The 2015 Range Rover Sport RS

Land Rover is set to launch a high-performance version of its Range Rover Sport for the first time, and we have a new set of spy shots of a prototype. The vehicle is expected to adopt R-S badging and will likely have around 550 horsepower on tap.

The 2015 Range Rover Sport RS has been spotted testing again. Land Rover seems to have given up covering the car in body cladding as the latest spy pictures of the car shows it camouflaged in a blue-white wrap which looks more of a paint job. Cosmetic upgrades on the Range Rover Sport RS include new redesigned alloys, restyled front bumper with huge air dams, exposed quad-exhaust pipes and a diffuser at the rear. The biggest change though, is under the hood. The car is powered by the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine, also found in the Jaguar XKR-S, which produces 542bhp and 680Nm of torque. This kind of power is enough to propel the huge car from a standstill to 100kmph in under five seconds, going on to an electronically limited top speed of 264kmph.

The Range Rover Sport RS will also feature tuned mechanicals and bigger brakes to handle all the extra power. The company will be tinkering with electronics like traction control along with the steering, suspension and dampers. The car had previously been spotted testing in Nurburgring, which indicates Land Rover’s intent of making the car handle better, rather than just load up the car with huge amounts of power. The car is expected to globally go on sale early next year and will be up against other performance SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, BMW X5M, Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG and the Audi Q7 V12 TDI, the 500bhp monster. Land Rover sells the Range Rover Sport Autobiography, currently the most powerful SUV from the company.