of torque.

The base price of $58,225 (for a Range Rover Sport HSE) buys you a list of standard equipment that could cause a Blogspot server overload, so we'll just cut to the chase by saying that our tester had only two options...the Luxury Interior Package and Sirius Satellite Radio. Those, plus transportation, ran the bottom line to $62,400...again, about 20 large less than the large Range Rover.

Bottom line: Despite the savings, the Range Rover Sport isn't a cheap knockoff..it's simply a different approach to the real deal...and well worth your consideration.