Range Rover Sport debuts with an epic world-first stunt; watch video

British luxury carmaker Land Rover has unveiled the 2022 iteration of its SUV Range Rover Sport in the most unusual manner. It became the world's first vehicle to climb up a flooded dam spillway in Iceland.

The Jaguar Land Rover-owned company debuted its third-generation Range Rover Sport by completing the ascent of the 193-metre tall Icelandic Karahnjukar dam spillway against 750 tonnes of flowing per minute water. The new SUV was driven by the official James Bond stunt driver Jessica Hawkins.

Nick Collins, Executive Director of Vehicle Programmes, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Land Rover’s pioneering MLA-Flex architecture and the latest chassis systems come together to deliver the highest levels of dynamism we’ve ever seen on Range Rover Sport. Integrated Chassis Control governs the comprehensive suite of innovations, co-ordinating everything from the latest switchable-volume air suspension system to our Dynamic Response Pro electronic active roll control. The result is the most engaging and thrilling Range Rover Sport ever.”

The new Range Rover Sport’s designers claim that the luxury SUV has the most advanced combination of chassis technologies ever fitted to a Land Rover.

The 2022 Range Rover Sport, which is based on Land Rover’s Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA-Flex), includes a dynamic toolkit and technologies to govern the new SUV’s integrated chassis control system, said the company in a statement.

Prof Gerry McGovern OBE, Chief Creative Officer, Jaguar Land Rover, said, “Our latest Range Rover Sport embraces fully our modernist approach of vehicle design whilst amplifying its unquestionable sporting and confident character”

The new car also gets a 13.1-inch floating display with haptic feedback at the centre that features a Pivi Pro infotainment system for controlling navigation, media and vehicle settings. This infotainment system also gets updated Amazon Alexa2, which allows controlling various settings using voice commands. In addition to this, there’s also a 13.7-inch interactive display for the driver.

Land Rover has also provided the luxury SUV with a Meridian Signature Sound System and a new cabin air purification system. There’s also a feature to create personal sound zones for the cabin occupants with 4 headrest speakers that listen and provide ambient noise cancelling sounds.

The automaker claims to offer an adaptive off-road cruise control on the new SUV for the first time. The new SUV sports a dynamic air suspension with switchable volume air springs, which the automaker claims are a first for a Range Rover. The car has twin-valve active dampers too.

In addition to these features, the new Range Rover Sport gets an option for the dynamic master stormer handling pack which includes features like all-wheel steering, Dynamic ResponsePro, and electronic active differential with torque vectoring by braking, among others.

The 2022 Range Rover Sport is offered with powertrain options that include two inline six-cylinder options - petrol and diesel units in two different power trims - with 48V mild hybrid systems and a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine that offers 523bhp along with 750Nm of peak torque. The SUV can reach from 0 to100km per hour in 4.5 seconds.

The new Range Rover Sport will be offered in full plug-in hybrid form, which will use a 3.0-litre straight-six Ingenium petrol unit and an electric motor with 141bhp for a combined output of 503bhp. The company has promised a pure electric powertrain for 2024.