So long 4Runner and helloooooo Range Rover Sport.
Sometimes parting is such sweet sorrow…especially when the new SUV in our garage is a brand spakin' new 2010 Range Rover Sport HSE.
Not that there was anything wrong with the 36K 4Runner that the "party mode" button couldn't solve, but hey we're only human, and a 70K Range Rover is a nice drive when the snow is falling hard.
And the snow was certainly falling hard when we took the Range Rover Sport for some immediate beauty shots.
For 2010 Land Rover has revamped the interior of the car with a scrumptious new dash (the old one looked like something from circa 1990) and blessed it the newish 375 HP power-plant from the Jaguar XF Premium. That makes this "base" model almost as powerful as last year's supercharged version.
We didn't really get to test the car's new found muscle as roads were snow-covered making for a lot of sideways sliding fun on the optional 20 inch alloys.
With the Range Rover's drive-train in snow mode the Brit seemed almost unstoppable even with fat non-winter tires.
And you got to love any car that has not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 on board cameras giving you a 360 degree view of the surrounding road and traffic as you head down the road.
We're sure that this is a pretty useful off-road feature perhaps used to provide up close and personal views of potentially deadly drop-offs, but it's also a lot of fun just driving to the grocery store.
As of yet we have not been able to figure out how to get to the combined MPG readout to get an "as tested" mileage number for our week with the Range Rover.
Could it be that Land Rover makes this menu item a bit hard to find as the official MPG EPA numbers for the 2.5 ton Range Rover Sport are 12 city and 17 highway?
Looks like we'll have to actually crack open the owners manual.
Look for our full video review of the 2010 Range Rover Sport HSE soon.
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