Imagine a gravel surface, hard and firm, dry where the sun has touched it, damp and slick in the shade of the odd tree or rock outcrop.
Imagine the luxury of knowing there’s no other vehicle on the road in front of you for at least 5 km.
Imagine you have a beautiful four-wheel drive thoroughbred under you, with a high torque 200 kW turbo-charged V8 diesel engine, suspension that lowers to get the centre of gravity down, massive brakes, and handling that rivals many a hot hatch.
Stop imagining. I’ll describe it, because that’s what happened to me in the sparkling new Range Rover Sport TDV8.
We were traversing a private road. You can’t get in there without permission, so I won’t bore you with details.
Well up ahead was my friend with a two-way radio. I had stopped to take photographs, and he said he could see me way beneath as he had climbed to a high vantage point. The road was clear, and no-one could get onto the road without passing him.
The Range Rover Sport is designed to challenge the might of the Porsche Cayenne and the BMW X5 when it comes to on-road presence and ability, while retaining the legendary off-road abilities that have made Land Rover a global 4WD icon.
It’s built on a shortened version of the Discovery III platform, and has the same Terrain Response system, designed to ensure that the car’s suspension - and other - settings correspond to road conditions.
We had been tootling along in “Grass/Gravel/Snow” mode, but now things were about to change.
What that call did was give me the opportunity to explore the car’s limits a bit, and to find out just how close it is to the X5.
So I switched across to the “tarmac” setting, flicked off the DSC (traction control), slotted the gear lever across into the “sport/manual” mode, and selected first.
After that it was just a matter of concentrating VERY hard as all hell broke loose....
There’s never a suggestion of wheelspin as you pull off under full throttle, despite traction control being off. With permanent four-wheel drive, and more than 2.5 tons forcing down onto the fat low-profile 255 mm tyres, how could there be?
You rocket into the first corner, flick the steering to get the tail to slide slightly, and power through while allowing the ‘box to change up automatically, thus ensuring both hands are firmly in control of the wheel.
Then it’s brake, brake, brake as you haul down after just a short straight to enter yet another tight, tight corner, grass hissing against the sides of the car, small stones pattering against the undersides, the big race-bred Brembo four-piston ventilated disc brakes hauling the mass down, and your left hand flicking the gearlever backwards so you’re into first as you enter the bend.
Then it’s onto the power and repeat the exercise, roaring to 100 km/h in just 9.2 seconds – a second faster than a MINI-Cooper!
Later the roads opened up as we found ourselves climbing onto an escarpment, and now it was a different sort of road surface. Not so wet, but still slippery as the gravel was looser, less hard-packed.
I switched in the DSC for safety, but quickly took it off again as it stifled the engine the first time I tried to power out of a corner, the traction warning lights flashing, the system doing its job but spoiling mine...
Some of the corners were wide and long, but the Sport always felt sure-footed, always felt comfortable.
Pretty soon our gravel road fun was over and we hit the tarmac and went out onto winding country roads. Again we found the Sport can indeed take on the X5 and the Porsche in those conditions, too, thanks in no small part to its Dynamic Response system, which reduces roll and improves handling.
This computer-controlled active anti-roll system senses cornering forces and then acts to reduce lean. It is standard on TDV8.
Later, on our return to Auckland, we went onto a private farm and plodded our way through a variety of off-road conditions that would tax even the best of the best.
And we discovered the Range Rover Sport is every bit as capable off-road as the Discovery III it is based on - and infinitely better than its BMW rival. The only limitations were the fat low-profile road tyres which quickly clogged up in some of the muddier sections and made driving tricky.
Serious off-road driving would require more serious off-road tyres.
The secret to it all is Terrain Response control, and the Range Rover Sport’s fully adjustable air suspension, which allows it to stoop low for easy access, and ride slightly higher to ensure it doesn’t touch the road on tarmac while still retaining a low centre of gravity.
And best of all, to lift to 227 mm of ground clearance on the highest ride setting - with the possibility of a few more cm if it encounters sudden potholes, whereby the affected wheel “reaches” down to touch the bottom!
Although based on the Discovery platform the Range Rover Sport is not primarily aimed at the off-roader market, but rather at a new breed of buyer out there who wants sporting motoring while still allowing him - or her - to get down and dirty from time to time, to explore not just the limits of handling, but the great outdoors, too.
The Sport does all that, and in a package that is desirable, luxurious, comfortable and totally modern.
The TDV8 is the latest Sport. It gets the same twin-turbo diesel engine as that in the Range Rover, and power and torque are fed, full-time, to all four wheels through a ZF six-speed “intelligent shift” automatic gearbox.
The transmission features sport programming and Land Rover’s Command Shift, which offers manual control of gear changes. Low range is electronically selectable on the move for tough off-roading.
Other high-technology features of the power train include an electronically controlled centre differential, which improves the vehicle’s handling both on-and off-road.
The fully independent air-sprung suspension has also been tuned for on-road performance. It has double wishbone suspension front and rear, as typically featured on the world’s leading sports cars.
The Terrain Response system allows the driver to choose one of five terrain settings via a pop-up rotary control on the centre console.
Terrain Response then automatically selects (or guides the driver to select) the most appropriate settings for the vehicle’s many advanced electronic controls and traction aids - including ride height, engine torque response, Hill Descent Control, electronic traction control and transmission settings.
The Sport’s exterior styling follows Discovery and Range Rover cues, but the Sport has a lower roof line, a steeper windscreen, air outlets on the flanks, and a sloping rear. It also gets five doors, with a single-piece rear aluminium tailgate that includes an opening rear glass for easy access.
The car is roomy inside, with space for five, and good head and knee room.
Premium materials - including leather, wood and metallic finishes - are used extensively. The cockpit is designed around the driver, and is more enveloping than other Land Rovers.
The high and sweeping centre console helps the driver reach across to the controls, rather than down to them. The seats are sporty and supportive.
Naturally automatic dual-control aircon, electric windows and mirrors, and eight way (driver) and six way (passenger) electric front seats with manual lumbar support electric seats are fitted as standard.
Other features include leather covered steering wheel and gear knob, cruise control, and park distance control front and rear.
An unexpected plus point is the amount of luggage it can carry.
Although it has a slightly fast-back rear compared to the upright boxy look of the “standard” Range Rover, you can still put 958 litres of stuff in the back with all the seats upright. And if you fold the back seat – it has a 65/36 split for greater versatility – this can be enlarged to as much as 2013 litres.
It was a logical step to transplant the new V8 diesel into the Range Rover Sport, given the popularity of the V6 model. And already it’s one which is enabling the company to reach across the divide and capture customers from its greatest competitors.
Certainly it matches its obvious rival, the BMW X5, on smooth roads, while offering off-road ability the Beemer just can’t come close to. *