Yahoo Autos The Absurdly Quick Range Rover Sport SVR Pays Little Heed to Physics
We understand if you already think the trend of high-performance SUVs has jumped the shark, high-fived a grinning octopus, and helped a wild orca escape the cruel captivity of an amusement park and return to the deep blue ocean. Yet the unlikely genre shows no sign of going away. Now Land Rover is offering the just-revised Range Rover Sport SVR with a carbon-fiber hood and the option of a styling package that leaves the center section unpainted in the manner of an overgrown street racer. That latter item is a piece of motorsports-grade weight-shaving in a vehicle that tipped our scales at 5495 pounds in our most recent test.
This market isn’t about rational argument, of course, but rather the sort of lizard-brain emotion that drives the urge to acquire toys or weapons, the SVR qualifying as both. Although it is far from what we would regard as a genuine performance car in anything other than its astonishing acceleration, it is still remarkably well-rounded.
The Yin and the Yang
The distance between the extremes of the SVR’s split personality was ably demonstrated on the launch event in the United Kingdom. This included some reasonably strenuous off-roading, driving through the sort of rainswept, muddy conditions that Blighty excels at delivering. But we also got the chance to experience an indicated 150 mph at Jaguar Land Rover’s Fen End test track. This was done in the exact same vehicle, and while wearing the same set of summer tires throughout.
Mechanical alterations from the previous SVR are slight. Like its predecessor, the facelifted model is powered by the long-serving supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 featured in the upper reaches of the company’s portfolio, and which has been tweaked to deliver 575 horsepower, a 25-hp improvement. Torque also has risen slightly, from 502 lb-ft to 516. The well-aged motor exhales through an appropriately Jurassic performance exhaust, one that in its louder Sport mode is sure to get your homeowners’ association starting abatement petitions.
The NASCAR soundtrack makes unleashing the SVR a more visceral experience, but ultimate performance is startling in its own right. Land Rover claims a 4.3-second zero-to-60-mph time, a feat we achieved in a 550-hp 2015-model-year SVR. Stomp on the accelerator and the big Rover responds as if its tail has been set alight, accelerating at a startling rate until well past 100 mph. Given a long-enough straight, Land Rover says it will reach a governed top speed of 176 mph.
While startling passengers and spilling coffees is a neat trick, the more impressive thing about the SVR is how uncompromised it feels in everyday use. In gentle driving, the engine’s soundtrack fades to a muscular burble, with the air-spring suspension offering a cossetting low-speed ride similar to that of the regular Range Rover Sport. The eight-speed automatic gearbox is capable of lightning-fast upshifts under full throttle but is also impressively refined at a mellower pace.
We’re told that suspension revisions have been limited to new settings for the adaptive dampers. The SVR certainly seems to have less of the nose-up attitude its predecessor adopted under hard acceleration; we suspect there is less dive under braking as well. Lateral roll remains more of an issue, with the Sport ultimately losing its attempt to gain exemption from some of the more basic rules of Newtonian physics. At reasonable speeds, cornering forces are well contained and the SVR steers with an accuracy and agility that belies its size and height. Understeer is gamefully resisted, with the assistance of brake-based torque vectoring across the rear axle. But increased loads have it leaning hard as the forces involved in altering the vector of such a tall, heavy object become more apparent. The SVR doesn’t have the active anti-roll bars used by Audi and Bentley to fight roll in the Q7 and Bentayga, and fast progress along a twisty road will soon turn passengers green.
Mo’ Style
Behind the carbon trim the SVR has been given the same styling update as the regular Range Rover Sport, with slimmer headlamps and a more aggressive front bumper. The SVR gets 21-inch wheels as standard, and what’s likely to be an oft-ticked option of 22s. We can think of no good reason for any buyers to choose the option of the unpainted hood (which is bundled into a $5200 carbon-fiber exterior package), and the $4080 metallic bronze of our sample SVR may be wide of most tastes. Land Rover also has given the carbon fairy free rein in the cabin, with swathes of gray weave sprinkled about; rear-seat occupants said that conversations in the front sounded like they were being relayed by loudspeaker, leading us to wonder whether the hard interior pieces were playing acoustic tricks. Warmer and friendlier finishes also are available. The optional front bucket seats are claimed to save 66 pounds but felt too firm and unyielding after an hour behind the wheel. Like the paterfamilias Range Rover, the Sport has been given the new two-screen version of JLR’s latest InControl Touch Pro infotainment system. This looks good but hides many functions in myriad submenus, and the screen in our Range Rover was slow to respond to touch commands.
There are faster and more dynamically accomplished options out there for those with the budget and inclination for the ultimate performance SUV-the Lamborghini Urus and the Bentley Bentayga, for instance. But neither could venture anything like as far into the wilderness as the Range Rover can. On the other side of the equation, none of the rivals that could match or better the SVR’s performance off road could get close to it in a straight fight on asphalt.
For those drawn to its brutish charm, that’s all the sense the SVR needs to make.
You Might Also Like
