Range Rover Sport by Prestige – No, thanks.

The Range Rover Sport Prestige S

UK tuner Prestige has launched a tarted Range Rover Sport with new bumpers, louvres and wheel arch extensions. The ultimate overkill body kit for the RRS.

When I bought a Cayenne a few years ago I weighed it up against the other options. Eventually I was left with a short-list of just two cars – the V8 Cayenne and the Range Rover Sport. But the Range Rover Sport always felt too much of a compromise. It didn’t have as much power as the Cayenne. It was  a ‘Fake’ Range Rover – it’s a Disco under the pretend RR skin – and the interior was a huge disappointment, especially if you’d just stepped out of a full size Range Rover.

But the Range Rover Sport has grown up in the last few years. The changes to the 2010 Range Rover Sport have made it look more cohesive; more of an individual car instead of a Range Rover on a boil wash with a road-biased suspension. It’s now fitted with the superb Supercharged V8 from Jaguar with a very usable 500bhp (or the excellent 3.0 litre diesel if you want a bit of economy) and Land Rover have made the interior a much nicer place to be. It’s grown in to its looks. It’s actually desirable.

So what on earth inspired UK tuner Prestige to produce a tarted Range Rover Sport that looks like it’s been kitted out by an impoverished teenage Essex wide-boy, who’s suddenly been given access to a big budget but without  the taste or experience to judge what works and what doesn’t? The press release says: ‘The Prestige design team takes it [the RRS] to the next level with the release of an impressive new styling conversion.’ Impressive to whom? From the atrocious new front bumper to the wheel arch extensions and hideous reworked back end it seems to incorporate everything the discerning RRS buyer would run a mile from.

But Prestige obviously has a market in mind. I’m not sure I’ve come across anyone with enough money to buy it who would actually want to be seen driving it.I’m the first to admit the Cayenne isn’t the best looking car on the road. But the Range Rover Sport Prestige S makes the Cayenne look like Cheryl Cole in comparison to its Sharon Osbourne.

But I’m sure Prestige must have done their homework before they launched it.