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I was invited to an hour of trying out the LR of my choice at the AHG 4×4 training track near the Perth Airport yesterday. I opted for the Range Rover Sport, so that I could compare it’s off-road performance with the D3 and FL2, which I’m pretty familiar with.

The instructor (John) was from an Eastern States training and adventure company, but he’d also led several LR-sponsored trips across Australia (most notably the 60th Anniversary trek across Australia in an RRS, D3, FL2 and Puma Defender). Coincidentally, he’d also led the Audi Q7 trans-Australia trip in 2006, where I met up with them at Ayer’s Rock (and one of my navigators crewed the 2007 trip). I was traversing in the opposite direction in the D3.

Anyway, we ended up having a good chat and got to go over the ground a few extra times – it was an interesting day, although there is only so much you can do in one hour, and the course was pretty tame by most standards.I came away impressed with the RRS, but with some reservations. We both agreed that its lack of an extra 10mm or so of clearance and the inability to fit larger tyres (as opposed to the D3) were it’s main disadvantages. The low profile tyres were another – although this was a base TDV6, so it could have been fitted with 17″ rims. The driving position and controls-to-hand are better than the D3 or FL2 though, and it certainly feels more isolated from the external environment, although whether this is a good or bad thing is debatable. It feels smaller and nimbler than the D3, and even the FL2, although in reality it’s externally almost as big as the D3.

Still, a sunny Friday afternoon, a 4×4 track and a brand new RRS to play in for an hour or so – have to be happy with that!

Cheers,

Gordon

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