The Range Rover Sport might sound like a souped-up version of Land Rover's flagship SUV, but it's actually something entirely different. While it shares the Range Rover nameplate, it is actually smaller, less powerful, and less expensive.

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Introduced as a 2006 model, the Range Rover Sport shares a platform with the LR4. The truck's exterior has been designed to look very similar to the larger Range Rover. With seating for five occupants, the Sport slots below the LR4 in terms of size, despite being pricier.

The Sport received a modest overhaul for the 2010 model year onward, yielding two new engine options and a number of exterior and interior refinements.

The vehicle can be ordered with either a 510 horsepower LR-V8 5.0-liter supercharged mill, or a 375 hp LR-V8 5.0 liter naturally aspirated engine. The new naturally aspirated vehicle can hit 60 mph in 7.2 seconds, while the supercharged variant takes just 5.9 seconds. Both LR-V8 engines are mated to the ZF HP28 six-speed automatic transmission.

The front brakes for the naturally aspirated vehicle are four-piston units mated to 14.2-inch ventilated front discs, while the rear brakes are single-piston units and with 13.8-inch rotors. The supercharged model sports 15-inch discs with six-piston calipers in the front, and 14.3-inch discs with single-piston calipers in the rear.

The 2010 update included LED headlamps combined with a new two-bar grille, revised front bumpers and widened fenders. At the rear, new light clusters and a revised bumper design mirror the smoother front-end. The interior was also redesigned, using higher quality materials, soft-touch finishes and better craftsmanship to create an environment that is "truly worthy of the Range Rover brand," the company said in a statement.

Steering response is improved on the Range Rover Sport with the stiffening of the front suspension lower arm forward bushing, enhancing the sense of driver involvement with the vehicle at higher speeds.

The Terrain Response system boasts a series of improvements, including improved performance when tackling challenging terrain like sand or large rocks. For soft sand conditions, a "sand launch control" mode makes for noticeably easier drive-away. New, speed-dependent wheel-slip targets for the traction control system permit only very limited initial wheel-slip, helping to prevent the wheels digging down into the sand. The system also has an improved rock crawl program for better control while traversing boulders or driving through rocky terrain.

Because the Range Rover Sport was designed with strong on-road performance in mind, it features the "Dynamic Response" suspension system delivers flat cornering, tight body control, and sharp steering response.

Six airbags are provided including two in front triggered by a longitudinal impact, two seat-mounted for front occupant thorax protection in a side impact, and two side curtains that deploy from the ceiling for the head protection of all outboard occupants

An adaptive front lighting system with bi-xenon headlights that turn to follow steering inputs are standard on the Supercharged model and optionally available on the Range Rover Sport HSE.

Other features include bolstered leather seats with eight-way adjustment, a 550-watt premium audio system, a navigation touch screen, a rear-seat entertainment package with screens mounted in the front headrests, and a radar-based "Park Distance Control."