When it comes to fast Range Rovers, the SVR is king. But is it any good? Rory Reid gives the lowdown in his video review.
When someone at Land Rover decided the standard Range Rover was a bit slow, they made a sporty version, turning a dependable but ultimately practical workhorse into a tyre-shredding monster.
Then somebody at Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) decided to turn the Range Rover Sport into something even more potent. And so the SVR was born.
It’s still very much an off-roader, thanks to the ride height, 4×4 system and clever traction systems that laugh in Mother Nature’s face. But rather than a bog-standard diesel, SVO fitted a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 with 550PS and torque 680Nm. That’s Ferrari levels of power.
Then SVO fiddled with the handling and in doing so it lapped the Nurburgring faster than some ‘proper’ sports cars. When you consider its top speed of 162mph and a 0-62mph time of as little as 4.5 seconds, it’s hardly surprising.
But if it’s one thing you remember most about the Range Rover Sport SVR, it’s the glorious soundtrack. So good is the V8 it puts the V8 F-Type R to shame ─ and anyone who’s heard that will understand that’s not a claim you make lightly.
Sure, the 13mpg combined fuel economy will mean you’re bankrupt in a week and, yes, it looks less classy than the Range Rover Sport, but we don’t care. As Rory Reid so succinctly puts it, this is a car that says: “f**** logic.” What’s not to like?
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