Land Rover caused a stir at the 2004 Detroit Motor Show when the stunning Range Stormer concept stole the show. It was obvious that some of the more outrageous details would never make production, but the basics were in place for the launch of a new high-performance Land Rover. Today, the British company will start another media frenzy, with first details of the all-new Range Rover Sport model released.

Wisely, the initial press photographs show the Sport in a similar colour to the distinctive orange concept. The colour ensures a link between the cars. Look beyond the colour and you will appreciate that the Range Stormer has heavily influenced the Sport, though the aggression is diluted a little. The detailing is exquisite - take a look at that grille for instance, and the intricate shapes in the front and rear lights. There is no doubt that the Sport is related to the Range Rover, and indeed it is not a lot smaller, but it certainly lives up to the Sport tag in design terms. The new car manages to look even more like the iconic original Range Rover than the current model thanks to the sloping C-pillar, though the windscreen is much more sloping than any previous Range Rover.

The Range Rover Sport will hook a lot of potential VW Touareg and BMW X5 buyers with its looks alone, but Land Rover doesn't appear to have cut corners with the driving dynamics. Buzzwords include "Dynamic Response" and "Terrain Response", but in essence, the Sport has been designed to have the best of both on and off-road worlds. For the first time in Land Rover's history, part of the chassis development was carried out at the Nurburgring circuit, which is a good sign for enthusiastic drivers.

Air suspension is standard across the range, which is coupled with double-wishbone suspension. The basic structure is shared with the new Discovery, though the Sport is 140mm shorter between the wheels, which should aid agility. The Dynamic Response system is charged with the task of keeping the Sport level under hard driving on the road. It is standard on the supercharged models only, and is deactivated for off-road driving, allowing greater wheel articulation. If you are keen to take your expensive new Range Rover Sport off-road, you will use the Terrain Response system pioneered in the new Discovery. It allows the driver to choose one of five different settings via a rotary dial, depending on the terrain underneath the wheels. Depending on conditions, the settings for the car's ride height, engine torque response, Hill Descent Control, traction control and transmission are altered to suit. Not that many Sports will get the chance to strut their stuff.

Most owners will revel in the high quality interior, which should carry on the Range Rover's tactility and solidity while bringing a sportier air. The Sport is designed to carry five people. No figures have yet been released, but fully loaded, the Range Rover Sport is probably going to be knocking on the two tonne door - that doesn't sound very sporty, does it? Thankfully, Land Rover has a suitable range of engines in mind to help overcome this.

The headline-grabber is the 4.2-litre supercharged V8, as used in Jaguar R derivatives. In the Sport, this unit will put out 390bhp and a maximum torque figure of 410lb.ft (the engine speed has not been announced, but peak torque should be at about 3500rpm as in the Jaguar installation). Top speed is "sensibly" limited to 140mph. Sadly, it appears that the only gearbox option is a ZF six-speed automatic. Other engines to be installed under the square bonnet of the Sport include a naturally aspirated 4.4-litre V8 and the new 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel launched by Jaguar this year.

No doubt the Range Rover Sport will sell by the shipload in the US, which is why the car will debut in public at the Detroit Show in January 2005. Customers in Europe and the United States should start receiving cars later in 2005, which is when we hope to get our eager hands on an example to test. Watch out for the review in the main Road Tests page.

Shane O' Donoghue - 27 Nov 2004