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.

Because the same could not quite be said for your previous, Land Rover Discovery-based one, which failed to meet the hype with its unwanted weight and relative lack of sportiness as promised by the badge, which is great.

When the supercharged 5.-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. tonne-plus heft became a bit of a handful on twisty sections of road, really, the old Sport only lived up to its name within a straight line, and then only.

But now the steel-clad giant of the city-smart off-road set is fettled out of aluminium, shedding plenty of weight during this process.

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

And of course, it might still shred off-road trails with the very best of them…