Kahn Design and
Cosworth have finally presented their first baby: the
Kahn Cosworth Sport 300 tuning program for the
Range Rover Sport luxury SUV. Although both companies from the very beginning of the partnership promised to deliver a series of "truly sensational" cars, the first product of the collaboration doesn't look sensational at all.
Instead of delivering a useful product, guys from
Kahn Design offer to equip the off-roader with a low-riding front spoiler, wider wheel arches and huge rear spoiler, finishing the picture with a set of 22-inch lightweight alloy wheels. With all these 'enhancements', the good off-road vehicle gets transformed into a huge, fuel-guzzling station wagon you can't even park in London.
Cosworth's efforts fail to impress either. Their tuning kit for the
Range Rover's
TDV8 diesel engine gets its power output increased from 272bhp to 300bhp, slashing the vehicle's 0 to 60mph acceleration time from 8.6 to below 8 seconds and increasing the top speed from 124mph to 135mph. This is not bad at all but one would have expected more impressive figures from the "truly sensational" vehicle which is 35 per cent more impressive than the donor car.
Hell, for the £75,000 you can easily get a fully loaded
2008 BMW X6 xDrive35d, which is also completely unsuitable for off-roading duties but is much, much better on the paved road. And it takes only 6.9 seconds to reach 62mph and delivers a top speed of 147mph without
any tuning efforts.
See also: Liberty Electric Range Rover: drive cleanly and quietly!
