Range Rover Sport SV: The Ultimate Road Rover

Never bet against irony. When the original Porsche Cayenne was introduced back in 2002 one disbelieving critic said the idea of an SUV from Germany’s most famous sports car maker made as little sense as Land Rover creating a track car. Slightly more than two decades later reality has escalated to the point where R&T has been invited to the Portimao circuit in Portugal to drive the new Range Rover Sport SV.

Not only there, of course – I also got to experience the SV on road and off it. But the very fact Range Rover reckons the demanding 2.9-mile circuit is an appropriate venue for its 5770lb SUV is a clear indication of the changing priorities of the performance car world. Spoiler alert: The SV coped with the unlikely challenge better than anything its shape and size has any right to.

The previous Range Rover Sport SVR was a big hit for Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division. Comfortably the biggest – no fewer than 26,000 were sold globally. The SVR was no slouch on track. It was denied the honor of being the fastest SUV around the Nurburgring Nordschleife by the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, but still posted a time of 8 minutes and 14 seconds. That would have been considered respectable for any sportscar a decade earlier. But the SVR was always a rowdy companion, even when you didn’t want it to be. Its 5-liter supercharged V-8 popped and banged whenever the throttle was lifted and its suspension lacked the suppleness Range Rovers normally do so well. There was plenty of iron fist, not much velvet glove.

Which is why one of the core requirements for the new SV was to combine gentler everyday manners with the continued ability to deliver a fully turned-up driving experience through switchable dynamic modes. As with the lesser Range Rover Sport P530, which it effectively replaces for 2025, the SV uses a 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW V-8, but with this now making peaks of 626hp and 590lb-ft. These are increases of 103hp and 37lb-ft respectively. As such, it is the most powerful and fastest factory Range Rover yet, with a claimed 3.6-sec 0-60mph time and a 180mph top speed.

It also gets substantial chassis changes over the regular Range Rover Sport. The SV has a new electro-hydraulic anti-roll system which can counter pitch and dive as well as lean (this despite the fact a 48 Volt anti-roll system is already offered on the standard Sport.) The SV has also been given an all-new rear subframe to allow for grippier suspension geometry, a key part of delivering on the remarkable claim it can generate up to 1.1G of lateral acceleration while riding on the standard all-season Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires. Summer spec Pilot Sport S5 rubber will also be an option.

Only the fully loaded SV Edition One will be sold for the 2025 model year, with the total U.S. allocation being just 600 cars - all of which have already been spoken for, according to Range Rover execs. The Edition One will cost a very sizable $181,775 including delivery, but won’t come fully loaded. The two most expensive options will be 23-inch carbon fiber wheels, these apparently the largest ever fitted to a production car, and adding $10,150. Beyond that buyers can also specify carbon-ceramic brakes for an additional $9000. Apparently half the buyers of the Edition One cars coming to the ‘States have opted for both, and doing that removes a total of 64 lbs of mostly unsprung weight. That's a useful saving, but given what is left sitting on the sale we should probably still be thinking in terms of weight-to-power rather than power-to-weight.

Styling changes are subtle. The SV gets deeper bumpers, chunkier sill covers and small plastic spats integrated into its rear wheel arches to cover its widened track. The Edition 1’s hood is also made from carbon fiber. There are bigger quad exhaust tailpipes at the back, plus that telling SV badge. The interior is similarly little changed from the regular Sport, with a new steering wheel incorporating an ‘SV’ button, some subtle branding, and new seats – which I’ll return to later. Sadly the SV has also received Range Rover’s redesigned UI system which swaps the previous heating and ventilation controls for an extra large phone charging holster, a poor trade in terms of usability. Pretty much everything now needs to be done through the 13.1-inch screen, taking eyes off the road. Even the console volume dial has been culled and replaced by an awkward Volkswagen-style touch interface.