If you can be dragged away from the
Jaguar Project 7
at Goodwood this weekend, there's another supercharged V8 JLR product making its debut. Overpowered SUV haters sharpern your pitchforks - the Range Rover Sport SVR prototype previews next year's road car rival to Cayenne Turbo S,
ML63
Nope, it still looks massive from far away
'SVR' will be the designation for all future JLR flagships (meaning no
RRS RS
) engineered by Special Vehicle Operations (SVO). So in theory this will continue to the much rumoured
'hardcore' F-Type Coupe
and potentially an Evoque also.
Officially the SVR's powertrain details are 'still under wraps', but given it has 550hp we can probably assume it uses the same version of the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 as the XFR-S and F Type R with the ZF eight-speed auto. A 'thrilling soundtrack' and 'impressive pace' is also promised from the SVR.
So when SVO productionises an SVR, what can we expect other than a power surfeit? Land Rover has said all models will have to meet 'stringent key performance criteria' in order to wear the badge. This of course includes the near mandatory Nordschleife testing, which you can see in this video. Tweaks include a stiffer anti-roll system and what must be bigger brakes, though we'd be very surprised if Recaros like that made it past the prototype stage. 'Significant revisions' to the chassis and gearbox have also been incorporated into the SVR upgrades. And a lap time? Not just yet, but it's apparently 'more akin to a sports car than an SUV'.
'Prototype camo' paint option unconfirmed
The relevance of a 550hp SUV that can lap the Nurburgring quite quickly of course remains open to debate, but the popularity appears in no doubt. At least amongst customers that is, if not on PH following the reaction to the
Overfinch RRS
Given the SVR goes on sale next year, a motor show debut towards the end of this one seems likely, with LA the obvious choice. With the standard V8 Sport at £81,575, expect the SVR to be approaching £100K.