Sunday 20th March 2016

Range Rover Sport SVR: PH Fleet

Guilty as (not) charged, the SVR falls flat

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After all the excitement of the rallycross adventures you might not be too surprised to see the SVR looking a little down on its haunches.

The Geneva show and - whisper it - spells in another press car or two actually left the SVR parked round the back of my house, sulking on its 'load height' suspension. It then paid me back spectacularly by showing absolutely no interest in unlocking on the blipper. Shrugging I opened the fob, got the emergency key out, levered off the cover off the door handle unlocked it manually.

Alarm still works then.

Wincing as the cacophony echoed off neighbours' walls I tried firing it up. Nope. Dead. Alarm still blaring I desperately pondered my options. I opened the bonnet, the battery conspicuously absent in a bay packed full of supercharged V8 and ridiculous £1,500 optional carbon engine cover. Of course it's in the boot. The boot I can't access because the power-operated tailgate won't open. I know, I'll check the manual to see if there are any jumping tips. Oh no, can't open the glovebox either because that's on an electric switch. Alarm's still going strong though...

Cursing and desperate I clambered into the back, folded the seat down and attempted to lift the boot floor to access the battery. To find this is hinged from the front edge and held in place by the bootlid I couldn't open. By now I was really feeling for my neighbours. And deaf.

I ran inside to get the little jump pack thing I'd nicked off James for starting the Mazda, not exactly hopeful it'd have the power to turn a 5.0-litre V8. With some, cough, persuasion I managed to access the boot compartment, and squeezed myself below various high-vis vests, the floor panel and assorted baby paraphernalia. Jump pack connected I extracted myself, waved the fob near the steering column, pressed the start button and ... no way! ... yes, the little jump pack had worked. Alarm noise now replaced by angry V8. Neighbours probably not much happier.

The interior looked like it had been ransacked and my footprints were all over the upholstery but at least the engine was turning. I thought it best I moved the car somewhere else before pondering what to do next.

Turned out starting the beast was only the beginning of the problem. Having driven round to get some charge back in the battery I parked back up, went to lock it and ... oh. I now had Britain's most stolen car outside my house. And was unable to lock it. It was now 4:30pm and I was due to go away for a couple of days the next morning. Credit to my local dealer Copley Land Rover then; after putting in a call they said get down here now, plugged it into their diagnostic system, performed what their man described as a 'hard reset' (the 'IT solution' seems to work for Range Rovers too) for battery and key and all was good. All this as they were preparing to pack up for the day, no fuss, no charge. Thanks chaps.

I don't lay blame with the car really; turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery. And after a couple of runs up and down the M1 it should be back to full strength. I'll be thinking carefully if I'm ever leaving the Sport in an airport car park or similar though. And perhaps get some longer leads for the jump pack to spare the panicked caving expedition behind the back seat if things do fall flat.

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FACT SHEET
Car: Range Rover SVR
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: November 2015
Mileage: 9,463
List price new: £106,635 (Basic list of £95,150 plus £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 compatibility 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)
Last month at a glance: SVR pays Dan back for a lack of use with a dead battery

Previous reports:
Sport SVR makes an instant splash on the PH Fleet
Get me to the church on time
No soggy bottom for Dan, despite Christmas flooding

[RobGT81]

You can jump it from under the bonnet, there's handy connections just for the eventuality.

Right hand side of the engine bay, + is under a red cap, - is just a pole sticking out of the body.

You could always climb into the boot though

Edited by RobGT81 on Tuesday 15th March 10:40

[Evilex]

Good tip for any car, whether you own it, lease it, borrow it, whatever;

Download the manual in PDF format onto your mobile and/or tablet.

Then you've nearly always got a instant access to it...

[Dan Trent]

RobGT81 said:

You can jump it from under the bonnet, there's handy connections just for the eventuality.

Right hand side of the engine bay, + is under a red cap, - is just a pole sticking out of the body.

You could always climb into the boot though

Edited by RobGT81 on Tuesday 15th March 10:40

Ha! Handy to know and kind of what I was hoping for. Being deafened by alarm I wasn't in mood to linger under the bonnet though! Doubtless explained in the manual I couldn't access too so good tip on the download idea.

Cheers,

Dan

[Koofler]

Article said:

turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery.

On a new £100k car? Really??

I was O/S for all of March and most of April 2014. My 2013 Grand Cherokee CRD started up after a couple of turns on my return.

[MrBarry123]

Koofler said:

Article said:

turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery.

On a new £100k car? Really??

I was O/S for all of March and most of April 2014. My 2013 Grand Cherokee CRD started up after a couple of turns on my return.

I agree. It's bizarre that LR seem to have neglected to have fitted a big enough battery to deal with all eventualities - especially as it's not like a couple of extra kilos for a bigger battery would really make much difference given the car weighs about 27.8 tonnes.

[leglessAlex]

Koofler said:

Article said:

turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery.

On a new £100k car? Really??

Glad it wasn't just me that thought that.

What is it about Land Rover products that gives people the desire to make excuses for them when they don't work?

I don't know if the current ones really are all that unreliable or not, I haven't looked at the figures (if they're even available yet) and I don't own one, but I do know that so often when I see someone mentioning that their Range Rover has broken it's followed by some lame excuse as to why it isn't really Land Rovers fault or a big deal.

Do they really get under your skin that much?

[j90gta]

Once had to try and start an R129 Mercedes 600 SL that had been left in an underground car park for about 5 months. Started first time!!!!

[scubadude]

"I don't lay blame with the car really; turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery."

Seriously?

If I'd dropped 1/5th the price of a LRS on a car I'd expect it to be flawless. If I bought an actual LRS I'd expect the battery to last MONTHS, start itself at the South Pole or at the top of Everest, at the upper end of the Amazon or in Sainsbury's carpark.

That is shockingly bad for a prestige 4X4, I bet a LandCruiser would have started... but wait, don't Toyota fit a hi voltage twin battery system especially for that reasons, have LR done their usual "Oh that'll be good enough" approach to car design?

Rather than explaining your embarrassing can't find the battery incident why not write a scathing piece tearing LR a new one about how the brand new £100K car is poorly provided with electricity considering it has 1 million computers and motors inside the least they could do is give it enough power!!

[Huskyman]

I wouldn't be happy either, left my 56 plate 330d with off airport parking, and it fired up straight away for them on the day of my return. I ma sure that there is the space in the code for a simple sleep program for the non essential systems if the car isn't used for a while.
With cars becoming more connected a simple app on the phone so the car can warn you if the battery state gets critical wouldn't be a bad idea, with the correct security protocols in place!

[MikeGalos]

Dan Trent said:

... Doubtless explained in the manual I couldn't access too so good tip on the download idea. ...

Another good tip is to actually read the manual when you get the vehicle or as we used to say in the software industry, "RTFM". You can often find interesting features mentioned in there that didn't make the "reviewers handbook" or marketing sheets and that aren't intuitively obvious. I've always found a few in every car I've owned and judging from the comments of other owners that "I didn't know it did that" few people bother.

[Aids0G]

No real excuse, but Dan how close do you leave the key to the car given in the picture the car is parked next to some kind of porch? Reason being if it's within a certain distance the 'smart' key will recognise the car is close and keep 'waking' it up thus over a week or so draining the battery?

Had this problem camping last year took my old mans evoque and ended up parking it a bit further away as the car flashed up a battery low warning a couple of mornings when parked close to the tent/key, parked further away and no more battery issues?

The perils of vehicular convenience!

Ag

[Twoshoe]

As others have intimated, I'm amazed you weren't more angry that your new £100k motor didn't start cos it got a ickle bit chilly! And the fact that the dealer didn't charge for the hard reset is the very least it could have done.
My ancient Honda (value - about 40p) has started 1st time after 8 months in the open (albeit in Cyprus).

[JamieBeeston]

Koofler said:

Article said:

turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery.

On a new £100k car? Really??

I was O/S for all of March and most of April 2014. My 2013 Grand Cherokee CRD started up after a couple of turns on my return.

Ditto my flying spur, spent November and December in Thailand and then went skiing for a week in the new year, came back and the car turned over first time and fired up.
Only issue was the Service reminder came on (700 miles since it had been last serviced, apparently due to certain less vital circuits being shut down to save power as voltage dropped)

Sounds more like this was a fault with the system than the battery itself being flat.

[dpittard]

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to drive one on track yesterday!

Not the most likely of track cars but something with a serious amount of power and an amazing soundtrack.

Listen to 550bhp, shift 2.3 tonnes around the Brands Indy circuit while passing some Clio track cars! biglaughbiglaughbiglaugh

http://youtu.be/cTlEp_7sjAo

[nicfaz]

The car shouldn't be draining the battery - design fault. If it can't isolate itself down to an absolute trickle (which would take *months* to drain) then it is flawed.

[Ares]

Article said:

turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery.

You're too polite....thats a fk up by JLR. I've left dozens of cars for over a month on trip to the Southern Hemisphere and never had an issue starting.

My car frequently get left for 2 weeks and still starts on first turn.

[ELothian]

Couldn't agree more - there's no way a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche would be flat after two weeks.

My 2011 RR is fine to be left for a couple of weeks although I understand earlier ones weren't. However the battery is only 105ah which isn't a lot to start a big Diesel engine. A boat with an equivalent size / power Diesel engine would have a 180ah battery. There's clearly more space in the battery compartment so it's a shame LR don't fit a larger battery.

Many things can be forgiven but failure to proceed isn't one of them!

[berlintaxi]

dpittard said:

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to drive one on track yesterday!

Not the most likely of track cars but something with a serious amount of power and an amazing soundtrack.

Listen to 550bhp, shift 2.3 tonnes around the Brands Indy circuit while passing some Clio track cars! biglaughbiglaughbiglaugh

http://youtu.be/cTlEp_7sjAo

See Land Rover's PR team have signed up.

Flat battery after two weeks is not great on any car, on a £100 grand car it is truly shocking.

[Jim AK]

This sort of thing has plagued Rangey's since the P38 that would 'wake up' check itself for being level then suffer insomnia!!

JLR must realise by now that an extremely beefy battery is required & the owners of these sort of cars will leave them in Airport car parks for long periods. It's a £100k + motor ffs.

[George111]

dpittard said:

I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to drive one on track yesterday!

Not the most likely of track cars but something with a serious amount of power and an amazing soundtrack.

Listen to 550bhp, shift 2.3 tonnes around the Brands Indy circuit while passing some Clio track cars! biglaughbiglaughbiglaugh

http://youtu.be/cTlEp_7sjAo

You can tell even from that clip that it's not happy changing direction. It might have a bit of grunt in a straight line but it's not handling the corners very well, looks like you have to back off completely.