Wednesday 14th March 2018

Velar SVR prototype spied testing

The Sport SVR's younger sibling could be set to steal its performance SUV spotlight...

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Earlier this week JLR made some noise about a new record claimed by the Range Rover Sport SVR. It negotiated the 99 turns of China's Tianmen Road in 9 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the previous benchmark of 10 minutes 31 seconds laid down by a Ferrari 458. A Nurburgring lap record it is not, and we suspect that the SVR's all-wheel drive traction may have given its 575hp supercharged V8 100 advantages - including the start, see - over the 458's 570hp naturally aspirated V8 and rear-wheel drive.

Still, a record's a record, and it comes hot on the heels of the Range Rover Sport PHEV taking a title of its own on the same mountain, when it ascended not only the 99 turns of the road but the 999 steps that follow as well.

Everything's looking good in Range Rover world, then. They're faster than Ferraris and green like Priuses, classier than BMW Xes and prettier than Bentaygas - they're all things to all men. There's no time for them to rest on their laurels, though, because spy shots are in showing a new model raring to challenge the Range Rover's superiority and it's... a Range Rover.

In fact, not only is the Velar SVR seen here expected to be powered by the same supercharged 5.0-litre V8 used to propel the Sport SVR to such great heights, but it's also expected to have 550hp and 502lb ft of torque on tap. This compares favourably with the 575hp produced by the updated Sport SVR - a car which weighs over 300kg more than the most potent Velar is expected to - though is likely to be less than JLR's other soon-to-be-released mid-size hot SUV, the F-Pace SVR.

Aesthetically the revised front bumper sports an additional grille and flared side intakes, there are (presumably lighter) SVR wheels and quad exhausts at the rear help tell it apart from the standard model. There's no word on a release date or pricing yet, but we'll bring you all the details as and when we have them.

 

[ivantate]

There's no time for them to rest on their laurels, though, because spy shots are in showing a new model raring to challenge the Range Rover's superiority and it's... a Range Rover.


Is it really a Range Rover?

Don't usually get stuck in these arguments but in a dim car park you cant tell if its a Jag or a RR.