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I loaned a Range Rover Sport 3 ltr diesel from the dealer for the day last week – what a car!! The new diesel motor (180kw, 600NM) is virtually instant in response, with no discernible turbo lag. Driving it pretty hard around town, I still managed 11 ltr / 100, considerably better than my 2.7 D3 gets!

In the RRS (and this was the base model), virtually everything is standard – sat nav, 4×4 information screen, 240watt sound system, electric seats etc etc. After driving around for a couple of hours with a stupid grin on my face, I took the car back to the workshop and measured it up for a few things.

Firstly, the second ‘battery ‘ box will no longer hold a battery, as they’ve moved the TCM and a couple of other modules over to that side (better water protection). However, an Optima Yellowtop will fit in front of the existing battery, once a suitable base and clamp are designed. Traxide are apparently working on one, as we will be doing for owners who want to retro-fit their existing dual-battery set-ups.

Secondly, the wheels. The 3 ltr RRS and D4 come with 19″ rims as a minimum – they can be up-spec’d to 20″ rims. Suitable tyres for off-road or touring are very limited for 19″ rims. There’s the Pirelli Scorpion ATR, the new Continental CrossContact AT, and the Goodyear Wrangler MTR(P) mud tyre, although this last one only seems to be available via the USA. That’s about it. All are in size 255/55/19. For the 20″ rim, there are slightly more available, and in various sizes (275/45/20, 285/50/20). However, these are all low profile tyres, and this will limit their utility as a touring or off-road tyre. This is the biggest drawback with the new range from LR. I’ve started looking around for an 18″ rim that would fit, but I’ll go into more detail in another post.

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