Hi I owned an R50 Touareg and thought that some may be interested in my initial take of the RRS SVD 4.4 V8 HSE that I have spent half a day and night driving.

Firstly let me say this is a very different vehicle to the Treg , and I am only giving some details for interest purposes.

So for my initial drive from dealer in Narellan to W'gong 80k's and then from W'gong to Sydney and back for dinner 160 k's I found the following:-

1) Sat Nav slow to type in addresses , but the functionality and directions better than my Treg and Wife's SQ5.
2) Car seemed wide and I kept driving over he inside white line and had the steering wheel shaker reminding me I was off line, cured over the drive and wheel shaker turned off.
3) The drive by wire throttle seemed a little disconnected.
4) 8 Speed box is great , but is also great on he SQ5 and new Tregs.
5) Performance seemed very similar , and the facts seem to back this up, fuel economy was much better.
6) Auto high beam, what a great invention.
7) Comfort , very good for me. Driving position was also very nice.
On road handling , IMO is better , ride is also more compliant even in Dynamic mode .
9) Had 4 on board and all agreed more internal space than the Treg.
10) Meridian Sound , very good and very loud if required , only let down by slow loading of CD's to HHD and a limit of 10 CD's. Need to get an iPOD for on board playlists if I want music quality to match the sound system potential.

Things I'd like but couldn't afford, TPMS , and adaptive cruise .

I Do have a real spare now , which is comforting to me especially when in Australia you can be a long way from anyone ! No more tyres on the roof. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

So glad that you like it and that is on a par or better so far than your previous Treg. The guy that runs the Treg forums gave up a Toureg for an RRS 2.7HSE................ then returned to another Toureg after 3 years, it might even have been an R50 but we won't let everyone know about that will we Kaine? How do you find the ride on the 22" wheels and tyres, I reckon it is pretty good on my SDvHSE Dynamic. I hope that you have many enjoyable miles/kms in your SDv8. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Ride is very good IMO, I have noticed a lot of Members saying that the ride was harsh in Dynamic, but to be honest it is more compliant than sport mode in the R50. 22 inch rims aren't my favorite, tyres in Australia are very over priced in this rim size and I like side walls for a bit more protection. Need to get some mile under my belt to really start knowing the car , but I'm off on the Bike tomorrow so it will sit for a week until I get back from the WSBK races at Phillip Island. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Glad you are enjoying your new ride. Very jealous!!!

Circa 3 weeks and counting for mine. 2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE Dynamic (Indus Silver/Santorini Black Pano Roof, Ebony/Cirrus leather, custom grey Style 508 alloys)

This car is very addictive , I am starting to feel comfortable , getting to know the boundaries of the vehicle and starting to feel in control. Hooked up an iPOD today and this is seamless which I really like , now I don't care so much about only being able to put 10 virtual CD's in the unit. Will load the unit up with high quality CD's ,and also have the iPOD with play lists all good .

I find the MMS better than the SQ5 , which I think is very awkward to use , the Meridian system is better than the Bang system in the SQ5 very impressive. Although many complain about the MMS I don't mind it to much, mind you much less data for Aussie roads so perhaps this is way it is a little better than expected.

So far so good starting to forget the sticker shock as the car does feel a class above and represents a premium price. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

I know I am writing to my own thread, but just got to say this car just gets better with miles. It is a lot larger than my R50 , and I am just starting to know where it is in the lane. Fuel economy is better and handling is much better. Took my daughter to the airport 90 k's and she noticed the difference in ride and handling as a passenger.
I think the money paid for entry is about a well sorted vehicle in the handling department , and the rest is just functional. Yes some of the fluff stuff is missing and most likely should be there for the dollars, but the important stuff is there and best in class IMO.

If you are searching the board like I did before committing then my best suggestion is to drive one and make sure it is on a bumpy country road with plenty of corners. Then jump back into any other car and do the same road, you'll be surprised at how Land Rover has turned a 4WD into a sports car. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Hi IRBails,

I don't do a lot of KMs in our car, however a semi-frequent trip I do is up to Bendigo from Melbourne.

Both the old RRSs did this with ease, very comfortable and without taxing the motor at all (well how can you at the speed restrictions here!).

I had the first trip up there last week in the SDV8 and well... just as easy and smooth but very very hard to keep to the limit (or there abouts )...

I think the fuel consumption was a bit more in this than the TDV6s... but I wasn't paying too much attention (took half the tank this time).

What really impresses with this one though is the absolute ease of overtaking. I almost ended up in the boot of the car in front the very first time I went to overtake a slower car I was behind as the pickup 100 KPH+ is so easy and quick. And that's not in Dynamic.

Dynamic is another story and changes the car like Jekill and Hyde! Great! (SVR owners... nowhere near the performance of yours but the change in characteristics is still very impressive between the modes). Enough to try an remain 'legal' here in Aus!

I'm looking forward to putting some more KMs on it and have a couple of weeks touring in Tassie booked for the coming months.

So yes agree... this is a great machine and has enough performance for me in a family car to really enjoy  MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

I enjoyed reading that ExpatPom.......mouth salivating at the thought

My SDV8 arrives in Adelaide next week.........cue sleepless nights!!! 2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE Dynamic (Indus Silver/Santorini Black Pano Roof, Ebony/Cirrus leather, custom grey Style 508 alloys)

Dr Fox you are in for a treat , as stated this car is truly superb . Expat I'll play with the sound system some more , am trying to work out how to get more music on larger DVD type disc and will share if I succeed. I have quite a few DTS discs Supertramp Allmen Bros, Simon and Garfunkel , Deep Purple and more. If you can't find I'll do some copies so you can experience until yo can obtain. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Thanks IRBails, looking forward to it................until this morning!!!!!!

Just received e-mail from stealer to say delivery to them now 18th March and not 11th March!!!!!

I know the car came off the boat in Melbourne on 25th Feb......frustrated.com!!!! 2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE Dynamic (Indus Silver/Santorini Black Pano Roof, Ebony/Cirrus leather, custom grey Style 508 alloys)

Ditto on the speed restrictions Expat Pom

6 years ago I was given a 30 day ban for doing an absolutely crazy 115kmh on a "highway" in Melbourne ... First offence too and I was on a full license

I was essentially doing 70mph on highway .... Obviously a great cause for concern

Our freeways are very dangerous here apparently! You mustn't do over 100kph or 110kph. These draconian speed limits have little to do with safety because the state governments are addicted to the revenue. When I lived for a while in UK I used to travel the motorways at 150kph(85-90mph) regularly, felt safer than I do on the Monash at 64mph (100kph) This is due to lack of awareness, lack of lane discipline and an aggressive attitude. SDV8 arrived and fantastic even the infotainment!
1983 2 door Range Rover ARB Bar X9000 winch ARB Rear Bar now semi retired.
Many big trips done in this one.
1982 Rangerover nearly restored.
22 Defender D250 with lots of stuff for outback touring
Nice 2013 Freelander TD4 manual (for daughter to learn on) with much better stereo compared with previous SD4 SE with Meridian which sounded bad!
2013 Land Rover Defender ute.

Rangie couldn't agree more. I think what is very interesting is that Victoria has more speed camera's then every other state in Aust, lower over the limit rules , but higher accident rate. But this isn't about safety it is about revenue. As a person that rides motorcycles, just returned from Phillip Island , and also a person who has contributed to the state coffers , I get a lot of first habd experience in brain dead drivers and aggressive policing. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

rangiejools,

You absolutely right - it's the standard of driving and attitude here which results in such a high incident and unfortunately death rate here.

First thing I tell any overseas drivers here is to expect people to run the red lights. You're almost guaranteed to see this at every light and I do regularly as a pedestrian crossing roads. Maybe that's the legendary 'competitive/sporting' Australian culture!

I'd like to see red light cameras over speed - I was just in the UK tail end of last year and the standards of driving and awareness as you say are in a different league.

I sometimes wondered if the preveliance of autos is to do with it... as it promotes lazy driving. I never had an auto till arriving here.

Anyway, hijacking the thread somewhat.

Dr - sorry to hear of the delay, but it will be more the sweeter picking it up for it! 😉 MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

Getting used to the car and am finding some things I'd prefer a little different. The paddle shift does not IMO behave in a manner similar to other brands, for instance if I pull back a gear it locks it in and does not change back to automatic mode. I'd prefer locked in for a short period and then if not used back to auto mode.
Dynamic mode seems to make the steering heavier, IMO too heavy so controlled linear input is more difficult, an issue I also have with the SQ5.
Fly by wire accelerator peddle is too slow and I believe feels somewhat disconnected , would be nice if like Audi these can be programmed by the driver. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.