While Land Rover is in the process of launching the 2014 Range Rover Sport in global markets, its no secret that the company has planned further derivatives and variants based on the new Sport. These new variants are at both ends of the CO2 emissions spectrum: While the tree-hugging Hybrid variant was launched at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, a more powerful and faster RS version is currently under development.
These spyshots which were clicked by AutoPlus reader 'Par Thibaut', show the 2014 Range Rover Sport RS test on the southern roads of France. Underneath, the Sport RS will be powered by the same 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine (that powers the top-end Autobiography model). Where the Sport Autobiography produces 510 hp and does the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.3 seconds, the RS version would be retuned to offer at least 542 hp and 0-100km/h would take about 4.5 seconds.
Exterior changes will come in the form of an aggressively designed front bumper (which is the reason why its camouflaged here) with larger air inlets, several 'RS' badges and newly designed lighter alloy wheels.
Apart from the engine, Land Rover will be installing larger and more powerful brakes and software changes will be made to the active anti-roll bars and springs, giving the chassis a more performance oriented setup.
Land Rover could launch the Sport RS next year, and media reports also indicate that an Evoque RS producing 300 bhp could be seen alongside.
