The 2012 Paris Motor Show is currently the place to be if you want you to see how exciting the future of motoring is going to be.  You have the usual mix of concept cars, new car debuts, etc.  But after looking at what the show has to offer, SOC has come up with a list of cars that stand out more than others.

When the Range Rover Sport was introduced in 2005, it was supposed to be a miniature Range Rover with sportier handling characteristics. This sent many pulses racing, as the word 'sportier' with SUVs normally means sacrificing its off road capabilities. Gladly this was not the case. The Range Rover Sport proved to be a great companion on the road, while still managing to make proud the Land Rover name.

4 years later, the Range Rover has been given its first set of updates. The Range Rover Sport now has a 3.0l V6 twin-turbo diesel which replaces the previous 2.7l V6 diesel as the entry level powerplant.  The new diesel engine gives us 245 hp and 600 nm of torque. But despite the increase in engine size and power, the engine manages to be more economical, by 8.9%, returning a figure of 30 mpg (9.1l/100km) on the EU combined cycle. The engine also produces 8.3% less CO2 at 243 g/km.

The 4.2l supercharged petrol V8 engine that served in the top of the range Supercharged version, has been replaced by another supercharged V8 that has 5.0l of displacement and direct fuel injection.  It produces a healthy 510 hp and 620 nm of torque.

The 3.6l twin-turbo V8 diesel still remains. But Land Rover has made subtle changes to the exterior while the interior has received a pleasant redesign, you will notice paddle shifters by the steering wheel.  The terrain response system has also been updated, as well as the Active Damping system while also receiving new brakes.

Land Rover have also extended a number of updates to its other models, the Discovery/LR4 and Range Rover. They have both received design as well as powerplant updates. The Discovery/LR4 receives the new 3.0l V6 diesel while it also gets a new naturally aspirated 5.0l V8 with direct injection, good for 375hp and 508 nm of torque.  The Range Rover retains the 3.6l V8 diesel from the previous model but gets the new 5.0l supercharged V8 to replace the 4.2l supercharged V8 as well.