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Not that the 2006 Range Rover Sport supercharged model isn't suitable for utility purposes; it actually offers more utility than most other midsize SUVs.
But with a supercharged 390-horsepower V-8 engine under the hood, the emphasis truly is on the sport side of the equation.
Even though it's a rather heavy vehicle, the powerful engine pushes this vehicle along quite impressively, leaving perhaps one question in the mind of a generally inquiring person: Does one really need a sport utility vehicle with this much zip?
Apparently some consumers think so, because Land Rover Centre of San Antonio can't keep the supercharged Sport model in stock, manager James Godkin said this week.
"We could sell every one we could get," he said. "We just can't get enough."
So much for the theory that the spike in gasoline prices is hurting the sales of high-end SUVs. The supercharged Sport's EPA ratings of 13 miles per gallon in the city and 18 mpg on the highway apparently aren't much of a deterrence.
Nor is the $69,535 base price (plus $715 freight).
With a few extras tacked on, our test model's sticker topped out at $76,150, which isn't exactly chump change in today's automotive market, where the average 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe transaction price is just more than $41,000.
Putting some sport into the sport utility genre - albeit for people who can afford expensive cars - is the idea behind the Range Rover Sport, an all-new model this year for British Land Rover.
With a starting price of $56,750 for a normally aspirated 4.4-liter V-8 model with 300 horsepower, this newest model makes the brand a bit more affordable. The regular Range Rover line for 2006 begins at just over $75,000 for a normally aspirated model, and rises to about $90,000 base for the supercharged version.
The Sport, then, fits in between the midsize Land Rover LR3, which begins under $40,000, and the regular Range Rover line. The LR3, introduced for 2005 to replace the aging Discovery model, and the Sport share a midsize chassis; the more expensive Range Rover is slightly larger and on a difference chassis.
The main reason for introducing the Range Rover Sport was to go after some quite popular luxury SUVs in the same price range, most notably the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz ML500, Porsche Cayenne and Lexus LX 470.
Not having a luxury model that directly competes with the M-class and X-series has hampered Land Rover's efforts under new owner Ford Motor Co. to bring its products into the mainstream.
Land Rover introduced the Range Rover in the United States in 1987 as the first luxury SUV.
Prices have climbed along the way, however. In the early '90s, Range Rover prices began in the upper $30,000s. Today, that's the price you'd pay for a high-end model of the Ford Explorer or Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Land Rover did have the Discovery II model starting at just over $35,000, but that vehicle, discontinued after 2004, was nowhere nearly as luxurious as a Range Rover, and drew a distinctly different clientele.
The Discovery's replacement, the LR3, was built on a new platform derived but substantially different from the chassis of the current Range Rover, which was introduced in 2002. It's based on a BMW design.
The LR3, though, was developed as the first product by Land Rover under the ownership of Ford, which bought Land Rover from BMW in June 2000.
The Sport is now the second Land Rover developed under Ford, using the platform of the LR3, not that of the BMW-inspired Range Rover model. The chassis of the LR3 was shortened to a 108-inch wheelbase from nearly 114 inches for the Range Rover Sport.
Its developers essentially took the unibody of the current Range Rover and dropped it into a separate frame to create both the LR3 and the Range Rover Sport. The addition of the frame underneath makes the vehicles much more rigid - and rugged - the company said.
Also, Land Rover has replaced the BMW engines in the more expensive Range Rover line with two V-8s developed from Jaguar, the British sports-car company also owned by Ford. And it's versions of these two engines that also power the new Range Rover Sport.
How well Land Rover can keep the Sport model differentiated from the lower-priced LR3 and the higher-priced Range Rover, which is a completely different vehicle, might be the brand's biggest challenge. Though the Sport has the underpinnings of the LR3, its styling is quite similar to that of the regular Range Rover.
The Sport model also represents a less-expensive way to get a Range Rover with the supercharged V-8.
The top-of-the-line Range Rover model with the 4.2-liter supercharged is rated at 400 horsepower, while the Sport model with its own version of that engine, and priced about $20,000 less, is rated at 390 horsepower.
There's a big difference in the four-wheel-drive systems, however - a difference that actually makes the less-expensive Sport model the better off-road performer. At the heart of its off-road equipment is the same computerized "Terrain Response" system Land Rover introduced on the LR3 for 2005.
That system, which has separate settings to match the vehicle to the type of terrain such as rock, sand or snow, is not offered on the more expensive Range Rover but is standard on the Range Rover Sport.
Those who plan to take their vehicles off-road probably will want to choose either the LR3 or the Range Rover Sport for their superior capabilities. Out of the box, these vehicles have arguably the best off-road system on the market, a system that includes standard center- and optional rear-locking differentials.
The Sport has room for just five people - there's no third row of seating in this model or in the more expensive Range Rover line. The LR3 is the only Land Rover vehicle with a third row.
It's not the quickest SUV on the road, even with the supercharged engine. Coupled with the standard six-speed automatic gearbox, the supercharged Sport can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds.
In comparison, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SuperSport model for 2006 comes with a 400-horsepower Corvette V-8 engine and can go from zero to 60 mph in just under six seconds. It costs about half as much as the supercharged Range Rover Sport.
Our test vehicle came with just about everything you can add to the Sport, including adaptive cruise control ($2,000), which paces the vehicle to the one in front, and warns the driver, even when not using the cruise control, if the vehicle is getting too close to another car; a rear differential lock ($500); personal telephone integration system ($400); rear-seat DVD entertainment system ($2,000); and Sirius satellite radio ($600).
Luxury features abound on this vehicle, including sport leather seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, 550-watt audio system with six-disc CD changer, ultrasonic parking assist, GPS navigation, automatic bi-xenon headlights with power washers, side-curtain air bags front and rear, and four-corner automatic-leveling air suspension with three manual settings.
But one high-tech feature that I found annoying is a system that automatically dips the side mirrors down when the transmission is shifted into reverse.
This feature has virtually no value in the real world. When I start backing up, I rely on the side mirrors to show me whether there are trees, cars or other obstacles. The last place I want to look is straight down at the pavement beside the car. A check of the Range Rover Sport's owner's manual showed me how to turn off this otherwise automatic feature, and that's what I did.
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