Exclusive: Range Rover Sport spied in Spain

JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) is busy preparing a mid-life update to its Range Rover Sport range, which the brand's local arm has confirmed will arrive in Australian showrooms in 2018.

The current second-generation Range Rover Sport was released in 2013 and eschewed the body-on-frame construction of its predecessor in favour of a lighter monocoque build.

GoAuto has obtained these exclusive pictures of a pair of camouflaged Range Rover Sports undergoing testing outside Murcia, in the south-east of Spain, this week.

Recently updated with new driver aids and infotainment systems for 2017, the facelifted Sport is likely to carry only minor external changes to the front and rear valances and light arrays, while further changes to the interior, including a twin-screen array, are mooted along with further upgrades to its safety systems.

Currently, the Range Rover Sport offers autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard across its range in Australia, but features like radar-guided cruise control and advanced AEB are optional.

Changes to the powerplants – which include a pair of 3.0-litre V6 diesels as well as 5.0-litre supercharged V8s – are expected in order to bring them into Euro 6c compliance.

As well, a new petrol/electric hybrid powertrain is also expected to be in the works, based around JLR’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

The second car could be a prototype of the range-topping SVR, which is rumoured to receive the latest 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine from the Jaguar F-Type SVR.

Putting out 423kW of power and 700Nm of torque in the Jaguar, it would decimate even the current Sport SVR, which offers 405kW and 680Nm.

Larger front bumper bar vents (not shown) are the main clue that the SVR is in line for the swap.

JLR Australia has been contacted for comment.

A total of 1619 Range Rover Sports have been sold in Australia to the end of June – about eight times the volume of the larger, more expensive Range Rover and two units up in sales to the same period last year.

It trails only the Audi Q7 in the over-$70,000 large SUV category, with the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE next in the order.