2024 Range Rover Sport SV review – new 626bhp SUV driven

Price from £171,460 | On sale Now

This new Range Rover Sport SV's predecessor – the SVR – would have made a good football hooligan. Its V8 engine was loud, its styling outspoken, and the pops and bangs from the exhaust after every gear change were nothing short of outrageous.

For some, that gave it an intoxicating charm and appeal, but for many others it was a bit alienating, and that’s where the SV comes in. You could think of it as a grown-up SVR, with all the performance and character but far more subtlety.

Now, don’t go thinking that subtlety makes the SV boring. Far from it – with more than 620bhp from its V8 heart, this is the most powerful and fastest Range Rover Sport ever made.

What’s more, bespoke suspension, new tech and a course of weight reduction means it should also go round corners better than any other Range Rover.

But how successful has British brand Land Rover been with its latest performance SUV and is the SV better to drive than rivals, including the Lamborghini Urus and the Porsche Cayenne? Let’s find out…

What is the Range Rover Sport SV like to drive?

There’s only one engine available for the 2024 Range Rover Sport SV, but that’s not a bad thing. Indeed, with 626bhp, the potent 4.4-litre turbocharged V8 – which has mild-hybrid tech – provides all the performance you could ever want.

When you plant your foot on the accelerator pedal, you're pinned back into your seat as the SV's automatic gearbox fires through the gears. All the while, you’re bathed in a glorious V8 symphony as you shoot from 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds, which is around the same time it takes the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid. True, the Urus S is even faster, taking 3.5 seconds, but the heavier Sport SV is impressively close.

Straight-line speed is all well and good, but what’s the SV like on a twisty road? Well, in its stiffest SV mode, the bespoke air suspension hides its weight with surprising ease.

The system removes the need for anti-roll bars and, in turn, that allows each wheel to work independently, improving body control and keeping it flat even when its carrying plenty of speed.

The SV is also incredibly capable on a track. Its precise steering gives you loads of confidence as you head through corners and its neat body control ensures that it rarely gets out of shape. We doubt many people will actually take their Range Rover Sport SV to the track, but if that’s your plan we’d suggest adding the optional carbon-ceramic brakes, which do a great job of reliably slowing that mass from speed.

The Sport SV’s handling is truly impressive, but we still reckon the lighter Aston Martin DBX707 will appeal more to those wanting to push a performance SUV to the limit.

The thing is, when you’re driving normally the SV will be much more comfortable than that rival or the Cayenne. Indeed, select Comfort mode and the SV easily rides as well as a standard Range Rover Sport with air suspension, soaking up lumps and bumps with absolute ease. Even on the optional 23in carbon-fibre wheels, you barely feel large potholes as you drive over them.

What you might not expect is that, despite the SV being a sports-focused SUV, it maintains the Land Rover brand’s compulsory off-road ability. In fact, while it’s lower than the standard Sport, it can still go pretty much anywhere that car can.

That’s thanks to two different off-road driving heights and a whole host of driving modes, (ranging from mud ruts to sand) which tailor the transmission and differentials for each situation. You even get a wading mode, which closes various exterior vents and allows you to drive in water up to 850mm, just 50mm less than the standard car. 

What is the Range Rover Sport SV like inside?

The SV in this model's name comes from Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations team, so you'd expect it to be, er, special. In truth, if you’ve sat in the current Range Rover Sport you’ll feel right at home in the SV. Indeed, other than some sportier touches, the SV’s interior hasn’t changed all that much. Best then, to think of it as a mild upgrade rather than a redesign. 

Arguably the most noticeable change are the new "Body and Soul" front seats. They feature four transducers that are built into the seat and synchronised with the 29-speaker Meridian sound system in order to deepen the audio experience. According to Land Rover the system can lower your heart rate and stress levels while increasing your awareness on long drives.

Outside of the clever tech, the seats themselves are good to sit in for long periods, striking a good balance between long-distance comfort and support during spirited driving. 

The rest of the interior remains identical to the standard (non-SV) car. If you want to know more about what it’s like and how practical it is, see our Range Rover Sport review. 

2024 Range Rover Sport SV verdict

So, should you have an SV over a regular Sport – or one of its rivals? Well, the SV is a bit of an engineering masterpiece, and the way it manages its 2.5-tonne weight around fast corners, even on track, then powers out of the corners is some kind of witchcraft. 

When you combine that performance with the incredibly comfortable ride, you can’t deny that the SV is a truly capable car. The thing is, it doesn’t handle as well at the limit as a DBX707 or a Urus, and while its ride is very comfortable, it’s no more comfortable than the standard Range Rover Sport. 

That becomes a problem when you see the price – the Sport SV Edition One (the only trim at launch) will cost you a six-figure sum more than our favourite version of the Range Rover Sport, the entry-level D300 SE. For that reason, many will find it hard to justify the extra cost.

What Car? rating 4 stars out of 5

Range Rover Sport SV Edition One price and specs 

Price £171,460 Engine 8cyl, 4395cc, turbocharged, petrol Power 626bhp at 6,000-7,000rpm Torque 553lb ft at 1,800-5,855rpm Gearbox 8-spd automatic 0-62mph 3.8sec Top speed 180mph Official fuel economy 23.6mpg CO2, tax band 271g/km, 37% 

Key rivals:

Aston Martin DBX
Lamborghini Urus
Porsche Cayenne

Read our Range Rover Sport review

Read more: The best performance SUVs

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