Our Rides: The Major Flex

Do you consider this 2025 Range Rover Sport a serious flex?

First of all, what do you consider a “flex”? One of the definitions of the word refers to a colloquialism for “showing off.” Is that really a bad thing? It depends on your worldview and place in society.

If you find yourself around the WNBA, some of our favorite athletes roll around in a Range Rover of some sort — most likely the Sport. This also applies to a lot of professional athletes of all genders and gender expressions.

Add entertainers, executives, financial and sales professionals to the long list of people who flex in their Range Rover Sport.

Why is this British midsize luxury SUV such a flex?

Let’s go back about 55 years to when the first Range Rover debuted in the UK. No one considered that the original luxury SUV would attract the landed gentry with properties of massive acreage, mansions and servant quarters. Eventually, the lore of the Range Rover’s capabilities found owners in the cities as well as the British countryside.

Then, the brand expanded across borders and oceans. It became the stuff of legend. Range Rover expanded its range from a two-door SUV to a four-door version. Then, a few more lines of smaller SUVs — each one with a purpose and a specific audience. All of which saw multiple corporate ownership changes and evolutions in design language.

The Range Rover Sport is the second-from-top entry in the sub-brand’s lineup. Sub-brand? Range Rover is now considered its own brand within the Land Rover family, controlled by Tata Motors.

You can say that this is a complicated backstory. Yet, we have the result that a desirable vehicle attracts a lot of well-heeled consumers. Ones with impeccable taste, without the massive Rolls-Royce budget.

About the 2025 Range Rover Sport, it fits within the brand’s current design language. Not exactly upright, but it offers presence. The details are contemporary, clean and subtle, with flash glass, retractable door handles, a thin grille with LED headlamp units and horizontal LED tail lights. The finishing touch is a large tailgate that opens wide and high.

Our Autobiography example offers an elevated feeling with a wide choice of paint colors, the option of a contrasting roof color and a wide selection of wheels. In this case, this Carpathian Gray paint finish fits this vehicle perfectly, even with dark-finished details. As well as the 23-inch dark-finished alloy wheels with carbon fiber inserts from Range Rover’s bespoke specification program, SV.

Stepping inside, you are treated to a cabin that we would describe as “sumptuous minimalism.” The entire aesthetic is clean with plenty of open space in various places. The two-tone Light Cloud and Ebony leather upholstery is complemented with piano black and an antique brass-like finish throughout the interior. These are the qualities you will find in the Autobiography trim.

The driver sits behind a stylish cockpit, starting with a very informative and well-organized fully digital instrument cluster. It offers no gimmicks with superb graphics and layers of information. Most tangible controls are found on the steering wheel. The shifter is a shift-by-wire actuator that is chunky and easy to use.

Practicality is impeccable inside the 2025 Range Rover Sport. The Autobiography trim adds a small cool box for your drinks inside the center console. On the dashboard is a large 13.1-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen that is a hub for all information, entertainment and various vehicle controls. There is wireless smartphone mirroring available for additional connectivity options. Sound is emitted through a multitude of speakers powered by the Meridian 3D Surround Sound System.

The seating is comfortable for five people across two rows. Front seats offer a mix of comfort and support, with a lot of adjustments available. They are also heated and cooled with a massage feature. Rear seat room is great with excellent entry and exit through the rear doors. For cargo space, you get 31.9 cubic feet with the rear seats up. They can be folded down for longer and larger items up to 118 cubic feet, according to Range Rover.

Underneath the hood of our Autobiography tester is one of four powertrains available on the 2025 Range Rover Sport. This is a plug-in hybrid that combines the Ingenium turbocharged 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder internal combustion engine with an electric motor, a battery pack fed by a J1772 CCS plug, an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. All told, we’re talking 543 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque.

About the PHEV system, you can recharge your 2025 Range Rover Sport at a DC Fast Charger. Charging speed is slower compared to a full battery-electric vehicle, but you can recoup energy back to the battery in around an hour. Range Rover states that it has a range of 53 miles of battery-only driving at a full state of charge.

Driveline performance was fantastic. It was quite rapid and effortless off the mark, regardless of power source. Cruising is relatively quiet and smooth. There was no hesitation when transitioning from electric motor to gasoline engine. You can turn up the wick through the Terrain Response 2 drive mode system. This is switchable between a sportier mode to one that can take you off-road.

Our Range Rover Sport Autobiography is also equipped with a Dynamic Air Suspension system. It creates a smoother ride, no matter what surface you are on. The system also automatically adjusts the ride height, including lowering the vehicle when it is parked.

Maneuverability is superb, thanks to all-wheel steering. When turning the wheel, the rear wheels slightly adjust to tighten up the turning radius. The result was quite surprising and welcoming when parking. You can actually activate a parking assistance feature when the Range Rover Sport detects you attempting to park along the street. You also have the assistance of a 3D Surround Camera that appears on the Pivi Pro touchscreen.

When it comes to the brakes, they are simply great. In normal and panic stops, they modulate well and respond quickly. Pedal feel is just right.

For 2025, you can choose between four Range Rover Sport trim levels, starting from $83,700. This Autobiography PHEV tester came with a sticker price of $128,865.

The 2025 Range Rover Sport is definitely a major flex. It gives you automatic VIP status with its powerful driveline, sumptuous cabin and contemporary styling — all tastefully done.

Before you consider one, you have to ask yourself whether the Range Rover Sport is for you. If it is, then you can flex all the way to your Fall Getaway. Preferably at a luxury resort.