Land Rover will tell you that the old SVR was one of the most successful products it ever launched. Easily the most successful thing Special Vehicle Operations has ever done. It landed fully formed, a legend in its own V-Power-fuelled lunchtime. But no one would suggest it represented the manufacturer at its innovative best. It drew grimaces from the firm’s old guard even in the face of overwhelming demand, thanks to the Halfordian choices made when styling it. And then there was the mechanical nature of the car itself, which, for the most part, was a clever tweak of the L494 Range Rover Sport chassis. With a loudhailer V8 to set the tone.
It was a product of circumstance insofar as Land Rover knew it was likely to sell - thereby gifting a fledgling SVO department its first big win - and did not require a substantial amount of time or effort or resources to develop. And while the result earned its share of head-shaking from the high-horse brigade, it did its job like a three-scoop 99 on Brighton Pier. It appealed to the child in you. Very overtly, if that child was excited by loud noises. And when it was done being a supercharged scandal-magnet, you could drive it to work in relative comfort. If not economically.
The new one is not like that. For two reasons. The first is strategic. SVO’s efforts, which previously emulated the business end of a party popper in terms of where they were applied and to what extent, have become a more integral part of Land Rover’s core business as the firm consolidates its new four-pillar strategy. I’ll spare you the tree branch analogy it touted, but the long and short of it is that the new SV needs to adequately fit the upmarket Range Rover Sport billing and not float above it like a helium party balloon stuck to the boardroom ceiling. Hence the grown-up new look. And an even more upmarket interior.
The second is developmental. This time around, Land Rover has launched itself at the performance derivative with what seems like fevered, spare-no-expense gusto. While the car itself has not been in development for five years, the manufacturer suggested some of the components have. That includes the hydraulically interlinked, height-adjustable, air-suspended chassis, which, as we discovered last year, replaces conventional anti-roll bars with triple-valve dampers and the 25 metres of high-pressure pipework you need to have them colluding in the total control of not just body roll, but pitch and dive, too. Land Rover calls the new system ‘6D Dynamics’. Effectively it is a radar-guided Phalanx cannon brought to an Airsoft fight. And a natty way of countering the 180-odd kilograms which have been added to the model’s default kerbweight.
There is more. Much more. The suspension geometry is very different (predictably it gets more camber, front and back) and the steering ratio is the quickest ever applied to a Range Rover. There is an all-new rear subframe to go with the SV-tuned active rear diff, and fatter 305-section tyres back there to make the best of it. You can have summer rubber if you wish, and also enormous Brembo carbon ceramic brakes with newly developed eight-piston SV-specific calipers that save 34kg. If you really, really want/wish, you can have 23-inch carbon fibre wheels that save you 76kg. And, of course, there is the latest BMW-supplied twin-turbocharged V8, now with 635hp (105hp more than in the P530; 60hp than in its predecessor). On paper then, the purpose gauge has been moved from ‘party animal’ to ‘Promethean monster’.
And boy, does that play out on the road. In fact, the SV is so comprehensively new and so overtly dialled in, that you might not immediately like it. Say what you like about the SVR, but the acclimatisation period was roughly the same as getting back into a bed you got out of five minutes earlier. This was partly a factor of its close mechanical relationship with the standard Range Rover Sport, but also because it was cagily tuned to seem languid and free-flowing (which is what made its gung-ho straight-line speed so entertaining). In contrast, the new SV wants no quarter from its very first moment. There is no burble or blather or slack in its progress, and the speed and weightiness of the steering is amplified by the front end’s diligence in pursuing even minor inputs - no Range Rover has ever responded to its helm so swiftly. The palpable resistance to roll, even in ‘Comfort’ mode, takes some getting used to as well.
Granted, there is a mindset thing at play here. Parachute an Urus or Cayenne owner into the plush driver’s seat (something Land Rover would dearly love to do, en masse) and they would likely think different, because the performance SUV hallmarks would be familiar. But I’d wager that current SVR owners will need a beat. Especially if long experience with previous Range Rovers has left them with a very specific expectation of what the relationship between primary ride and initial roll rate should feel like. The 6D system offers Land Rover so much functional bandwidth that it has (understandably) attempted to have its sponge cake and sit on it: in a straight line, the twin-chamber air springs permit enough leeway for you to question the marginal bob it develops at speed on uneven roads - a facet of the handling made more noticeable by the SV’s determination to get its body tied down the moment it is asked to deal with a meaningful change of direction. As incongruities go, it’s a minor one - but worth noting in such a pivotal model.
Happily, while it might take a while for any presumptions to reset, the ride quality is instantly mendable. Not for the first time in an SVO product, flicking the suspension into its ‘Dynamic’ mode via the customisable settings immediately eradicates any lingering impression of float, and replaces it with a ride quality that manages the compromise between poised and pillowy exceptionally well. Additionally, and somewhat unsurprisingly, the sensation of being slightly more hunkered down makes it more consistent with the SV’s intolerance of roll and the speed of its steering. And the ceaseless, growling industriousness of the V8. It still seems very serious about impressing you with its handling nous in a way that the original SVR didn’t - computationally speaking, it’s never less than obvious we’re talking Chinese smartphone versus Apollo Lunar Module - but in its precision, speed and speed of thought, the SV does slowly start to usher you toward its way of thinking.
Good thing too, given Land Rover couldn’t resist taking in Portimão on our two-day waltz through Portugal. As you might expect, the circuit had been chosen partly for its dramatic elevation changes, and partly for the roominess of its run-off. Accordingly, it was useful for two things: firstly, for marvelling at the SV’s very forthright oversight of dive under braking and the indefatigableness of its carbon brakes - and secondly, for taking in its capacity for breaking away at the rear in a benign and mostly biddable way. If that sounds about as useful as being told your fridge is also good for tidying up crude oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, then you have a point - but Land Rover had one too: about three minutes from the 4.6km circuit it turns out there’s a 5.1km off-road track (who knew?) and if there was any question about the SV’s ability to rival a Cayenne Turbo GT on the former, the latter served to show just how far in the opposite direction its talents run.
And sure, Land Rover had switched from the optional Pilot Sport summer tyres back to the standard (still Pilot Sport) all-season variety, and taken the precaution of removing the removable single-piece front splitter for a slightly superior approach angle - but, nevertheless, the SV retains the L461’s faculty for staring down obstacles that would cause other performance SUV’s to cringe - river fording included. Indeed, thanks to the elimination of its anti-roll bars and extensive freedom of movement enjoyed by the enormous wheels - not to mention the 553lb ft of torque available from 1,800rpm - it could be said to exceed the standard Range Rover Sport in some respects (although admittedly its slightly lower ride height does translate into slightly shorter maximum ground clearance).
Either way, it’s physically difficult not to be won over by a car that can be encouraged sideways one minute and then sent up a seemingly impossible muddy gradient the next. All while blowing cold air on your nether regions, and - if you’ve selected the new transducer-equipped Body and Soul seat - subjecting your spine to ‘precise synchronised vibrations’ as an accompaniment to Johnny Come Home. Land Rover even conspired to save the best for last: a many-mile romp over deserted, semi-ruined minor Portuguese roads to the final stop. It had previously encouraged us to reserve the no-holds-barred SV drive mode (mercifully triggered by a mega-pint button on the steering wheel, not via the infotainment screen) for the track - but here, plainly, was its intended habitat.
Accordingly, elements which had appeared merely impressive against the blank canvas of Portimão’s sweeping corners were made to seem a fair bit more compelling when hemmed in by white lines, crumbing asphalt and easily findable ditches. We’d already seen evidence of the beyond 1.1G lateral acceleration that Land Rover had promised on all-season tyres, yet here was the real-world upside - not just in its colossal, rear-bias grip or its talent for staying improbably flat under duress or its rear-steer proficiency for getting turned in or the irresistible force of its V8, but all of them together in a suddenly coherent head-rush of wonderfully pointless and reliably moreish B road steamrollering.
Of course, being close to its most likeable when driven nearly flat-out does rather speak to Land Rover’s intent when putting the SV together. It highlights the adjoining issues, too. The SVR did not need driving on the door handles to seem like a sensory experience of the first order: thanks to its free-revving engine and leisurely gait, it could get under your skin within two floors of a multi-storey. The SV, being heavier, quieter and more mature, cannot. Instead, we must settle for it being faster and cleverer and better at everything else.
Oh, and very expensive. And sold out. Land Rover has craftily swerved around the questionable size of the Edition One’s starting price by immediately declaring the 550-strong run all gone. So whether or not we think the SV’s manifestly greater sophistication worth the £47k premium (versus the SVR Ultimate Editionwe drove in 2021) its maker is asking is rather a moot point. But rest assured we’ll hear more about what Land Rover intends to do with future derivatives of the model later in the year, so expect the question to crop up again at some point. For now, SV buyers can look forward to probably the most technically advanced - and certainly the quickest - Range Rover yet made. A bigger, tighter, glossier second album if there ever was one.
SPECIFICATION | 2024 RANGE ROVER SPORT SV EDITION ONE
Engine:4,395cc twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission:8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp):635@6,000-7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft):553@1,800-5,855rpm
0-62mph:3.8 seconds
Top speed:180mph
Weight:2,485kg DIN
MPG:24.1 - 22.7 (option dependent)
CO2:267 - 282g/km (option dependent)
Price:£171,460
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