2019 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR Fast Facts |
5.0-liter supercharged V8 (575 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 516 lb-ft @ 3,500-5,000 rpm) Eight-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel drive 15 city / 20 highway / 16 combined (EPA Estimated Rating, MPG) 14.4 city, 11.3 highway, 13.0 combined (NRCan Rating, L/100km) Base Price: $114,500 (U.S) / $134,500 (Canada) As Tested: $131,520 (U.S.) / $154,156 (Canada) Prices include $1,295 destination charge in the United States and $1,800 for freight, PDI, and A/C tax in Canada and, because of cross-border equipment differences, can’t be directly compared. |
Does the world need wicked-fast luxury SUVs with hefty pricetags?
Probably not.
Does Land Rover sell at least one? Yes, yes it does.
The Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR’s whole raison d’être is to be the supercharged bad-boy SUV on the luxo-box block.
Range Rover shoppers who want green cred can select a different RR Sport, but the intender who wants old-school acceleration and has six figures to spare will be thinking SVR.
That’s because the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 underhood puts out 575 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. Eight speeds of automatic transmission get that power to all four wheels.
I didn’t have much of a chance to stretch its legs during my time with the SVR, since most of my driving is of the urban kind. But that kind of power is plenty to motivate an SUV that weighs over 5,000 pounds when attacking an on-ramp.
Similarly, I didn’t get much of a chance to push the SVR on the kind of curvy road that can challenge a vehicle, but based on the limited sample size, I got the impression the SVR could at least hold its own. A double-wishbone suspension sits up front, and a multi-link setup is out back. The suspension is adaptive and also height-adjustable.
[Get new and used Range Rover Land Rover Sport SVR pricing here!]
Handling is a secondary concern, anyway. Really, so is the swift acceleration. You buy the Sport SVR to show that your bank account is larger than your … well, to signal that it’s large. You buy it to look cool, and to be able to swiftly accelerate away from the hoi-polloi if need be.
Rolling luxury is the name of the game here. Why else would the optional Meridian premium audio system cost over 4 large? The 22-inch wheels are an extra 3 grand and change, and the blue paint job my test vehicle had will set you back over $1,500. Thirteen-hundred dollars for a head-up display strikes me as just a tad dear. A $3,185 driver pack adds blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control with steering assist, high-speed emergency braking, lane-keep assist, and park assist.
Other options include soft-door close, cooled front seats, ebony headliner, activity key, and black veneer.
Six-figure base pricing does net you a lot of features even before you starting ticking options boxes. Things like red brake calipers, power gesture-activated tailgate, panoramic sunroof, rain-sensing wipers, heated front seats, heated rear seats, power tilt/telescope steering wheel, tri-zone climate control, keyless entry and starting, navigation, 10-inch infotainment screen, satellite radio, Bluetooth, blind-spot monitoring, traffic-sign recognition, and adaptive speed limiter.
Not only is the SVR speedy, but it’s purdy; at least as attractive as a boxy SUV can be. The sloping roofline, black on blue-on-black color scheme, and red brake calipers are suggestive enough of the SVR’s abilities that you will feel a bit like the D-list celebs who tend to look upon such vehicles the way cats gaze upon catnip.
Inside the SVR is a fairly standard JLR setup – lots of haptic touch buttons, two big displays, materials that are nice if not special, especially given this price point. The controls are a bit confusing at first, but quickly learned.
Weight and power are enemies of fuel economy, and the SVR is a gas gulper, with a combined mpg of just 16.
The SVR, like many a Range Rover, does not come cheap. But for the deep-pocketed driver who wants SUV utility along with luxury and performance, the SVR delivers on at least two of those counts.
It doesn’t feel particularly special compared to other vehicles in the JLR fleet. You’re paying for the performance, here.
Perhaps too much. That said, being plus 500 in both horsepower and torque can cure a lot of ills.
Hedge-funders and Beverly Hills residents will love this thing. For the rest of us, the smooth power of a supercharged V8 might not be enough to overcome sticker shock, but it doesn’t hurt.
[Images © 2020 Tim Healey/TTAC]
Is there really a market for this? It’s over engineered and offers performance that many owners will never use. Is the bragging and posing factor enough to bring the buyers in?
Possibly the color shown is not the best choice but the entire package does not scream “over one hundred grand!” which, surely is it’s supposed selling point?
@zipper69 There two Land Rover dealers near me, 5 & 9 miles away. There are people who will gladly lease one of these. Their exhaust note is their selling point.
As a lawyer, I can tell you that the target market is “self-important litigators who drive like a$sholes.”
Pre or post BMW?
Nah, those buyers/drivers have all migrated from BMW to Audi for IC power fans ,but for the most part in my parts, Tesla drivers seem to be the jackhole bandits of the freeway
The most direct competition for this car is the BMW X5 M, which is loved by the same audience.
“self-important litigators who drive like a$sholes.”
I really hate to stereotype drivers by what they drive. I don’t believe in it – except for Range Rovers. With other vehicles, I see plenty of examples that break whatever stereotype the vehicles have. Not range rovers.
Added features not mentioned in the review.
Frequent, hassle filled visits to the Service Dept. My new LR 4 made 3 unscheduled visits to the dealer in the first year and they were a++holes.
Never: really – NEVER AGAIN. TRUE, SUPER EXPENSIVE EURO TRASH.
Funny people harp on Jeep for the reputation for reliability, but the Jeep is probably far more reliable that the LR in any form. Then again, the Trackhawk, while faster, is much cheaper so no bragging rights on how much money one can waste.
If I were in the market for a an über-SUV I’d buy one of the Germans (X5M, GLE63, or Cayenne Turbo).
An X5M Competition with all options checked (including the “almost pure profit” upgraded B & W sound system and rear seat entertainment) is “only” $127,300 and has more power, and is likely to be better in every respect (performance, handling, quality, reliability, resale value). I even like the looks better (though I’m an admitted BMW fanboy), the RR sport doesn’t have anywhere near the presence of the regular Range Rover. If you’re willing to settle for “only” 600hp and less aggressive suspension tuning, a regular X5M is about $4k less identically equipped.
I’m testing an X5 of that variety right now and liking it a lot better than the SVR, so far.
For people with loads of money and low self esteem.
These are for one purpose only. To show that you can afford it, especially the low production models with stupid prices for the exclusivity. Having grown up in such an area where one-upmanship was critical, these thrive today. The fact that they depreciate horrifically is actually a selling point. If you have three kids spaced a couple of years apart means that you get to show off a new one every two/three years while waiting in the high school parking lot. This is the way snooty communities work. Sad, but it is what it is. Whatever goodness in terms of performance or off road ability is pretty much irrelevant. The brand and price determine where you (or your family) slot in the hierarchy of things.
The school parking lot moms aren’t driving SVRs, but Autobiographys. Their husbands have the SVRs.
I have no idea what it is and how much it costs (did not read article, sorry, have no time for that) so color me unimpressed. But if I knew the price and what kind of car it is my impression of the guy would be “idiot who inherited too much money”.
Literally this. My work drives for traffic courts take me to the nicest towns around NYC. Court tends to be in the morning or afternoon around the school run, so I cross the lines full of well off moms in silly high end truck, from Chappaqua, to Sands Point, to Scarsdale, to Pound Ridge all the time. Escalade, only the current model. X5-X7, the huge Benz truck (got one as a loaner, it was a parade float). Once everyone ” ” has those, it becomes, in the top tier towns, Lambo, Wange Wova, and some of the even more rare versions are needed to show your status. These are small towns, so the school run is max 7 miles. Volvo or Subaru, also new, are the low profile choices. No minivans, and if the car in the line is the older version, it means you talked the maid into driving the kid to school. This is the same parking lot parity that dad has at work…if the other supervisors-partners-whatevers are in mid line Germans, you are too. His drive is 15 miles to work, mostly in traffic, so those twin turbos don’t get very warm either.
Once I get to the second line of suburbs or further, the motor pool becomes basic midwest, lots of domestics and lower Japanese-Korean models, and the school run is a line of minivans. Some are dented.
This is restricted to a very small group of towns, very rich but not much of it, even in NYC. It is a reminder that the money v population is a pyramid, concentrated at the top, spread too thin at the bottom.
I’m a Land Rover fan, but in this case I’m a bigger fan of $130K in the bank
Land Rover became largely dead to me post the P38a Range Rover (though I’d consider a new Defender in poverty spec). I’ll take 25 of my stickshift Disco I over this any day.
Just as much a pointless millionaire codpiece as a $100K sportscar.
After three years and 35,000 miles, these are worth about $30,000 for a clean one. The second owner has a bit of bumper to bumper left but after that’s over, the price plummets another $10-15,000. Good luck to the 3rd owner.
3rd owner? It will break down so much it will never see a 3rd owner as repairs will cost more then the vehicles is worth.
Remember Doug Demuro’s Range Rover experience?
$26,998 purchase price (used)
$21,276 in warranty claims (repairs)
Lol, I was going to mention Doug’s series on Land Rover. His best and a lesson well learned
Yes, sure do remember that one. I think they got slightly better now. They have major meltdowns after 4-5 years.
Yes, because attention-seeking Doug’s 10 year old article has somehow become the internet gospel of Range Rovers they must ALL be like that. *Eye Roll* That guy will do anything for attention.
I know 6 people who have bought or leased RRs over the past 15 years. Every single one of them had DeMuro-level experiences. These are very pretty pieces of shiat.
That said, extremely capable on and off road prowess yet allows you to flash a little status means a Land Cruiser to me. And it’ll still be serving you well in 20 years.
“To show that you can afford it, especially the low production models with stupid prices for the exclusivity……This is the way snooty communities work. Sad, but it is what it is.”
I’ve also witnessed that same behavior.
Automobiles are of course the prime example, but there are many other examples, like audio systems, golf clubs, wrist watches, boats, you name it.
LOL. One of the insufferable wristwatch douchebags used to edit this very blog, in fact.
A nicely-equipped Toyota RAV4 Limited is $40,965 MSRP. A ‘stripped’ Range Rover Sport SE is $70,795 MSRP. This vehicle is $131,520 MSRP.
So for the price of 3 mere Toyotas or 2 ‘base’ models, you get exactly the vehicle you want with the performance you are looking for. For the target customers of this vehicle, the difference in price is trivial.
Go for it and enjoy driving it.
Wicked. When the darn thing goes wrong the maid picks me up in my V12 S-Class because the wife lives at the spa.
BMW X5M? No BMW interior looks or feels like money, way too antiseptic. And have you seen the new twin piggy snout? Outrageous in polite company, a mere boy racer, a Teutonic varlet with no class. Not-even-close to my RR Sport.
Here endeth the lesson.
Can’t tell if you’re joking or not. But I agree on the BMW interiors.
These RR’s look great! So does the JGC Summit, the Nissan Armada and especially the older Lexus versions of the LX. For 40-70k less.
You really have to want a RR to justify spending so much on what is essentially an errand runner to Target.
Behold, a vehicle that depreciates faster than an old EV.
… A $3,185 driver pack adds blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control with steering assist, high-speed emergency braking, lane-keep assist, and park assist…
None of this STANDARD on a $114K sticker price luxury SUV?!?!?
Holy sheet
I have to wonder, how much more fun would I have driving this versus driving my sub-30k Veloster N? My guess – less fun, so I can’t relate to this vehicle. I suppose to the typical buyer of this, 115k is a drop in the bucket however, so it’s probably all relative.
Don’t be too sure. A lot of “rich” people live hand to mouth, buried in a mountain of debt, exceeded (barely) by their assets. All we see are the assets.
I’m not a fan of this concept at all. Ridiculous power in a car whose charms really aren’t about power…at least not excessive amounts of it. You can be just as stupid (for less money) in an SRT Grand Cherokee or Durango and you get be even more stupid for less money in a Trackhawk.