THE new, second-generation Range Rover Sport draws closer to BMW’s X5 and Porsche’s Cayenne thanks to its reduced weight, improved economy and its ever-present off-road cred.

Which is great, because the same could not quite be said for the previous, Land Rover Discovery-based one, which failed to live up to the hype with its excess weight and relative lack of sportiness as promised by the badge.

Really, the old Sport only lived up to its name in a straight line, and then only if the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 was under its square-framed bonnet, while the nod to off-road ability meant its on-road gearing was all wrong, and its 2.0 tonne-plus heft became a bit of a handful on twisty sections of road.

But now the steel-clad giant of the city-smart off-road set is fettled out of aluminium, shedding a huge amount of weight in the process.

It also now sports an eight-speed automatic transmission, and can rightly promise to offer some of the dynamism afforded by its evocative name.

And of course, it can still shred off-road trails with the best of them... Read on by clicking below.

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