Range Rover Sport SV: 635PS and 180mph
The SV is the first Range Rover to be available with carbon ceramic brakes. Again they are an option, and likely another wallet-busting one, but they do save another 34kg in unsprung weight. The eight-piston Brembo Octyma front callipers have been developed especially for the SV and are the largest ever fitted to a Range Rover. It’s the lowest-riding Range Rover Sport (by up to 25mm) and the most direct to steer thanks to a more high-geared rack.
All these various systems, including the four-wheel drive, of course, come together to full effect when you press the new SV button on the steering wheel. That’s when, says JLR, the Range Rover Sport SV goes maximum sports car and is able to generate 1.1g of cornering force – 22 per cent more than the superseded SVR – on its standard all-season Michelin tyres.
Wanna drive it on a track? No, not an off-road track (think of those wheels!) but a race track. SV mode allows TracDSC stability control to be activated so you can explore the more rear-biased handling balance without so much electronic nannying.
The engine, like the design, has been optimised rather than changed. It’s the mild hybrid twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 sourced from BMW – as is now available in the Range Rover Sport P530 – but here tweaked to deliver 635PS (474kW), enough to make this the most powerful Range Rover ever. It’s 60PS up on the old 5.0-litre V8 in the previous SVR. Torque is up too, at 750Nm (553 lb-ft) and CO2 emissions are down, by 15 per cent. The quoted top speed of the SV is 180mph with a standing start to 60mph in 3.6 seconds.