The Land Rover Range Rover Sport is getting an update for 2018, with a facelift, new interior, more power for the top trim SVR, and plans to add a plug-in hybrid by the middle of next year, at least in the US.
It sees a new bumper, a new grille, and LED headlights added to make a sharper and fresher exterior. In the rear, the spoiler is more aggressive-looking but is also designed to do a better job clearing the rear glass.
Inside, the Sport has changed as well. The cabin gets the latest version of Jaguar Land Rover's Touch Pro Duo infotainment system. The brand calls it the most advanced they've ever created. The minimalist cabin gets two 10.0-inch touchscreens in the centre stack of the dashboard. The top screen can be angled, so that you can adjust it to reduce glare from the sun.
The Sport will have up to 14 power points inside, which is almost three per passenger. Enough to keep even the most hardcore gadget users charged. It will also have a 110-volt power plug available.
Other fancy new interior features include gesture control for the roof sunblind. Wave your hand rearward in front of the mirror to open, swipe forward to close. It also has advance tow assist that lets drivers use an intuitive rotary dial to reverse a trailer.
The top performance trim SVR gets more power. It's up by 25 hp to make a massive 575 hp from the supercharged 5.0L V8. That lets it hit 100 km/h from a standstill in just 4.5 seconds. Land Rover says that there is more carbon fibre in the construction, which makes it lighter, faster, and more agile.
All new with the facelift, but not arriving quite yet, is a plug-in hybrid. It's the first plug-in from Jaguar Land Rover, but won't be the last.
Called the P400e, it uses a 296 hp turbocharged 2.0L four and a 114 hp electric motor. That gives the RR Sport hybrid 398 hp. That's close enough to the 400 on the badge, right?
With all-wheel drive, the hybrid can hit 100 km/h in just 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h. But it will also deliver an electric range of up to 51 km thanks to a 13.1 kWh lithium-ion battery. It uses an eight-speed automatic transmission. The hybrid keeps Land Rover's Terrain Response 2 off-road traction control, as well as hill descent control. Fitting for a Range Rover, the hybrid can still ford up to 850 mm of water, same as the non-hybrid models.
The hybrid is set to arrive to the lineup fashionably late. It's scheduled to arrive in the US for summer 2018 as a 2019 model-year vehicle. We haven't heard back from Jaguar Land Rover as to when it will arrive in Canada, but we'll update when we find out.
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