Range Rover Sport R-S performance SUV spied

A near-production-ready prototype of the performance-oriented Range Rover Sport R-S SUV has been spotted in Europe wearing a promotional foil-wrap camouflage that is emblazoned with images of the car in various situations and contains a cryptic numeric figure - 00:02.8 - plastered all over the car. It's not clear if that could be a hint at an overzealous 0-100km/h time for the rapid new Rangie Sport R-S, but there's no disguising the fact that this model has all the trademark go-fast bits.

The Great Britain-registered car spied by our photographers boasts changes including a revised front bumper with oversized air intakes and a blackened grille, large blacked-out alloy wheels with bigger discs and large blue brake calipers, and quad exhaust pipes integrated into the new-look rear bumper bar with central splitter.

Under the bonnet the R-S will likely be powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 borrowed from sister company Jaguar with peak outputs exceeding 404kW of power and 680Nm of torque. Exact performance figures remain unknown.

The Range Rover Sport R-S is expected to be revealed at the 2014 Paris motor show in September, and should arrive in Australia by mid-2015.

The car will likely be positioned as the flagship model in the Sport range, with a price tag of more than $200,000 expected. The Range Rover Sport R-S will compete with the likes of the BMW X5M (408kW/680Nm, 0-100km/h in 4.7secs) and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo (368kW/700Nm, 0-100km/h in 4.7secs).

See more images of the new Range Rover Sport R-S by clicking the Photos tab above.