2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR First Drive and Review

When launching an all-new performance division it helps to make a splash, and it's harder to think of a bigger cannonball to drop into the pond than the 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR. The very first production vehicle to be released by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team, the Range Rover Sport SVR cranks up pretty much everything about the luxury suv that it's originally based on and then douses it in gasoline and sets it on fire. The end results is an uber-people mover that's aimed squarely at BMW's M division offerings (the X5 M and X6 M, specifically), as well as other speed freak sport-utilities such as the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 AMG.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR is a fresh addition to the Range Rover Sport line-up. The vehicle's starting price of $110,475 puts it roughly $18,000 above the next-most-expensive edition of the SUV, the Range Rover Sport Autobiography (MSRP $79,995).

What do you get for that additional outlay? The Range Rover Sport SVR boasts a more aggressively-tuned supercharged V-8 engine, a performance-oriented suspension setup, a unique interior treatment with special 14-way power sport seats, an active exhaust system, a torque vectoring system, 21-inch SVR rims, Brembo brakes up front with incredibly huge 20-inch rotors, a roof spoiler, and an SVR body kit that separates it visually from the rest of the Range Rover Sport family. Standard equipment that is shared with other models includes surround sound audio, three zones of automatic climate control, a touchscreen navigation system, a panoramic glass roof, paddle shifters, adaptive HID headlights with automatic high beams, and a surround camera system.

What’s New:

• The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR adds a number of visual flourishes inside and out.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR is the most extroverted vehicle in the Land Rover showroom, but that doesn't mean the British brand has gone over the top in designing its super-ute. Much of what sets the SVR apart from the Autobiography and Supercharged models below it is actually functional, including huge blacked-out cooling ducts for the brakes and engine cut into the vehicle's sporty front bumper, as well as the spoiler that juts out over the rear hatch glass. The 21-inch wheels (22's are available) and Estoril Blue launch color also help to add to the Range Rover Sport SVR's road presence, as does the abundance of SVR badging tucked all over the vehicle's exterior (including an unusual spot on the B-pillar that can only be seen with both doors wide open). Finally, the vehicle's quad exhaust tips are wrapped in an aero-friendly lower valence.

The cabin of the Range Rover Sport SVR is a fantasy land of leather and luxury. Both front seats feature dual belt cutouts suitable for mounting a racing harness, while those riding in the rear have to make do with a single harness cutout positioned directly behind their necks. The two-tone white-and-black perforated upholstery on the vehicle I drove looked great and felt even better against my skin, and in fact there's not a single touchpoint inside the vehicle's passenger compartment that doesn't suggest the SVR hasn't been lined with Tempurpedic memory foam. It's not easy for Land Rover to up the ante on what was already an outstanding interior in previous Range Rover Sport models, but here we are.

What’s New:

• The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport features unique sport seats.

Aside from its daring looks and sport seats, the 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR's interior doesn’t offer any special features you can't find elsewhere on the Range Rover Sport order sheet. Both driver and passenger can inflate and deflate their seats' side bolsters at will via a door-mounted control, and they manage to be both comfortable and well-suited to velcroing your butt in place should g-forces conspire to remove you from your perch.

A note to family buyers seeking the ultimate 7-passenger track vehicle: the SVR doesn't come with the option of a third row of seating like the one you can get in other Range Rover Sport models. It still provides the same 62.2 cubic feet of total cargo space, however, which makes it reasonably practical (although not as capacious as other vehicles in its class).

What’s New:

• The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR introduces the InControl suite of smart phone apps.

Almost all of the changes made to the 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport have been to either its esthetics package or performance envelope, which means that with the exception of the InControl apps that allow you to access certain vehicle functions from your smart phone, the rest of the switchgear, features, and equipment are drawn from the communal Range Rover Sport bin.

This is both good and bad - while the vehicle's touchscreen navigation system is ponderous and complex to use, the number of luxury amenities that have been stuffed into the SUV is incredible. Heated this, power-assisted that, the SVR has it all, which makes it a formidable daily driver when you're not corralling it from one apex to the other. Although Land Rover might not include as many high tech gadgets as competitive models from BMW, it does provide off-road specific features such as a configurable surround view camera system and an adjustable air suspension that highlight a rugged background you simply won't find in Bavaria.

What’s New:

• The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR does not introduce any new safety equipment.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR features a full complement of airbags, electronic traction control and stability control, and a blind spot monitoring system as standard equipment. If you're looking for more advanced protective equipment, you can also outfit the SVR with optional gear such as a lane departure warning system and forward collision mitigation with automatic braking.

2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR Crash-Test Ratings: The Land Rover Range Rover Sport has yet to be crash tested by either the IIHS or the NHTSA.

What’s New:

• The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport introduces a 550 horsepower edition of the Supercharged model's V-8 engine.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR comes with a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 engine that makes use of twin charge coolers and a re-tuned ECU to produce 40 additional ponies as compared to the Range Rover Sport Supercharged. With a grand total of 550 horses and 502 lb-ft of torque on tap, it's perhaps no surprise that the SVR can eclipse 60-mph from a standing start in just 4.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 162-mph. An eight-speed automatic transmission handles the gear shifting duties for the SUV, and a four-wheel drive system with a low-range transfer case is also standard. Fuel economy for the Range Rover Sport SVR is listed at a predictably dismal 14-mpg city and 19-mpg highway.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR is facing the ultimate enemies of any high performance sport-utility vehicle: mass and a high center of gravity. Considerable engineering prowess has been focused on overcoming these major obstacles, with surprising results. Not only is the SVR capable of turning in a respectable lap time at the Nurburgring, but its stiffened suspension system really only reminds you of its presence during normal driving when encountering a particularly protuberant expansion joint, as I discovered while cruising the two-lane roads of rural New York state and navigating the crushing mid-town traffic of New York City. Credit must also go to the aluminum-intensive platform that sits under all Range Rover Sports, as the SVR's curb weight checks in at roughly 5,100 lbs - a pittance in the world of luxury 'utes.

I was afforded the opportunity to sample the SVR's on-track capabilities at the Monticello Motor Club, where a short circuit had been carved out of the facility's larger road course for our use. Armed with quick-shifting algorithm for its automatic transmission, an adaptive suspension system, a re-tuned dynamic rear differential, and a special 'Dynamic' mode for the vehicle's Terrain Response traction management system, the Range Rover Sport SVR set sail from one apex to the next, the excellent grip of its four-wheel drive adequately harnessing its 550 horsepower and subduing almost any wheel slippage.

Although virtually no owner will ever get the SVR closer to a race track than when they unload whatever trailer it happens to be hauling into pit lane, I have to say that the Land Rover's personality was distinctly different from that of the more clinically-focused X6 M I had also recently sampled in the unlikely track setting. Whereas the BMW was frighteningly fast while providing feedback intended to impress its ECU more than its driver, the Range Rover Sport SVR was willing to engage the pilot by constantly dangling the carrot of a four-wheel slide through any given corner. It would be a stretch to call the SVR's asphalt antics 'fun,' but if I had to choose between buttoned-down digital competence and the wild-eyed input of the Land Rover's torque vectoring differential, make mine British please. This is especially true given the SVR's outstanding eight-cylinder soundtrack, unleashed by its active exhaust system.

I was also permitted to take the Range Rover Sport SVR on an off-road trail, albeit one that nowhere near challenged the low-range four-wheel drive system's abilities. Still, it's hard not to be impressed by a vehicle that has had to make no changes to its core all-terrain DNA in order to achieve such smoking cornering success in a completely different performance environment.

The 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR is undoubtedly the fastest Land Rover money can buy, and if that's what you were looking for you'll be pleased with what you've found. It's fast, comfortable, and ignoring the fuel bill, also reasonably practical in daily use. Is it the most persuasive high performance SUV in the luxury segment? That depends entirely on your perspective. As it was and perhaps always shall be, the Land Rover represents an alternative choice to the AI-stuffed machinery pouring out of Germany, a truck with more of a soul than its Teutonic rivals but not necessarily better moves on the dance floor. At the risk of sounding old-fashioned, I'll take soul over mil-spec choreographed routines any day of the week.

Pros:

• Looks like a proper performance SUV
• Sounds like a proper performance SUV
• Coddles like a luxury truck when you're not crushing the accelerator
• Handles surprisingly well given its bulk
• Very capable in an off-road setting
• Practical for hauling passengers and cargo

Cons:

• Quite expensive compared to other Land Rover Range Rover Sport models
• You probably aren't going to take this to the track, so why pay more?
• Infotainment system hasn't kept up with the rest of the industry
• Fuel costs are enormous

Land Rover USA supplied the vehicle for this review.