After months of teasing videos and images, we have our first official view of the Range Rover SVR. The SVR has been created by the newly formed Special Vehicle Operations department at Land Rover, tasked with making certain vehicles a bit more special than others.

Range Rover Sport SVR performance

Earlier this year we heard the Range Rover Sport SVR had lapped the Nurburgring circuit in 8 minutes and 14 seconds mostly in part to the power enhancements in the engine. The 5-litre V8 supercharged beast now has 410 kW and 680 Nm shunting it from standstill to 100kph in 4.5 seconds. That’s faster than either an Audi S3 or BMW M235i. Ridiculous.

The Range Rover Sport SVR has been equipped with a two-stage exhaust system to enhance aural pleasure. At higher revs the engine flaps open up and provide a sportier sound, apparently merely enhancing the nature of the SVR without disrespecting the refinement.

The SVR loses none of its off-road prowess, it’s still fitted with a low range gearbox and still has Land Rovers updated terrain response switch that optimised the vehicle for each different type of terrain. It will still drive through a river up to 85cm deep and carries a towing capacity of 3 000 kg.

Thanks to the all-aluminium monocoque of the Range Rover, the SVR benefits from the light-weight (relatively) and stiff chassis and makes better use of it for its more sporty needs.

The Range Rover Sport SVR will start reaching South African customers in early 2015 with prices starting at an estimated R1.7 million.

Update

Range Rover updated the release of the SVR with a video of it lapping Silverstone circuit in the UK. In fitting weather conditions for both the Rangie and the UK, the SVR crackles like thunder around the circuit. Torrential rain and massive puddles don’t seem to slow the SVR down. The exhaust takes centre stageof the video and it’s well worth a watch just for that.

Range Rover Sport SVR at Silverstone Video