2024 Range Rover Sport SV Edition One Sheds Some of That British Reserve (2024)

High-performance SUVs are an extroverted, braggadocious bunch—qualities somewhat at odds with Land Rover Range Rover's genteel image. When the third-generation Range Rover Sport launched for 2023, it did so without a hi-po model, as the top offering was the extra-luxe First Edition. This year, the First Edition is gone, and the Range Rover Sport instead does some chest-thumping with the new SV Edition One.

This is the full-on max-performance variant, akin to the SVR in the previous-gen Range Rover Sport. Beyond the changes that came with the redesign, this new SV marks a major shift in its source of motivation. In place of the old SVR's supercharged 5.0-liter V-8, there's a new twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8, whose 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque shade the old engine's 575 horses and 516 pound-feet. Land Rover says the new mill is 30 pounds lighter.

The V-8 is sourced from BMW but gets a Land Rover ECU, intake, and exhaust. It moves the Range Rover Sport into alignment with its closest competitors among steroidal mid-size performance SUVs, all of which rely on similar-sized V-8s (of 4.0 to 4.4 liters) enhanced with two turbos nestled in their valleys. Importantly for bragging rights, its 626 horsepower eclipses the power figures of all its chief rivals—the Audi RS Q8, the BMW X5 M Competition, and the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S—excepting the gas-electric Porsche Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, which tops 700 horsepower. We place the Porsche Cayenne Coupe Turbo GT, Lamborghini Urus Performante, and Ferrari Purosangue into a different breed of SUV. Land Rover claims the SV Edition One will hit 60 mph in 3.6 seconds on its way to a top speed of 180 mph.

This 4.4-liter engine did appear in last year's First Edition, but that was in detuned, 523-hp form. The rest of the lineup (P360 SE, P400 Dynamic SE, and P550e) relies on a supercharged and turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six.

Beyond the bristling new engine, SV exclusives include Land Rover's so-called 6D Dynamics suspension that pairs the Sport's standard air springs with hydraulically cross-linked dampers in place of anti-roll bars. The model also gets its own rear subframe and rolls on big-baller 23-inch wheels that are either alloy or, as a $10,150 option, carbon fiber (shaving a claimed 20 pounds per corner). Optional carbon-ceramic brake rotors ($9000) measure 17.3 inches up front and 15.3 inches at the rear. They're clamped by eight-piston Brembo front calipers and activated by a brake pedal with reduced travel compared to the standard setup. All-wheel steering is also on hand, and the steering ratio is quickened from 17.5:1 to 13.6:1. The SV crouches 0.4 inch lower than the standard Sport, or 1.0 inch lower in SV mode. That's one of just three on-road drive modes, along with Comfort and the middle-child Dynamic, plus a mix-and-match setting—a total much less daunting than some rivals' numerous settings.

For onlookers, the lower stance and the big wheels are the major SV tells. The model also gets a revised lower fascia that incorporates brake-cooling ducts, lower-body skirts, and a carbon-fiber hood.

Range-Roving on a Racetrack

Portugal's Portimão Circuit, which hosted F1 Grands Prix in 2020 and 2021, isn't typically where you'd find a Range Rover (except maybe in VIP parking), but it's where we had a go in the SV. Sitting in pit lane, we punched the SV button at the center of the steering wheel, and, separately, put the stability control into Dynamic mode (full off is also available for the brave). On the track, the SV powers down the straightaway before the carbon-ceramic stoppers haul it back down, the left pedal nicely firm underfoot. Turn-in is alert, the fixed steering ratio making for faithful responses. You can grab a paddle to downshift, but the gearbox is predictive enough to set you up and keep the engine in the punchy heart of its torque range. Despite the SV's lowered ride height, this Range Rover still feels tall on a track.

With 626 horses motivating roughly 5600 pounds, the SV also carries a lot of momentum, but high-g corners don't cause the horizon to tilt, nor does the Rover push excessively. The SV dances on the edge of oversteer through the lower-speed hairpins and can be goaded further out with a bit more throttle. SVO director Jamal Hameedi says he "wasn't interested in creating a one-dimensional track monster," but the SV certainly performed well on this 2.9-mile circuit. One caveat: The vehicles we drove on the track were fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport S5 summer rubber, a tire option that's coming for the SV later this year.

Driving Off-Road and On

We drove on the stock all-season footwear for the more predictably Range Rover part of our program: an off-road course. The SV Edition One's off-road equipment includes all-wheel drive, a panoply of off-road modes, locking center and rear differentials, hill-descent control, off-road cruise control, and cameras looking down the sides of the car and peering ahead when all you can see beyond the hood is sky. What can't be had here, but can on other Range Rover Sports, is a two-speed transfer case. Still, on a specially set-up course and with the help of a spotter (and with the front splitter removed), it was capable of impressive off-road feats, scrambling up and down steep slopes and over lumpy terrain, demonstrating that its special suspension doesn't decrease wheel articulation.

In addition to trail and track, we also squeezed in some driving on the road, where Range Rovers sometimes find themselves. There, we found that the SV easily dispatches lumbering trucks and plodding hatchbacks on even the shortest two-lane passing zones, while on the highway, the ride is composed, and steering effort levels are sufficient to keep the SV from feeling nervous at extra-legal speeds. Although there's a two-stage exhaust system, the engine note is fairly muted compared with, say, an AMG V-8—and there are no pops or crackles on the overrun. "To have something very shouty is not true to our brand," says Hameedi. He must've forgotten the Range Rover Sport SVR. Meanwhile, the SV's suspension effectively quells not just roll but also brake dive and acceleration pitch. Even Comfort mode, however, can only do so much on pothole-strewn rural Portuguese roads, and the huge wheels wearing 35- and 40-series tires inevitably transmit some harshness to the cabin.

Feel the Music

Inside that cabin, the Body and Soul Seat (BASS) is the marquee item and an SV exclusive. These high-back buckets have four transducers in the seatback, which transmit music vibrations at five selectable levels of intensity. Although the novel chairs might appeal most strongly to the bass-thumpin' crowd, they can transmit high or low frequencies, and they work from any audio source. Alternatively, there are six background-music "wellness" tracks, whose mood ranges from "calm" to "invigorating," that were custom-written to be optimized by the system.

There are a handful of other SV-specific items inside: the steering wheel with a button at the center to select SV mode, and shift paddles with a see-through upper portion and illuminated edges. The screen-intensive dash repeats the exterior's coolly unadorned aesthetic. Its chic minimalism, though, is more model-perfect than user-friendly, as the center dash is unblemished by knobs or buttons of any kind. Not even a volume knob—it's now a touch slider, but first you must tap on the volume spot. Temperature adjustment is the same scenario. Even the Terrain Response dial is gone, leaving space on the center console for more glossy black plastic.

Price and Availability

So, do you fancy one? The 2024 Range Rover Sport SV Edition One was offered by invitation only—maybe yours got lost in the mail? Sadly, the roughly 600 units headed our way (and priced at $181,775) are now sold out. Fret not, however. Although not officially announced, expect this sportiest Range Rover Sport variant to return for 2025, sans Edition One branding. Stepping away from the high-performance SUV arena after just one year would make no sense, even for this oh-so-British brand.