RRSPORT.CO.UK

    Forum   Gallery   Shop   Sponsors
Home > My Range Rover Sport > My Tassie Road Trip
Post Reply  Down to end
Page 1 of 1
 
ExpatPom



Member Since: 29 Jan 2011
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 90

Australia 2013 Range Rover Sport TDV8 HSE Fuji White
My Tassie Road Trip

I'm on my third RRS now, having originally had a 2009 (MY10) 2.7, then an L494 TDV6 and now an L494 SDV8.

I did a road trip in the MY10 to Sydney a few years ago and found the car ate up the kms and was very relaxing to drive over the large distance from Melbourne and back. Akin to driving a large slab of granite around I always thought... absolutely solid, sturdy but comfortable, if not that performant.

I was left with an impression that the motor was a great mile (km!) eater and have ever since hankered after taking my motor on a road trip to Tassie...

Well I'm just back from 10 days travelling the east coast, north to south in a fully laden SDV8 with the family and have found the car to be awesome and just like the MY10, an absolute mile eater. Of course Tassie is beautiful.

I had under ~2,000km on it when boarding the Tassie Ferry, so the motor is possibly still not run in, but I'm really impressed with the performance and usability of the torque. Travelling from Davenport up to Cradle Mountain for our first stay, having the car in Dynamic was very entertaining. More speed than you need, especially for the tight, twisty roads with strong pick up both on the flat and inclines, with amazing handling around some very very tight corners.

The L494 is like chalk and cheese to the MY10 and the SDV8 is a significant (as you would expect) step up from the TDV6. Add Dynamic and the car is in another league.

I think I must have added a couple of thousand kms on the trip but there still remains a new car smell to the motor. I am disappointed to begin to see some creases/wear to the drivers seat bolster, although I have the soft leather so maybe this is to be expected.

For such a big motor space was maybe a bit sparse, but having a large child seat, baby travel cot, stroller, plus bags (more for my baby daughter than her parents!) isn't such a normal load. Then again I only packed the boot to the pull over cover so probably had ample room if I wasn't concerned about seeing out of the rear window!

I've no hesitation of taking the motor on longer trips and in fact am already looking forward to the next one as I know the motor is comfortable for all passengers and entertaining for the driver. Fuel consumption (whilst I didn't monitor it closely) was very good I think and I only filled up twice from memory. My recollection is not significantly more than the TDV6 as reported by the trip computer.

I've the middle Meridian system and that was pretty good with nice depth to the sound.

I also have the HUD which I found useful on all the twisty roads (especially in the mountains) to understand my speed without taking my eyes off of the road. A nice to have. Having picked my car from forecourt stock however it came with what it came with, so unsure about the cost or if I'd spec it having to decide myself.

Overall then. A very capable and comfortable motor. The L494 is a completely different car to the previous generation, likewise a more powerful motor in the L494 coupled with Dynamic makes it a much more enhanced and complete package to the base TDV6 adding some missing oomph.

None of the above should be a surprise - this is after all a modern, expensive luxury 4x4. And I love mine.

As an aside, the crossing home was pretty rough with 5m swells. We were a bit luckier on the Davenport > Melbourne crossing home than the sister ship heading to Tassie who encountered some issues with its load shall we say... https://www.facebook.com/DashCamOwnersAust...9701039669








Click image to enlarge
 MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

Post #495558 Tue May 10 2016 12:00pm
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
DrFox1969



Member Since: 02 Feb 2016
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 190

Australia 

Great write up Expat.

The Tassie trip is on my list, maybe next summer. By the looks of it, it will be an enjoyable road trip.

Glad you got to stretch the legs of the SDV8, especially on the country roads. They are fantastic machines!! 2016 Range Rover Sport SDV8 HSE Dynamic (Indus Silver/Santorini Black Pano Roof, Ebony/Cirrus leather, custom grey Style 508 alloys)

Post #495618 Wed May 11 2016 12:17am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
garrycol



Member Since: 30 Nov 2010
Location: Canberra
Posts: 1061

Australia 

Is your current RRS the proper 4wd version like your old L320 or the AWD softroader version like a big Evoke.

If it is the proper 4wd version did you do any offroad work on your trip?

Cheers

Garry 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

Post #495619 Wed May 11 2016 12:44am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
Tim in Scotland



Member Since: 30 May 2005
Location: Driving along in my automobile
Posts: 17476

2013 Range Rover Sport SDV6 HSE Stornoway Grey

In the uK and Europe only the HSE non Dynamic is available as the "Chelsea Tractor" AWD version without the Low Ranges and transfer case, so would be seriously surprised if the SDv8 were available anywhere else as a "soft road" version without the low ranges............

BTW, you would be surprised what the DiscoSport and Evoque can do without the low range box and would be even more surprised just how capable the 2WD versions of both cars are in moderate off-road conditions - the 2WD versions would seriously embarrass any "AWD" X1, X3, Q3, Q5, Skoda, GLA or any of the competition with AWD. 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

Post #495625 Wed May 11 2016 7:28am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Send e-mail Reply with quote
ExpatPom



Member Since: 29 Jan 2011
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 90

Australia 2013 Range Rover Sport TDV8 HSE Fuji White

Hi garrycol,

Full kit and caboodle as far as I'm aware, although interestingly my previous L494 didn't have low range (also was only Terrain Response 1). As Tim says, even without the low range these things are highly capable. If you check out my posts on this forum you'll see some pics of me taking that on an off road course. Was great fun and an eye opener to these machines capabilities!

I didn't take this off road in Tassie, wasn't really appropriate for the type of trip this was and with my baby on board. TBH I'd only do it with other vehicles around and I would (admittedly) be a bit precious about how serious the terrain I'd get into with this one, being such an expensive motor. Very happy to take it on tracks however and I've a LR experience day still to use from the purchase of this one. Will be interesting on the 22s... MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

Post #495644 Wed May 11 2016 9:13am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Reply with quote
ExpatPom



Member Since: 29 Jan 2011
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 90

Australia 2013 Range Rover Sport TDV8 HSE Fuji White

Hi DrFox1969,

Highly recommend Tassie. We've still plenty to see and we'll definitely be back for further trips.

I can also recommend the Tassie Ferry. Both ships have just been refurbished and are well appointed. Expensive though... it took me soo long to book this up as every time I priced it the cost was $1,000+ for the car and cabin. I managed to drop on a offer period tor this trip hough and paid 60% of that, so was happy to pay that.

And having experienced one of the worst crossings they've had of recent times and we were all fine, I'm not concerned about hitting a bit of adverse weather now! MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

Post #495645 Wed May 11 2016 9:19am
View user's profile Send private message View poster's gallery Post Reply
Post Reply  Back to top
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT

Jump to  
Previous Topic | Next Topic >
Posting Rules
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum



Site Copyright © 2005-2024 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
RRSPORT.CO.UK RSS Feed - All Forums

Switch to Mobile site