Range Rover Sport SVR vs Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
Footballer posing chariots or true all-rounder performance heroes?
Top of the Range Rover Sport tree or not a quick glance of the spec sheets will reveal the twin-turbo Cayenne enters this contest boasting the more impressive numbers. There's that 570hp to the SVR's 550hp, a thumping 590lb ft against 501lb ft for the Range Rover's supercharged V8, a 100kg weight saving and a massive £23,305 premium over the Sport's £95,150. 0-62 and top speed also weigh in the Porsche's favour.
This is still an away match for the Cayenne though. Porsche has grown fat off the success of its genre defining sportlich SUV. But flip this contest on its head and imagine a comparison between 911 GT3 and an imaginary Range Rover sports car and you get a sense of the challenge the SVR lays down. Character goes a long way and all that.
You'll be familiar with this car from its appearances on the PH Fleet and the slow burn charm offensive. You may not like the genre but, hell, the SVR's charisma is sufficient to have you making exceptions.
In styling and dynamics the Range Rover has nothing to hide. It's a burly 4x4, square-cut and drawing on a formidable heritage. Handsome is eye of the beholder but proportionally the Sport manages to be both faithful to its traditions without looking at all retro. It's unapologetic but undeniably fit for purpose. Same can be said for the interior, the only let-down being an infotainment interface seemingly a generation behind the rest of the car.
On the road it's as big a laugh as that outrageous exhaust note suggests. Chassis and powertrain wise both of these cars settle on variations of the same solution to combining huge power with seemingly unfavourable weight distribution. Both have variable height air suspension, active anti-roll systems and clever active diff based distribution of power. In the SVR's case it feels more like a souped-up off-roader, albeit carried off with some style.
The linearity of the power delivery can fool you into thinking it's not quite as fast as you might hope. It is though, the view over the hedges from the raised seating position and fearsome punch making it quite the overtaking weapon when confronted with the dawdling masses.
Look for a used Range Rover Sport SVR in the classifieds!
If you want a more car-like driving experience the Cayenne is by far the better choice. But then, if you wanted a more car-like driving experience, surely you'd actually be better off with a Panamera, or equivalent M, RS or AMG? So lies the mystery for the few still not sold on the whole performance crossover thing.
This isn't helped by the appalling visibility. The Range Rover, shall we say, enhances your confidence by elevating you over the masses and letting you savour the view. The Cayenne is more like driving an armoured vehicle and peering through slit-like windows, increasing the sense of isolation and disconnection. And in a car this potent that's a little worrying.
No complaints about the way it goes though, the S offering a decent step up from the 520hp and 553lb ft of the regular Cayenne Turbo. It also gets kit like the roll-cancelling PDCC and PCCM ceramic brakes as standard too, somewhat offsetting that burly entry price and premium over the SVR.
Both make great use of their shared eight-speed automatic gearbox too, slurring about when needed but also able to deliver as crisp an impression of a paddle-shifted manual as you'd ever need in a car like this.
Look for a used Porsche Cayenne Turbo S in the classifieds!
By conventional measures neither of these cars is especially likeable. In their own ways they both astonish in their application of technology to overcome the inherent shortcomings in their size, weight and centre of gravity. For all their different characters they also settle on comparable solutions to the problem too.
The Porsche is the faster vehicle, capable of lapping the 'ring 15 seconds faster than the SVR if such things matter. It's the one that feels more like a car and less like a 4x4. Its interior wins out on quality and opulence, if not its slightly fussy style. But for all its ability it's less engaging, arguably still fighting the contradiction of sports car in an SUV body the Range Rover will never have to face and considerably more expensive too. And the fact the SVR runs the Cayenne so close dynamically without seemingly compromising the mud-plugging credentials gives it credibility to match the charisma.
RANGE ROVER SPORT SVR
Engine: 4,997cc, V8 supercharged
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 550@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 501@2,500-5,500rpm
0-62mph: 4.5sec
Top speed: 162mph
Weight: 2,335kg ('from')
MPG: 22.1mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 298g/km
Price: £95,150 (£106,635 as tested comprising of £450 for Solar Attenuating Windscreen with Laminated Hydrophobic Front, Rear Door and Quarter Light Glass, £600 for 8 inch High Resolution Touch-screen with Dual-View (includes one set of WhiteFire headphones), £4,000 for Meridian Signature Reference Audio System (1700W) with radio and single slot CD player, MP3 disc, file compatability and conversation assist with 23 speakers and subwoofer, Contrast Painted Roof - Santorini Black, Sliding Panoramic Roof including Powered Blind, £185 for Adjustable, Auto-dimming, Heated, Powerfold Memory Exterior Mirrors with Approach Lamps (approach lamps include illuminated Range Rover graphic), £700 for Surround Camera System with Towing Assist, £750 for Wade SensingTM with Blind Spot Monitoring with Closing Vehicle Sensing and Reverse Traffic Detection, £600 for Traffic Sign Recognition and Lane Departure Warning, £1,000 for Head Up Display, £900 for Park Assist featuring Parallel Park, Parking Exit, Perpendicular Parking and 360° Park Distance Control, £1,500 for SVR Carbon Fibre Engine Cover and £800 for Digital TV)
PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO S
Engine: 4,806cc, twin turbo-charged V8
Transmission: 8-speed tiptronic S, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 578@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 590@2,250-4,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.1sec
Top speed: 176mph
Weight: 2,235kg (DIN Unladen)
MPG: 24.6mpg
CO2: 267g/km
Price: £118,455 (£123,227 as tested comprising of £1,934 for Sports exhaust system including tail pipe in black, £122 for monochrome black exterior package, £210 for comfort lighting, £320 for privacy glass, £825 for electrically-retractable tow ball, £446 for reversing camera and £591 for roof rails painted in black)
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You are wrong.
These are immensely useful cars. Anyone who does not live an urban or suburban existence will tell you that there is nothing better for the day to day life of living in rural areas. It it ironic that many urban dwellers see these cars as "chelsea chariots" but there is a significant part of your demographic that lives in the sticks and for whom these cars make a lot of sense - people like Harry Metcalfe, but probably not as rich...
And I don't wear a barbour jacket. Not much anyway.
An Audio RS6 is lovely but the wheels would get trashed in no time and the ground clearance would be a big problem. An SVR or Cayenne Turbo has no such problems.
As for horse boxes, yes i do tow one from time to time. I also tow a car trailer with the project of the moment on it from time to time too..
At least where I live, there are loads and loads of people like me. A performance estate car around here wouldn't work very well at all.
Would prefer if you didn't throw things in like 'footballer posing chariots', 'leaving humility at the door, 'pointless manhood measurement', 'few not sold on the whole performance crossover thing' etc etc
Can you just assume that we all know that some people like them and others don't. On that basis, be objective about the relative merits and drawbacks. I'm growing tired of the same soundbites over and over.
Love your work though, and thank you for the free content!
One point I will take issue with though and that's practicality - living with the Sport it's not as big inside as it looks from out, the rear seats don't fold flat and, like all SUVs needing to accommodate massive 22-inch wheels and suitable suspension travel, there's a load of arch intrusion that impacts on boot space and rear legroom. Plus shorter people need 'convenience' features like powered tailgates and load height suspension to use the boot. And in the Cayenne's case leg- and headroom in the back are awful, the boot is small and the visibility woeful. They are mighty machines but the ability and style does demand sacrifices.
If you want truly practical, rural friendly transport I'd maintain an Octavia Scout, Legacy Outback, A6 Allroad or similar gives you more actual usable space, much more road-friendly dimensions and enough off-road ability to get along any farm track or be confident of reaching your destination whatever the weather. Bringing us full circle to the inescapable fact pose factor is at least as important as the actual usability in these things.
And the perceived anti-SUV bias? Consider it an editorial stance. And I'm the editor!
But I hope you'll agree opinions are qualified, expressed fairly and fully backed up where made. And, of course, if you disagree there is a platform on which to discuss further! Cheers!
Dan
Dan - of course you are the editor and an anti-SUV stance is entirely within your gift.
It is still rather blinkered however IMO.
My view is simple:
SUV's are useful to some people. Taking aside the "chelsea chariot". "Footballer" and "tanned wives" cliches, there are many, many, many people who use these cars regulary and appreciate their qualities.
Given that some people like SUV's, it therefore follows that within that group of people are those who think that if they must have an SUV, then why not have a fast SUV?
Why be forced to own a diesel slow SUV when you can have a fast V8 petrol SUV? Looking at it in this way, it is easy to see why these cars exist.
Or to put it another way:
Which one looks more brash parked over two handicapped spaces at your local Tescos?
Point to the winner. Done.
Martin
For every orange tanned person in an ice white Q7 at Tesco there is another bloke with a filthy RR, X5, Cayenne or Toureg that gets used and abused.
Besides, real SUV owners shop at Waitress don't you know?
These kind of trucks are not fit for any purpose apart from showing off at how rich you are, which isn't something to be proud of.
The only reason the engineering that goes into them is impressive is because of the effort makers go to make amends for the obvious problems in trying to design a 2 tonne performance car on stilts. It's a bad idea in the first place, and just because Porsche are getting good at working around a 4WD truck's inherent design flaws from a performance point of view, it is nothing to get excited about. You can polish a turd, but its still a turd.
Of course I understand other people like reading about posers chariots like these, and that is fine, each to their own.
Just adding my opinion and preference to the comments like everyone else
I know that these cars are popular with people who live in cities and like them for no reason other than the fact they are large. But that is no more stupid than owning a supercar and living in the city either - both a Range Rover or a Ferrari 458 are as stupid and pointless as each other for someone just posing around in town.
I don't say to someone driving a sports car in town that they are in a "posers chariot", so why should say the same thing about an SUV driver? After all you don't know why that person chooses that car.
Its about freedom of choice.
Given that for reasons personal to each , there are plenty that like SUVs, it is the mark of a true petrolhead that when they know they really should have an SUV ( for lifestyle, towing, rural pursuits etc ) they say to themselves: " No. I will not buy the logical diesel. Stuff that. I will choose to buy the thirsty, horrifically depreciating V8 petrol version in spite of its thirst and flaws, because a V8 always trumps a diesel. If I must have an SUV - then make it a fast one !!! "
For me - such a person is a TRUE petrolhead. Someone who goes the V8 route even though it isn't logical and a nasty diesel makes more sense.
To every petrol powered SUV owner i say this: I salute you.
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