Range Rover Sport PHEV 2018 Review

Next year Land Rover updates both its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport for the 2018 model year.

Set to go on sale in Australia around April, the mid-life tweak is nothing more than a light freshen up. A small nip and a tuck externally, along with some stiffening of the large SUV's aluminium monocoque chassis.

Inside, again, there’s nothing radical, just the sensible adoption of the firm's latest In Control infotainment, some redesigned switchgear and new, wider and more comfortable air-cooled seats.

So far so conventional, but things get all the more interesting in the second half of 2018 when the British SUV brand introduces its all-new Si4 PHEV powertrain to both the 18MY Range Rover and Sport.

Channelling the power and torque to all four-wheels is ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission that combines a clever twin multi-clutch gearbox that allows both SUVs to run either on full pure-electric power or a mixture of both electric and petrol.

Combined, the total power and torque is a punchy 297kW/640Nm and that's claimed to haul the 2509kg SUV to 100km/h in a swift 6.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 220km/h.

As well as the additional weight of the on-board 7kW charger, inverter tech and batteries, the other compromise is the battery rids the boot of almost 100 litres of carrying capacity.

We started with a near fully-charged battery and, on the long, tedious crawl to the highway, few cars would have offered more refinement and comfort.

The new seats (that offer 24-way adjustment) are excellent and among the best money can buy. The new, thicker acoustic glass and on-board noise cancellation features, plus a lack of engine noise, adds to the serenity.

We’ve been warned the early cars we're driving are all pre-production and a little rough round the edges, with some patchy fit and finish and plenty of calibration work still to be implemented before both cars reach the market.

It's worth mentioning that because, even from the passenger seat, a few issues are already rearing their ugly head as we crawl along at 30km/h.

The first is the large SUV's ride, which is on the wrong side of 'floaty'.

Engineers claim that as part of the upgrades, 'comfort' mode will be softer and more cossetting for the 18MY Range Rover, which will bring added 'waft' factor in its softest setting.

Unfortunately, the prototype feels like the engineers have gone too far and, over bumps, it even feels undamped. We expect (and hope) the production cars find a better balance.

Next issue is that in a car so quiet you can't help but notice (and hear) the transmission shunt about its business.

It feels like the worst is felt during the first-to-second change, but we wonder if it could be more related to the twin clutches that are supposed to provide seamless transition from electric to petrol power, in effect, supplementing a traditional torque converter.

It made me wish for a regular auto.

For those who plan to visit a city at the end of their journey, there's also a 'SAVE' feature that maintains a charge in the batteries to be deployed later in an urban environment.

Unfortunately, we're unsure of exactly how far you can travel on electric power alone as after just 30km we switch to a Range Rover Sport for our drive.

With just '1 mile' of battery charge left, we face a no-brainer of a decision.

Sacrifice two hours and 45 minutes of our lives finding a nearby 32-amp charger (it is California, after all), find a conventional wall socket and wait 7.5 hours or drive on petrol power alone. With a plane to catch we press on.

It's also considerably noisier.

Without any charge left we have to rely on its 2.0-litre turbo four all the time.

Owners used to the cultured growl of the current car's petrol or even the diesel V8 will feel short-changed here. The four-cylinder’s vocal soundtrack dominates under hard acceleration but settles down at a cruise.

With some charge saved (even when the system displays '0%') to assist under hard acceleration, the Range Rover feels quick but, again, vital calibration takes the edge off the driving experience.

Throttle response at the top of the pedal feels dull, making it tricky to smoothly apply power. The same happens when braking from low speed, when the braking pressure doesn't correlate with the reduction in speed, making it a struggle to smoothly modulate the brakes to a stop.

The latter is, no doubt, down to the hybrid system desperately trying to claw back energy to charge the batteries. Both will be fixed, or at least improved, says Land Rover.

Off road engineers are proud that, if anything, the abilities of the Range Rover are enhanced with the addition of the Si4 PHEV powertrain.

That said, it is disappointing that the tow weight falls from the regular car's class-leading 3500kg to just 2500kg.

Off the paved road and on the dirt, the Range Rover's Terrain Response 2 technology has been uniquely calibrated for serious off-roading. Switch to mud and rocks with the ride height raised and the electric motor no longer offers a creep mode.

With motor's maximum torque delivered to all four wheels from zero rpm, the PHEV is claimed to offer unbeatable precision and control in treacherous conditions.

And so it proves, as we navigate a short course that would trouble its more road-biased rivals without the ride height and wheel articulation to escape nasty brushes with the scenery.

Producing less power (275kW) but more torque (700Nm), the German SUV offers even more fantastical efficiency claims (1.7L/100km, 46g/km of C02), but should have the edge in the real world on account of its choice of a 3.0-litre diesel V6 rather than a small petrol engine.

That said, it's hard not to be seduced by the Brit's greater level of comfort and refinement – and it almost matches the Audi's classy cabin.

The biggest issue for the plug-in Sport might be from competition from the cheaper V6 diesel Range Rover.

But whatever happens, Land Rover Australia is confident both PHEV Range Rovers will win friends Down Under, chiefly among the wealthy city-dwelling folk we mentioned earlier.

With our chronic lack of charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles in every state, home charging and the 51km EV range of both vehicles will be more than enough, Land Rover claims, for commuting and the school run.

And when you do escape the city limits, it's comforting the big SUV remains true to its roots.

In fact, with some final tweaks and fine-tuning, these flawed Rangies could be transformed into the perfect luxury SUVs for the ethical consumer.