635hp Sport SV is most powerful Range Rover yet

Range Rover Sport SV's 4.4-litre V8 with mild hybrid helps it hit a top speed of 290kph

Published On May 31, 2023 05:27:00 PM

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Land Rover has released details about its most powerful and fastest production SUV yet, the new Range Rover Sport SV that packs a 635hp, 4.4-litre V8 engine. Now called just the SV – dropping the ‘R’ suffix of the previous-gen SUV – it is the latest project from JLR’s Special Vehicles team and is “the most dynamic and technologically advanced” version of the sports SUV yet.

Range Rover Sport SV does 0-96kph in 3.6 seconds
First SUV to get 23-inch carbonfibre wheels straight from factory
Edition 1 units being sold by invitation only

Range Rover Sport SV: SUV with supercar performance

Pushing out 635hp and 800Nm from a 4.4-litre BMW-sourced engine, which is twin-turbocharged and mildly hybridised, the SV trumps the previous SVR’s 575hp, achieved from a supercharged 5.0-litre V8. The Range Rover Sport SV does 0-96kph in 3.6 seconds, and can go on to a top-speed of 290kph. It drives four wheels via an eight speed automatic gearbox.

Based on the latest-generation Range Rover Sport, the new halo SV is one of Land Rover’s final new combustion cars. JLR, under its Reimagine transformation plan, will launch a Range Rover EV next year, before the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport, Evoque and Velar go electric from 2025.

Range Rover Sport SV: performance-related styling tweaks

There are subtle design changes over the regular Sport model, which includes wider front and rear tracks, increased camber, a new front bumper and grille treatment, side skirts, and a rear bumper with four round exhausts said to be more “honest” than the previous SVR’s square tailpipes.

The new front treatment is partly necessitated by the increased cooling requirements of the V8 engine – and the brakes. For the first time on a Land or Range Rover, Special Vehicles is offering carbon-ceramic brakes with eight-piston calipers and 23-inch carbon fibre wheels as optional extras. This helps reduce the SUV’s unsprung mass by 70kg over the regular Sport, says Special Vehicles. With standard cast-iron rotors and forged alloy wheels, also 23-inchers, the car’s unladen weight is 2,560kg.

A carbon-fibre bonnet is also optional, as is carbon-fibre or carbon-look detailing both inside and outside. The front splitter is customer-removable to improve the car’s approach angle and it retains Land Rover’s off-road-centric Terrain Response system.

Range Rover Sport SV: chassis and suspension

The chassis has been adapted from the regular Sport, and sits 10mm lower. Like all current Sports, it features air suspension, but making its debut on the SV is a linked hydraulic system. Unlike other hydraulic damping set-ups such as those on McLarens, the unit isn’t just diagonally linked across the car but also directly linked left-right, and front-rear, to help contain both pitch and roll movements.

As a result, there are no mechanical anti-roll bars and, says Special Vehicles, the system is incredibly powerful. An active 48V mechanical anti-roll bar system is claimed to be able to put a total force of 1,600Nm into roll control.

This system, however, can effectively put 2,300Nm into roll control and 4,000Nm into pitch control. JLR says the SV can pull 1.1g laterally, at which point it only has 3.5-4 degrees of lean. “In order to generate that speaks some chassis magic,” said Special Vehicles director Jamal Hameedi, particularly given it is a figure quoted on all-season tyres.

Whereas the previous SVR came with regular ‘summer’ tyres as standard, here the factory-fit tyres are all-season Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S – 285/40 R23s at the front and 305/35 R23s at the rear.

As well as off-road modes, there are different road-focused drive modes, including SV, which brings a further 15mm suspension drop. There’s also an electronically controlled rear differential (at times in sporty modes, the SV is effectively rear driven) and active rear steer as standard. Lastly, the steering ratio has been quickened from 17.5:1 to 13.6:1.

Range Rover Sport SV: Interior upgrades

Inside, the SV has new seats with integrated head restraints, which can be specified in leather or a technical fabric. A new design of steering wheel is smaller and has a thicker rim, with clearly moulded hand positions. It also incorporates an SV button to activate the SV or a personalised drive mode.

The integrated head restraints make it onto two rear chairs too, but otherwise the interior architecture largely continues unchanged. Transducers (speakers but they put out vibrations) can be optionally fitted in the backs of the front seats. Developed in conjunction with a company called SubPack, the tech produces a wearable system that transmits music to the body via vibrations.

Range Rover Sport SV: production schedule

JLR says the first year of production, comprising exclusive Edition 1 models is already sold out, although Special Vehicles declines to say how many will be worldwide. The first overseas customer deliveries will be before the end of this year. All Edition 1 units are being sold via invitation only even in the Indian market.

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