New Range Rover Sport on 26th March, 2013

New Range Rover Sport is very closer than you think. Actually, finally we will see a new Range Rover Sport. The existing model was a bit beyond the industry’s product life cycle for SUVs. BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne product life cycles are only seven years. Every seven-year, we see new model. However, Land Rover has a different strategy; their product life cycle is definitely longer than seven years and this leads to lose momentum against the competitors. Therefore, we tend to see less Range Rover Sport on the roads.

Hopefully, the new Range Rover Sport will be revealed soon on 26th March and a new face will appear on the roads. I think, new Range Rover Sport will look something between the Evoque and the new Range Rover. Basically, new Range Rover Sport may lose the bold design and may have a department store explorer design. 

The engines will be same with the new Range Rover, and Sport will be ligther as well. According to Land Rover, new Range Rover Sport will be something totally different in terms of driving experience. Land Rover says; faster, most responsive and most agile. These words are really bold statements.

I am more excited to see the new Range Rover Sport!

You can watch the reveal live on internet by registering to from this website (http://www.newrangeroversport.com).

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Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged: Last Post

Range Rover Sport Supercharged. I know Range Rover Sport is nearly end of its product cycle and when it is compared with BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport is not that competitive anymore. However, Range Rover Sport compensates this problem with cheaper price tag! This reduces the exclusivity but increases the sales!

This Range Rover Sport is a V8 Supercharged V8 model with 510 PS and 625Nm of torque. And coupled with 8-speed very responsive automatic transmission. As usual, Range Rover Sport offers two differential locks, low range gearbox for off road experience.

Driving experience of Range Rover Sport is unfortunately below the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne. V8 Supercharged has a very high tendency to under steer and is not responsive like the competitors. You may not find the same level of driver engagement in Range Rover Sport as you find with BMW X5. However, Range Rover Sport is designed to be a sporty off road vehicle, so this problem is understandable. BMW X5 is not very capable in off road, so they are even.

Overall, Range Rover Sport is fun to drive, good in off road but old! Consumption? It has a V8 Supercharged engine, so it is not very economic car to drive!

And this is the last Range Rover post until the new Range Rover arrives.

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Goodwood Festival of Speed: Bentley SUV EXP 9F

Bentley EXP 9F is the new SUV from Bentley. EXP 9F receive many criticism from journalists and bloggers. Some people love, some people hate it. And for quite long time, I was expecting to see EXP 9F and hopefully, I saw it on Goodwood Festival of Speed.

And I can say one thing, Bentley EXP 9F looks interesting. The front of EXP 9F has many similar design bits from Bentley Arnage and Mulsanne but, it does not reflect any SUV characteristics. The tyres are huge. Interior of EXP 9F is best the SUV interior on market, I don’t think that any brand can offer more luxury in an SUV more than EXP 9F. Interior is extremely well done!

Bentley EXP 9F still reminds me Range Rover Sport from rear side. I checked the EXP 9F in Goodwood Festival of Speed couple of times from the sides and I found it similar to Range Rover Sport. The rear of EXP 9F is not that good. Unfortunately, I didn't like it! It could have been better. The tailgate’s curve angle should have been steeper.

Overall, Bentley has a very high bar of design refinement and quality. Unfortunately, this new SUV EXP 9F could not jump high from that high bar. Therefore, many people were disappointed with the Bentley’s SUV attempt EXP 9F. When a car company offers very well designed cars, everyone expects to see better each time. On the other hand, many people criticised or loved the EXP 9F, did one thing in common! We all run after the Bentley EXP 9F to see with our eyes! Even though, some of us didn't like it, but we all wanted to see. So, I cannot say Bentley did not achieve a success. Otherwise, I wouldn't be travelling for more than three hours to see Bentley EXP 9F!

  

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Bentley SUV EXP 9F, Finally!!!

Finally, Bentley revealed the SUV EXP 9F (F stands for Falcon, it will be like a Falcon), which I was expecting for last half a decade. Since for very long time, I was expecting Bentley to make this move. An ultra-luxury SUV! Range Rover is the leader of the luxury SUV but in terms of luxury level, it is not at the same level of a Bentley. However, as there are no other alternatives Range Rover receives very high demand.

I think Bentley notice this niché market gap and decide to design an SUV under its brand. However, it is not that easy to conquer the Range Rover territory. The luxury must match with the existing models, it should have a state-of-art exterior and interior design, and it must be really powerful and fast.

According to photos released today, things did go well as except one thing, exterior design! Like many other people, I was really shocked with the design. It is an uplifted version of Mulsanne with a boot reminds me Range Rover Sport and Audi Q7! Actually, from some angles I find some similarities with Range Rover Sport. Honestly, I was expecting a better exterior. I don’t like to criticise design team but this car needs more revision before production. I can describe the design of EXP 9F as too conservative! The combination of sportiveness and tradition are not in the harmonic way as they achieved on Continental and Mulsanne.

This design will reduce the sales performance, of course no! The interior design is amazing, and it is a Bentley, and it is the first SUV offers 12-cylinder petrol engine. Many customers will not complain about the design that much, because they will buy the most power, ultra-luxury SUV on market. So, these notions are good enough to compensate the design disappointment. Still, I highly recommend Bentley to revise the design! I think many people think the same way.

About technical information. It will feature the both existing V8 4-lt twin-turbo and W12 6-lt twin-turbo petrol engines with 8-speed auto transmission. There are some rumours about a possible diesel engine from Audi but nothing official yet. The instrument panel is a combination of analogue and virtual. Driver can change the virtual TFT instrument panel in three modes that are selectable through driving modes; Comfort, Sport and Off-Road. Interior features a full glass panoramic roof, seating position 4+1. I really love the interior design, especially the centre console. It looks really amazing and I like the tailgate that can be opened totally. The rear tailgate is integrated to rear light, when it is opened the light goes down as well.

Unfortunately, there are no information about the off-road transfer box or any other information regarding to off-road performance.

Another interesting bit is the size of the wheels. They are 23-inch and 0,5-inch bigger than a truck’s wheel! The other interesting bit is the turbine look vents under the headlight. Also, we shouldn’t forget one thing, this is the Bentley’s first concept car. Their performance is fair enough!

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Bentley

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