2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Walkaround Review at Automotive.com
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2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Review: Exterior

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2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Review

Agile on road, capable off road.
Walkaround
Casual observers may mistake the Range Rover Sport for the top-of-the-line Range Rover, but it's shorter and there are some styling cues that differentiate the two.

The Sport is based on the Land Rover LR3, but the Sport is two inches shorter than the LR3 in overall length; and the wheelbase of the Sport is shorter by more than five inches. It's not as tall, by three inches. The width of the two differs by less than half an inch and the track (the distance between the left and right wheels) is identical to that of the LR3.

Appearance-wise, the Sport looks similar to the top-of-the-line Range Rover, though it's built to a slightly smaller scale. Only the most discerning and trained eye will notice the hood is mostly flat, missing the full-size Range Rover's longitudinal humps running along the top outer edges back from the headlights. Or the presence of understated side skirts, front air dam and rear spoiler. Maybe the front quarter panels' side vents are more obvious, being closely patterned after the LR3's and in stark contrast to the Range Rover's vertical louvers. The most noticeable difference is the windscreen and backlight (rear windscreen) are faster, or more raked.

Because, other than striking a slightly more rakish pose with its rounder, more tapered lines, the Sport contains all the major styling elements of the full-size Range Rover. The compound headlight clusters are indistinguishable. And the grille finishes are similar, with the HSE's a matte gray and the S/C's a bright metallic. The roof gets the marque's trademark floating look, achieved by blacking out the roof pillars. A similar character line runs the length of the body side, but with the door handles positioned beneath it to reinforce the Sport's lower profile. Taillights repeat the larger Range Rover's stacked look, only not quite as tall and with the elements staggered from the vertical. And just like the full-size Range Rovers, the Supercharged Sport has chrome-tipped dual exhausts in place of the HSE's bare, single exhaust. Next Page



2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport
  
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