The trouble with being a motoring icon, like the Range Rover Sport, is that you have to be very careful about messing with what Top Gear would undoubtedly refer to as its iconicness.
Land Rover global brand director John Edwards knows this.
“The Range Rover Sport was substantially revised in 2011 with major powertrain enhancements and raised equipment levels,” he said. “This year we're going one step further, offering even more choice with some new colour combinations and detail improvements.”
The new colours include two slightly different shades of black, grey, tan, and a new red, complemented by a new five-spoked cast-alloy rim design in sparkling silver.
And all the Supercharged variants now have Red Brembo brake callipers as standard.
There are also two new interior trim combinations allowing customers to choose a dark upper-cabin environment with lighter coloured seats or the opposite way round.
The High-Ice Harmon Kardon audio system, introduced for the 2012 model year, delivers 380 watts of sound from 11 speakers while the optional, premium Logic 7 Surround Sound system produces 825 watts from no less than 17 speakers.
A 180mm touchscreen provides customers with the option of dual-view technology, allowing the driver to view the navigational display and the passenger to watch a DVD, along with a hard disc-drive music server and Land Rover's 'Say What You See' voice recognition system with screen prompts.
ENGINES
The Range Rover Sport engine line-up remains unchanged, starting with the three-litre SDV6 sequential-turbo diesel, rated at 180kW and 600NM at 2000rpm.
The five-litre V8 supercharged petrol engine is quoted at 375kW with 625Nm from 2500-5500rpm. Each drives through a ZF HP28 six-speed automatic gearbox; paddle shift in standard on Supercharged models.
The Range Rover Sport line-up for 2013 includes a new entry model, the SDV6 SE, which joins the previously available SDV6 HSE and SDV6 HSE Luxury.
The petrol models include the Supercharged and the flagship Supercharged Autobiography Sport.