Land Rover Research Paper

Soon after the SUV craze took hold in the early 1990s, the GMC Typhoon emerged, a performance model like none other. Based on the GMC Jimmy, its turbocharged 4.3-liter V-6 engine enabled it to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.3 seconds, comparable to what sports cars were attaining during that era.

Though the Typhoon’s two-year run was certainly a short-lived one, it put in the mind of manufacturers the world over that SUVs and performance were no longer mutually exclusive. Fast forward to today and nearly every automotive brand is selling SUVs and offering performance variants.

Land Rover, itself an SUV brand, has long had the off-road credentials that others can only aspire to. They also have performance models, including the Range Rover

Choose the SVR version and the V-8 is tweaked further to produce a monstrous 550 horsepower.

Suffice to say, I had the “tamer” version of the beefy V-8, but that was no sad consolation. This engine bangs out 461 foot-pounds of torque and is paired with a ZF-supplied, 8-speed automatic transmission with normal, sport and manual shift modes.

With its Eaton twin vortex supercharger, dual intercoolers and direct injection working in unison, you can hit 60 mph from a dead stop in about five seconds. That’s just a half-second slower than the SVR version.

The Range Rover Sport takes premium grade gasoline and is rated at 14/19 mpg city/highway. You should manage more than 400 miles on a tank of fuel due to its 27.7-gallon fuel

Where a turbocharger provides a boost somewhat higher in the RPM range, a supercharger typically kicks in lower. In this case it begins to reach its top performance at 2,500 RPM and maintains that up to 5,500 RPM.

Some may argue that a supercharger does not have the performance lag of turbocharger. And that is true as the turbocharger is hooked to the engine manifold and is driven by exhaust gases while the supercharger is mounted to the engine and utilizes a pulley that works in tandem with the accessory belt. Certainly, there is no turbo lag, but your anticipation of the boost kicking in may give you at least the perception of lagging.

Perceptions aside, this robust Range Rover Sport delivers. Its off the mark acceleration is excellent and it keeps on giving well above highway speeds. Take it on the twisty roads and the SUV’s mass becomes evident.

Although you definitely will hug the corners and stay planted, you will sense some body roll. This is no Jaguar F-TYPE, but when it comes to steering, handling and gutsy performance, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better