Once upon a time, in the far-off kingdom of Great Britain, a group of engineers decided to build a shed on top of a tractor.
Having only a Magic Ruler, they shaped a square body of aluminium, affixed a wheel on the hood (sorry, “tyre” on the “bonnet”) and called it a day.
The first Land Rover had been born, a sort of automotive Wellington boot that embodied all the best bits of British motoring spirit, especially the part about not complaining too much when things broke. Your humble author grew up with Landies, and can even now recite the arcane incantations required to perform basic maintenance. Okay, so it’s basically a lot of swearing, but I still remember how to do it properly.
But times have changed. What was once a slow and simple off-road boot has transformed into the sort of glitzy urban machine suitable for people with perfect smiles and figures honed more by Pilates than steak and kidney pie. The humble Land Rover brand has become a luxury item.
Here’s the most jarring example of how far the breed has come: the Special Vehicle Operations variant of the Range Rover Sport. Fettled by a team of eggheads in Jaguar Land Rover’s spotless skunkworks, it’s a fire-breathing machine built to tear up the tarmac instead of bouncing gently along rutted rural roads. It’s more Lewis Hamilton, less David Attenborough.
That’s quite a change, but is it for the better? Let’s have a look at whether the move from mud-spattered fenders to carbon-fibre hoods is cause for celebration, or lament.
Design
Reworked several years back, the Range Rover Sport retains some of the square-ish looks of its long-lost ancestors, and is the better for it. German and Japanese luxury marques have been mostly unsuccessful at keeping their styling desires in check, with the result that many luxury SUVs now look like complete lunacy.
Land Rover and Range Rover have mostly managed to not over-egg the pudding, as is the British expression. However, in the case of the SVR, they’ve decided that chucking extra eggs in is actually a good idea. And by eggs, I mean hand grenades.
Nothing about this car is understated. The hood is a carbon-fibre affair with deep channels. The lower fascia has gaping air intakes, the wheels are 21 inches in diameter as standard or an optional 22 inches, the brake calipers are massive and painted red in case you’d miss them, and there’s more carbon-fibre trim everywhere you look. It’s as if Queen Liz had been fitted with a mohawk and leather pants.
The overall effect is a bit Spinal Tap for my personal tastes, especially as the regular Rover Sport is plenty quick. Even so, you can tell from the curb that the SVR is not here to muck about.
Environment
As with the exterior, the SVR’s interior is filled with unsubtle hints that this is not dear old grand-uncle Fotheringham-Smythe’s partially border-collie-hair-upholstered Land Rover. Everything’s draped in carbon, with hard-backed sport seats up front featuring alcantara sections to better hold driver and passenger in place.
The SVR is a little lower than regular Range Rover sports, but continues nice touches like the door sills that extend right down so that you don’t get your pant cuffs dirty. The boot is usefully sized, and has multiple hooks to keep things in place (you’ll need them – more on this later).
The big upgrade is in the infotainment system, which has a huge wow factor. JLR has spent a great deal coming up with their slick-looking twin-screen system, and even if it’s occasionally distracting to use, it looks the business in a modern luxury car.
Never mind comparing this level of tech to the agricultural original Land Rovers, this is clever enough stuff to go toe-to-toe with Audi’s virtual cockpit. Range Rover hasn’t just ditched the tweed for carbon-fibre, they’ve modernized their technology as well.
Performance
Less modern, perhaps, is the blunt instrument under the SVR’s bonnet: a 5.0-litre supercharged V-8 that makes 575 horsepower at 6,500 r.p.m., and 516 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 r.p.m. Shifting duties are handled ably by an eight-speed automatic, and full-time all-wheel drive is standard.
Running the Sport through the SVR treatment adds some tweaks to the adaptive dampers, and a bit more power from the engine versus the standard truck. There is no hybrid trickery here, no active anti-roll bars, and the torque vectoring is brake-based, not handled via clever electronic differentials.
If you read through the spec sheet, noting the relatively simple layout and the 2,500 kilogram curb weight, you might be tempted to write the SVR off as an overpowered heffalump. Rude, crude, and certainly not fitting of its aristocratic badge.
On the contrary, the SVR handles surprisingly well. The V-8 soundtrack is gloriously delinquent, but the performance is surprisingly well-controlled, if a step or two behind something like a Porsche Cayenne. Hustling the SVR down a twisty road should feel like throwing a half-brick through a window, but it’s actually quick on its feet. Can a Land Rover product be said to be nimble? I think we just have.
Slowing everything down, the SVR provides a bumpier ride than the normal Sport, which fits its Fast and Furious looks, but might not be to everyone’s liking. For most people, I’d recommend the regular V-8 model, but if you’re looking for the ultimate on-road Rover, then here you go.
Features
The Range Rover Sport starts at $78,800, with the Dynamic (supercharged V-8) model knocking on the door of six figures. The SVR damns the torpedoes with a charge up to $132,000, but almost every option is standard, and the SVR treatment offers a bespoke feel.
Regrettably, that supercharged V-8 drinks premium fuel the way a Glastonbury festival goer quaffs beer. Official fuel economy is 14.3 litres/100 kilometres. Real world driving resulted in around 16 l/100 km, which is painful at current fuel prices.
Green light
Practical layout; premium feel; more character than the German offerings; excellent performance.
Stop sign
Thirsty; kind of bonkers looking; big price tag.
The checkered flag
The ultimate evolution of the on-road off-roader.
Competitor
Porsche Cayenne Turbo ($133,000): When Porsche first introduced the Cayenne more than a decade ago, people everywhere wondered if Stuttgart had found a way to bend the laws of physics. Despite being a capable off-road vehicle, the Cayenne was really quick down a curvy road. You could drive straight up the side of a mountain, or take the twisty road up.
The newest version is as quick as ever, with 520 h.p. from its turbocharged engine. More clever than the SVR, the Porsche is big but quicker in handling small inputs. It’s less effort to drive quickly.
Mind you, the Cayenne is also ubiquitous as an obvious choice, and you won’t see an SVR Range Rover on every corner. The SVR might be a bit old school in feel, but it’s still got charm to match its rival’s unrelenting competence.
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