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Range Rover Sport review: Car that can take on almost anything

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You can drive the Range Rover Sport through water that's 850mm deep (or two feet nine and a half for older readers!), you can take on some pretty tough 'off road' ground conditions including snow, mud and ice and some fairly steep slopes, writes Sharon Walters.

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But in most cases this superb vehicle won't be asked to tackle what it is made for and won't leave the safety of the highway - owners probably won't even want to dirty it by taking it through deep puddles. Although a few might use it to tow a horsebox to the local pony show and risk a grassy field.

And that's a huge shame because the Sport is highly capable and when you do get 'off-road' simply relishes the challenge.

I have driven this creature around a fairly tough of road course and can speak from experience. I have used it to tour around France on holiday this year and enjoyed cruising along those long empty roads. And I did get to test some of the wading height through a fairly deep ford on a remote road and tackle some gripping situations on forest tracks in the beautiful Gaillac region. However I did mainly did just what the majority of drivers do in the UK and enjoy being floated along by this king of the road.

That road trip also proved just how attractive and eye-catching the Range Sport is. Sporty little numbers often attract turned heads as you whizz by but this car makes people stop, stand and stare. Park up and as you walk away passersby go closer to get a good look – standing on tip toe (because it is high off the ground) to try and take a look inside. On one occasion during a coffee stop at a cafe in Laguépie in the Midi-Pyrénées, the bar owner asked if he could take a look inside and rattled off a whole series of questions about the engine, off-road capabilities and a whole host of other queries, many of which I had to refer to the handbook to answer. He was delighted to climb inside and sit behind the wheel for a few moments!

Range Rover Sport arrived on roads in 2013 and this year has seen a number of tweaks to try and keep in its place in the hard-fought SUV market up against the likes of the excellent Volvo XC60 and Audi Q7.

The first arrival set a high benchmark with its interior quality and good looks although cleanliness of engines and some of the interior kit have seen rivals gaining ground in the short time it has been around. This mid-life set of tweaks has seen a cleaner yet more powerful engine introduced, an improved infotainment system and more kit.

My road trip car had the cleaner engine – the V6 diesel which produces 306 bhp with CO2 emissions of 185g/km making it EU5 compliant. Claimed fuel economy figures of 40.4mpg on a combined driving cycle might be treated with some scepticism but with the aid of the on-board computer and proven by our not too frequent filling stations stops, we were almost spot on. Driving a vehicle weighing close on 2.2 tonnes, that's impressive.

You can get from 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds which is again no mean feat for the size of the car and engine and when you need to turn up the heat to avoid difficult situations on French roads when being pushed on by, shall we say the more aggressive form of Gallic driving, there's plenty of oomph in reserve. That extra torque also gives you the confidence when overtaking.

Now having mentioned the size, some may imagine this car does not take well to twisty roads. But it does, magnificently. Winding around the lanes trying to find hidden away Cathar treasures and, of course the odd vineyard, the bulky 4x4 Sport feels like something half its size. No need to go into the science here, suffice to say it's all down to what's under the metal in terms of dynamics. Steering is sharp and direct and feedback through the steering wheel made those twisty roads even more pleasurable.

Inside the quality of trim cannot be bettered and the standard equipment across the range is lengthy. There is just about everything to make driver and passenger experiences a five star experience. If you add some of the very tempting extras on the HSE Dynamic I drove, you get a super star experience. For example the camera update can give you aerial shots of how perfectly you have placed the car in those car park white lines once you have utilised the park assist pack (£900) which also includes parallel park, parking exit, perpendicular parking and 360 degree park distance control! And yes it all does work. With this extra, there is no excuse for scraping the car.

Adaptive cruise control with queue assist and intelligent braking that starts pulling you up if you get too close to the car in front is a boon. That comes in at £1,500.

A Meridian Surround Sound System with 17 speakers (and I did make folks jump in a quiet little French village square when I forgot to turn it all down as I parked!) plus a subwoofer adds £1,000 but you could use it, with the doors open, to provide the sound system at an outside party . . .

There really is too much to mention in the space here but the gesture tailgate has to be. If you move your foot under the rear bumper the tailgate opens – most useful if you have your hands are full of luggage you don't want to dump on the floor while you operate the remote key. Plus you can get an app so you can lock and unlock the vehicle remotely and even set the heating on.

There's also a 4.4 litre V8 diesel and a 5.0 litre supercharged petrol if you want to up the game.

Prices start at £61,950 on-the-road. The 3.0 litre HSE Dynamic I drove is £67,150 on-the-road. With all the extras that rose to £80,425.

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