In an era when ballparks designate anti-peanut sections and pole dancing is considered exercise, allow us to add Range Rovers racing at the Nürburgring to the list of bizarre, messed-up things in this world.
After spy videos caught the Range Rover Sport SVR whipping around the ’Ring last month, Land Rover has come clean with its lap time: 8 minutes and 14 seconds. That makes it the quickest production SUV in history around the famous 12.9-mile Nordschleife loop. It’s 20 seconds quicker than the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, at least until the next-generation Cayenne Turbo joins the upcoming 12-cylinder Bentley SUV and the Lamborghini Urus in the next few years.
But most dramatically, the 550-hp Sport SVR is 41 seconds quicker than the lap time Land Rover set with a 2010 Range Rover Supercharged, which was down 40 horsepower and up several hundred pounds. Compared with sports cars that are multiple feet lower, road to roof, the SVR is an unlikely road-course ace. Yet the Dodge Viper SRT10 roadster of ten years ago finished only a second faster over the same circuit. And the original Aston Martin Vanquish was three seconds slower. This, from a brick-shaped truck that will spend most of its life idling in Los Angeles, is fearsome progress.
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Land Rover said it has stiffened the SVR’s anti-roll bars, modified the eight-speed automatic, and recalibrated the four-wheel-drive system for greater response. No doubt Landie has taught the Sport’s Dynamic Mode some life lessons. And while the SVR won’t come with the track prototype’s roll cage and Recaro racing seats, the aero kit—and like AMG, the badge—will be the SVR’s biggest selling point once the camo is stripped off. Inasmuch as the “regular” Sport Supercharged pulls nearly as hard as our long-term Jaguar F-type V-8 S, the SVR will be a scary sight in the suburbs.
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