2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 vs 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport presented a sportier aesthetic within the Range Rover family, standing tall yet maintaining an athletic appearance due to its shorter wheelbase and chopped top. Its large front air intakes and faux vents on the hood and fenders contributed to its sporty look, although from certain angles, it appeared somewhat tall and narrow, lacking the wide, planted stance of some luxury SUVs. The lineup included SE, Dynamic SE, Autobiography, and SV Edition Two trims, with the Dynamic SE offering a Stealth appearance package. The SV Edition 2, the highest-performance model, featured 23-inch carbon-fiber wheels and a carbon-fiber hood, giving it a sleeper look in Marl Grey. Inside, the SV Edition 2 boasted red leather upholstery, sport seats with illuminated inserts, and a minimalist dashboard with a touchscreen and few physical controls, creating a cockpit-like feel.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 retained its distinctive appearance, drawing retro comparisons to the Lancia Delta, with its "Parametric Pixel" headlights and taillights, round wheel arches, and high rear spoiler. The XRT trim stood out with red tow hooks and black plastic bumper cladding featuring a "digital camouflage" pattern. The XRT also offered exclusive colors, Ultimate Red and Cosmic Blue Pearl, while the color palette expanded with Atlas White Matte and Ecotronic Gray Matte. New wheel designs included 19-inch wheels for SE and SEL trims, 20-inch for Limited, and rally-style 18-inch wheels for the XRT. The interior remained open and uncluttered, with minor changes like a revised center console for functionality, maintaining the minimalistic and modern feel typical of Hyundai EVs.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport offered multiple powertrain options, all paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard four-wheel drive. The base SE model featured a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engine producing 355 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. The Dynamic SE offered a higher output of 395 hp and 406 lb-ft, along with a six-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain rated at 454 hp and 487 lb-ft. The Autobiography trim increased the plug-in hybrid output to 543 hp and 590 lb-ft, and could also be equipped with a BMW-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 producing 523 hp and 553 lb-ft. The SV Edition Two used the same V8 but with 626 hp, making it the most powerful Range Rover model. It could accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and had a top speed of 180 mph. The Range Rover Sport excelled in both on-road performance and off-road capability, with features like sport-tuned air suspension, four-wheel steering, and brake-based torque vectoring.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT added a Terrain Mode button on the steering wheel, offering Snow, Mud, and Sand modes that adjusted throttle mapping, wheel slip, power distribution, and regenerative braking. The XRT handled off-road conditions well, with all-wheel drive as standard. The Ioniq 5's battery capacity increased for 2025, offering a range of up to 318 miles in single-motor, rear-wheel-drive configuration, while the XRT had a range of 259 miles. Power output varied with powertrain choice, with rear-wheel-drive models producing 168 hp and 258 lb-ft with the standard-range battery, or 225 hp and 258 lb-ft with the long-range battery. All-wheel-drive models featured dual motors with 320 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque. Despite its weight, the Ioniq 5 offered a fun driving experience with instant electric torque.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, positioned between the Velar and full-size Range Rover, offered more room than the Velar but remained a midsize SUV. It was a two-row, five-seater, with front-seat headroom comparable to other midsize luxury SUVs. Rear-seat headroom was slightly less than competitors like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, but still adequate. The Range Rover Sport provided 31.9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row and 53 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. It had a maximum towing capacity of 7,716 pounds for turbo-six and V8 models, with plug-in hybrids rated at 6,614 pounds.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 addressed previous complaints by adding a rear windshield wiper and revising the center console. Heated front seats were standard, with a heated steering wheel available from the SEL trim. The Limited trim offered front seat ventilation and driver's seat memory. Interior dimensions remained unchanged, with headroom measuring 39.1-39.8 inches front and 37.5-38.7 rear, and legroom at 41.7 inches front and 39.4 inches rear. Cargo space was 26.3 cubic feet with rear seats up and 58.5 cubic feet with them folded, plus a .85 cubic foot frunk. The Ioniq 5 transitioned to the North American Charging System, allowing access to Tesla's Supercharger network, and included a Combined Charging System adapter.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport featured a 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 13.1-inch touchscreen for infotainment, with wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa integration. The minimalist design had functional shortfalls, with most controls requiring touchscreen interaction. The Pivi Pro infotainment system was more responsive, with natural-language voice recognition. The SV Edition 2 included "Body and Soul Seats" with embedded transducers for a unique audio experience, though it felt somewhat gimmicky.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 retained its pair of 12.3-inch screens for infotainment and digital instruments, with improved functionality and faster processing speeds. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were standard, and the XRT trim gained the Bose Premium Audio system. All trims featured standard navigation, dynamic voice recognition, and Bluetooth connectivity for two devices. The Ioniq 5 included a head-up display on the Limited trim and a wireless charging pad starting at the SEL trim.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport included standard driver-assist features like automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and blind-spot monitoring. A 360-degree camera system and digital rearview mirror aided parking, though parking sensors were overly sensitive. Safety ratings from IIHS and NHTSA were not available at the time of publication.

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 maintained its high safety standards, earning a Top Safety Pick+ from IIHS and five stars from NHTSA. New features included an enhanced driver attention system and parking-distance warnings. Highway Driving Assist 1 and 2 were available, with HDA 2 offering lane-changing capability and machine learning.