Land Rover Range Rover Sport – Mandy Ison’s Opinion of the Design:
What can I say, the Land Rover Range Rover Sport’s exterior design is, well, hmmm, you know…interesting. Akin to a stiff upper lip with a boxy, awkward front and rear, I can’t wax anymore eloquent on the subject without coming right out and calling it ugly. As for the interior design, there’s little to be said that’s positive.

While parked, the gear selector is positioned directly in front of the center stack, blocking the knobs for the climate control. But most annoyingly, the navigation screen is recessed and out of easy reach. Scooting forward, grabbing the steering wheel for leverage, and stretching one arm the distance to the screen, I nearly sprained a forefinger pressing hard enough to get the obtuse program to respond while miraculously driving at the same time. On top of that, the navigation program was far from intuitive – what in the heck did those icons stand for and was that me driving across the North American continent? Finally, the raked windshield and the correspondingly recessed and angled navigation screen exposed it to blinding late afternoon sunlight while southbound on the highway.

An aborted attempt to power down the windows also revealed that the window controls, though on the driver side door, are positioned so far forward that they are also out of easy reach. Oh, and did I need to adjust the side mirrors? Ha, forget it! Those were situated past the window controls and might as well have been on the hood. With misplaced controls for the windows, mirrors, and navigation system, the proper placement of the remaining controls seemed like a godsend.

A habit of mine is to throw my purse and other hand-held items into the passenger seat when I get in a car (assuming there are no passengers) which I access as needed while driving – to retrieve a ringing cell phone, for example. The 4WD controls were large and situated in the center console just before the storage bin, which worried me that I’d hit one by accident while reaching into the passenger seat. In addition, the wall dividing the driver from the passenger makes it impossible to rescue items from the passenger floor after hitting the brakes during stop-and-go traffic. If the designers had intended the interior layout to be as inconvenient as they could imagine, it’s possible that they could have done worse. One thing is obvious – wooing the female market is not one of their concerns.

Land Rover Range Rover Sport – Ron Perry’s Opinion of the Design:
I have to admit I love the look of the Range Rover Sport. It is a package that exudes class, distinction and wealth. Designers have done a great job with the interior and exterior of the Sport. Inside I would have liked to see the wood trim included on the steering wheel, and I longed for larger center controls. Our truck’s interior was a bright white that looked rich and elegant but definitely showed every speck of dirt. I would definitely opt for something darker. One area where designers failed is in the folding rear seats. They are easy to lower with a simple two-step process, but I had to move the driver’s seat forward from my normal driving position to gain clearance for the rear seat to fold down – anyone over 5 feet 11 inches tall will then have to drive with the seat farther forward than might be comfortable.

Outside, the Range Rover Sport keeps the distinctive styling for which it is known. The sharp angular lines are distinctively Range Rover and the 20-inch wheels and lowered stance really give it added appeal. I also loved the front grille, which resembles the heat shielding used on side-outlet exhausts or on machine gun barrels. It really gives the front end a striking appearance. The same texture is also carried into the design of the taillights.

Land Rover Range Rover Sport – Christian Wardlaw’s Opinion of the Design:
Thanks to an absence of chrome trim on the outside of the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, I called this SUV the “anti-Escalade." However, the Supercharged model we drove can be identified by added bling such as bigger wheels and tires, as well as a unique grille design and other stylistic elements. Blending cues culled from Range Rovers past and present, the Sport is a handsome machine that doesn’t go over the top. Inside, the décor is appealing, but the use of silver plastic is haphazard and gives the busy cabin a whiff of cheapness that isn’t helped by rubber floor mats that get dirty quickly. Controls, thankfully, are laid out in a far more logical and intuitive fashion that those of previous Land Rover products.