SPIED: 2018 Range Rover Sport Coupe

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Facing an onslaught of four-door ‘coupe-style’ SUVs from its German competitors, Jaguar Land Rover is firing a return shot across the Channel.

A new model photographed while testing shows an addition to the Range Rover lineup, expected to bow in 2018. The model, which shares a lightweight aluminum alloy frame with the Jaguar F-Pace, could be called the Sport Coupe, though company insiders still refer to it as the Evoque Plus or Evoque XL.

The Sport Coupe is designed to fill the gap between the Evoque and Range Rover Sport, as well as give BMW and Mercedes-Benz something to be worried about. Slightly shorter than an X6 or GLE Coupe, the Sport Coupe should boast good handling characteristics, thanks to the F-Pace’s suspension and aluminum body.

The sloping roofline and short rear overhang can be seen in the photos, along with an abbreviated rear door. (Sporty cars are supposed to have a lot up front, and little in the back.) Inside, expect a luxurious, cockpit-style layout and a 2+2 seating configuration.

There’s not much known about the Sport Coupe’s powertrain, but JLR has an extensive lineup of six-and eight-cylinder gas and diesel engines available for use. It’s possible Range Rover could source the four-cylinder engines found in the F-Pace, and one day adopt the electric powertrain being developed for that model.

[Images: @ 2016 Spiedbilde/The Truth About Cars]





Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • EBFlex Honda all day long. Why? It's a Honda.
  • Lou_BC My ex had issues with the turbo CRV not warming up in the winter.I'd lean to the normally aspirated RAV 4. In some cases asking people to chose is like asking a Muslim and Christian to pick their favourite religion.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Agree turbo diesels are probably a different setup lower compression heat etc. I never towed with my rig and it was all 40 miles round trip to work with dealer synthetic oil 5,000mi changes. Don’t know the cause but it soured my opinion on turbo’s plus the added potential expense.
  • DesertNative More 'Look at me! Look at me!' from Elon Musk. It's time to recognize that there's nothing to see here, folks and that this is just about pumping up the stock price. When there's a real product on the ground and available, then there will be something to which we can pay attention. Until then, ignore him.
  • Bkojote Here's something you're bound to notice during ownership that won't come up in most reviews or test drives-Honda's Cruise Control system is terrible. Complete trash. While it has the ability to regulate speed if there's a car in front of you, if you're coasting down a long hill with nobody in front of you the car will keep gaining speed forcing you to hit the brakes (and disable cruise). It won't even use the CVT to engine brake, something every other manufacturer does. Toyota's system will downshift and maintain the set speed. The calibration on the ACC system Honda uses is also awful and clearly had minimum engineering effort.Here's another- those grille shutters get stuck the minute temperature drops below freezing meaning your engine goes into reduced power mode until you turn it off. The Rav4 may have them but I have yet to see this problem.
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