Is the L320 Range Rover Sport Toxic?

The Range Rover Sport is a renowned vehicle around the world. When the L320 came out, it was a high status must have. Despite it being the smaller of the two Range Rovers, it was the more popular Range Rover and has more mass appeal than the L322. With this car now a decade old, should it get a wicked reputation or is it legendary? Let’s find out.

We had the L320 for what felt like a short time. We bought it when it was mid Covid and was one of two Land Rovers we had at the time. We had this with its sister, the Discovery 4 which apparently is the same car. They were both white and both had the same numberplate which was interesting. Now the SDV6 is a great engine and to be honest is the better engine however, It didn’t really make sense to have two diesel Land Rovers especially in times of lockdown so the supercharged 5.0L petrol was the one to get at the time.

Many people love to dislike these cars for no solid backed up reason but now that i have research and ownership experience, I can successfully use Utilitarian Ethics to decide whether or not this is an ethical car.

Let’s Start with the Practicality. The boot is hugggeee. I suspect its not smaller than the L322 boot despite it being a smaller car because i’ve tested the L322 and most of the extra space appears to be the bonnet. Same with the back seats, The backseat space is not significantly less than the L322. The boot is slightly bigger than the Cayennes but smaller than a Land Cruisers boot.

The interior quality and design is where this car shines however. It has aged very well indeed. It’s closer to a Discovery 4 than it is to the bigger Range Rover of-course but that is to be expected. It feels very solid and things don’t rattle and shake. The Steering is very thicc and the driving position is fantastic. It’s not as high as a Discovery 4 but most people wouldn’t be able to immediately tell the difference between this and a Discovery 4. Compared to rivals like the Cayenne, Its really a matter of personal preference but when it comes to the interior, theres nothing to complain about. You feel 10 years younger when you sit in this car! Theres also something about the windscreen angle that makes it feel in motion if you know what i mean.

Now we have to talk about styling and appeal. This has to be one of the most regal late 2000’s early 2010’s looking cars. It’s the type of car that would feature in a midnight club game. Theres something about this cars styling however that gets it strange reactions. On the move, It gets positive reactions from Women and negative reactions from Men. Theres a time i drove to the mall and a Mother and her Daughter were just staring at me in sort of like an admiral way looking back as they walked in to the shop or the time i went to the beach and they were refusing us to go there because of the car but some woman came and ordered them down. These days, if you ask women what car they dream of, a large majority of them would say a Range Rover. This car gets favour from women but envy from men. I was stopped by male police men at-least 3 times a week just for a sniff around. You will have men in loud cars tailgating you, racing you, and starring you down like crazy. The L322 however got honourable reactions from both genders.

This car had pretty cool tech for its time like surround view cameras and lights that corner and dip. The mirrors dipped and dimmed and it had automatic high beams too. It also had collusion alert which was somewhat useful and obviously the Infamous adaptive air suspension with dynamic mode which was exclusive to the Range Rover Sport at the time.

Now what people really want to know. How does this car drive? Well, it is fast. Now, let’s talk about driving dynamics and comfort before we get to speed. This car is excellent when it comes to dealing with big bumps. It eats them almost like a Discovery 4 but it’s the small bumps that can be a-bit annoying but thats only if your’e moving quickly off-road. If you’re planning to do off-roading then i recommend that you check out the L322 because that is like a sailing yacht on bad roads, It legitimately feels like its flying. This car is not as compliant as a Discovery 4 but its more compliant than a Lexus LX or Land Cruiser 200.

Speaking of off-road conditions, This car is reasonably good off-road. If its on the correct tires then it will go most places owners will intend to go however, it is not a hovercraft! We have gotten stuck on the way home and went back in a Discovery and the Discovery walked the path. It was definitely the tires but these cars come standard with performance road tires so it’s suggesting to you that yes, i can off-road but if you do anything ridiculous, it will abandon you which i’ll elaborate on later.

Now for on-road performance. This car is fast! super quick! 0-60 is 5.1 seconds which is quicker than most cars on the road and in east Africa where i tested it, it was an ultimate dominator. It’s crazy! I was used to the Discovery’s longer throttle response so the first time i drove it, i tapped the throttle and it launched. It felt out of control at first but i quickly got used. It feels like a bigger car than the Discovery even though it’s not. It also felt heavier. I’m not sure how i’d feel about this car without this engine but with it, it was very fun to drive. Overtaking is merely a thought and barely an action. It just feels like ultimate road domination. This doesn’t have a family car vibe, It feels like a GT car and at-least in a straight line, the engine manages to mitigate weight. In terms of handling, The Porsche Cayenne handles better and has slightly better ride quality too. The cayenne is also lighter and has a lighter steering as well but don’t let that take away from the dominant feeling you get from this car on the road.

Now that the fun is over, what is it like to own, well……. It’s a complicated question. It’s not as bad as you’d imagine but it’s not as good as you’d hope.

This car has actually stranded us although had it been the diesel version, it would have been okay. See, we had been driving on a really bad road and the battery terminal popped out. The same thing happened to me in the Discovery but because the Discovery’s Diesel uses compression ignition, the engine did not turn off. At the time we did not know that the terminal was loose so the car had to be put on a flat-bed. This however was an unfortunate mishap and that has nothing to do with the car’s reliability in general. A loose terminal can happen to any car.

However, this car was tampered with so every now and then, there would be a Christmas tree of dashboard lights but if you factor out user/mechanic error, it’s not as bad as you’d imagine. Many of the issues this car had were because of careless mechanics or careless driving. The usual Land Rover issues still applied but they were no where as severe. These were mainly the door-locks and the windows sometimes not working or the rare sunroof leak. This car however is not so bad that you should be stressed out about buying it. If you want one, buy one that is in good condition to begin with, don’t make it to do anything its not supposed to do and for heavens sake, be careful with your mechanics!

Now obviously after hearing these stories you would ask, is there anything else you would recommend well, yeah sure. I know theres people that would say “buy a Land Cruiser” but, If i’m being honest, you’d probably not like it. because People that buy Land Cruisers and Range Rovers do not cross shop for a reason. If someone likes MacBook’s, they are not going to go buy a Dell XPS regardless of specification. We may all know deep down that the Land Cruiser is slightly more reliable but its not a Luxury car. Sure it’s a luxurious utilitarian vehicle but you tend to find that people that have owned Range Rovers and pick up a Land Cruiser tend to crave the Land Rover back despite their flaws. Similar instance happened to one of my friends. Theres this solidity feeling and Suave nature that JDM cars have failed to replicate. Doug De-Muro him self said your’e better off with a Range Rover and stuff like that if you aren’t planning to own it for more than 10 years. If you actually want a competitor from this era that’s better than the Range Rover Sport, then the Porsche Cayenne is your best bet.

So in conclusion, the Range Rover Sport is a-bit toxic like most other Land Rover vehicles from that era but If you know how to manage it, it’s a pretty good car and more importantly it’s a missable car. I was more heartbroken when we had to sell this car than i was having to give up my ex-girlfriend. The newer ones are more reliable and hopefully we will get to own a newer one in the future.

This one however is a very difficult car to get bored of because when you’re about to get bored of it, it creates drama but if you sell it you regret it. Isn’t that what love is about?

Check out my review of the later Range Rover L494

Is the L494 Range Rover Sport a perfect car?

About Author