Mother Proof's view

I didn’t take the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE off-road, and I don’t feel bad about that because you wouldn’t take it off-road either. Oh sure, you might drive it over a slightly banked dirt road, through some puddles after a rainstorm or over a parking block, but you’ll never take it into the wilderness.

Oh, I’m sure you could. A plethora of off-roading options is just a turn away with the Rover’s magic knob. Stop snickering; it exists. It’s got a million adjustments, each pictured with a Rover tilted at an impossible angle, as if to say, “If your car looks like this, turn the knob here.” My test vehicle never got into those angles, and honestly I was quite grateful. I did, however, push the button for the air suspension. To everyone’s great amusement, the SUV’s body would rise about six inches. Push the button, and it would drop again. What fun!

What wasn’t fun, however, was that the Rover couldn’t handle my kids’ booster seats. The Latch connectors were easy to use, and had I required them, my life would have been much smoother than with the boosters. Lately I’ve noticed that many manufacturers have decided to recess their seat-belt buckles into the backseat bench. This scenario probably provides more comfortable seating for adult passengers, but it’s a colossal pain for kids in boosters. When they’re perched on their boosters, their little arms can’t reach all the way down and manipulate the seat-belt buckle into the right position.

Another problem is the width of the seating positions in the backseat. Stay with me here: The boosters were too wide to sit properly on the bench; they had to be pushed to the outside of the backseat where the kids would get buckled in, then scoot the booster toward the center of the backseat. When the boosters were resting on the threshold (a leather-covered hump) between the seat and the door, they totally jacked up the hump (sounds like a summer hit, doesn’t it?). The leather was scratched and dented from the boosters. I guess the Rover’s a touchy, not-so-burly, off-roading SUV after all.

Speaking of sensitivity, the park-assist system was a pain in the ears. It would beep at anything remotely close to the car, including a curb or parking block. I’m definitely in favor of any system that warns of obstacles, but the Rover’s constant beeping meant I had to be super-duper careful because I couldn’t trust it.

The problem is this and it’s a huge, grand-mommy of all gripes: The Rover was not as family-friendly as I expected. I know not all SUVs are created equal, and this was actually meant to be an SUV instead of a supreme family-hauler. There’s no backup camera, no power liftgate, the rear cupholders were housed behind the front center console (out of reach for anyone without monkey arms), the center console in the front had a nifty cooler box and shallow compartment above it that wasn’t useful on a day-to-day basis (the cooler box was too short for most water bottles), and there’s no auxiliary jack for an MP3 player.

Sigh. This is not a big deal except that this is a $62,000 SUV. While it has a sophisticated interior, there aren’t that many creature comforts for your everyday life. If you’re going to do some serious off-roading, then the Rover’s for you. But if not, you’ll want to keep looking for a vehicle that better fits your kind of wilderness.

*For more information on the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover and its safety features, visit Cars.com. With questions or comments regarding this review, write to editor@motherproof.com.

LET’S TALK NUMBERS

Latch Connectors: 2

Seating Capacity (includes driver): 5

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair

Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore

SENSE AND STYLE

Family Friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Fair

Fun Factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove On): Good Times

Specs

2008 Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE

Base price: $58,225

Price as tested: $62,500

Engine: 300-hp, 4.4L V-8

Fuel: 12/18 mpg

Length: 188.5″

Width: 75.9″

Ground Clearance: n/a

Turning Radius: 18.8 ft. radius

Cargo space: 33.8-71.0 cu. ft.

NHTSA Crash-Test Ratings

Frontal Impact

Driver’s side: n/a

Passenger’s side: n/a

Side Impact

Front occupant: n/a

Rear occupant: n/a

Rollover resistance: n/a