2015 Range Rover Sport SVR: An Offroader Made For The Race Track?

MotorTrend

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00:00 Once upon a time, and it wasn't that long ago,

00:02 when people wanted to talk to each other,

00:04 they used a telephone.

00:06 It didn't have a camera or a navigation system

00:09 and couldn't download porn,

00:10 and yet, inexplicably, people loved it.

00:13 At about the same time,

00:14 there existed this thing called the SUV.

00:16 It did one good thing, which was off-roading,

00:19 and no one ever took them off-road.

00:21 They handled like garbage.

00:22 I mean, if you looked at a corner the wrong way,

00:24 it'd flip over and kill everyone.

00:26 It had no room inside, and they were all crappy.

00:29 And yet, people inexplicably loved them anyway.

00:32 Fast forward only a couple of years,

00:34 and we have a Range Rover that was tuned

00:36 and tested on the Nürburgring.

00:38 That's either the stupidest thing I've ever heard,

00:42 or the coolest.

00:43 - Thank you for calling 411 Information Assist.

00:51 My name is Siri.

00:51 How can I help you?

00:53 - Hi, can you tell me everything I need to know

00:54 about this SUV?

00:56 - Well, Jason, first of all, you said it yourself.

00:58 No one ever takes their SUV off-road,

01:00 so go find a real parking space.

01:02 Anyway, this is the new 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SBR.

01:06 But how about we just roll the ignition credits

01:08 and get this amateur hour shift show started

01:10 before I'm as obsolete as that big red phone you're holding,

01:13 and you can wipe that dirty look off your face.

01:15 (upbeat music)

01:22 (upbeat music)

01:24 - The SBR is based on the Range Rover Sport,

01:42 which in stupid SUV naming convention

01:45 is not actually a sporty model.

01:47 It's the smaller of the two.

01:48 So this is based on the smaller Range Rover.

01:50 To make sure that everyone knows

01:51 this actually is a sporty model,

01:54 all of the plastic on the outside is murdered out black.

01:57 To make sure everyone inside knows it's a sporty model,

02:00 there's carbon fiber everywhere,

02:01 and the most gorgeous seats you'll ever find in an SUV.

02:04 There are buckets up front,

02:05 and they look like buckets in the back,

02:07 but they actually seat three across.

02:09 All of Range Rover's typically British charms remain.

02:11 You have an auto start/stop off button

02:14 that turns the auto start/stop on.

02:17 You have another button that apparently teaches

02:19 your hard of hearing friends how to cut a pizza

02:21 in American Sign Language.

02:23 And then you have this touchscreen

02:24 that is so unbelievably slow to respond and stupid

02:28 that you think clearly it's powered by an Apple IIe.

02:31 (upbeat music)

02:34 SVO, or Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations,

02:40 have made a couple of tweaks.

02:42 First thing they did was to tell the supercharger

02:44 to allow more boost.

02:45 Now the V8 sends 550 horsepower to all four wheels,

02:50 and 2,000 million horsepower to the tailpipes.

02:54 The Range Rover Sport already had

02:59 the ZF eight-speed automatic,

03:00 which is the best automatic in the business,

03:02 so they changed the programming

03:04 and instructed it to shift up to 50% more quickly,

03:07 and to keep the torque converter locked

03:09 at all times once you're in second gear.

03:13 (engine revving)

03:16 And remember, no turbos here, so there's instant response.

03:20 All you gotta do is floor it,

03:22 and it's a rocket from the get-go.

03:24 Gas, go.

03:26 30, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90,

03:33 death!

03:38 It does zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds.

03:40 If you ignore all the idiocy coming out of the tailpipes,

03:43 it does it with no drama whatsoever.

03:48 It's got a limited-slip rear diff,

03:50 so it puts all the power down.

03:51 It's got six-piston Brembos up front

03:53 to scrub off all the speed.

03:55 It has hydraulically actuated,

03:57 electronically controlled anti-roll bars,

03:59 air springs, and magnetorheological shocks.

04:02 As a result, there's no body roll at all, zero,

04:09 and it rides like a dream.

04:10 When you're driving it like an SUV is usually driven,

04:14 it's amazing.

04:15 Super quiet, plush, comfortable.

04:18 It's probably the best-riding SUV in its class.

04:22 But if you take it on track,

04:24 Land Rover says it goes around the Nürburgring

04:26 in eight minutes and 14 seconds.

04:29 That's within 10 seconds of the Alfa Romeo 4C.

04:38 This is a carbon-tubbed, mid-engine Italian supercar,

04:42 one that's so lightweight

04:43 it doesn't even need power steering.

04:45 The Rover weighs as much as two 4Cs,

04:48 plus 501 additional pounds.

04:51 If the big, heavy Rover can match the 4C on the Nürburgring,

04:56 they should be evenly matched at Willow Springs too,

04:58 don't you think?

04:58 550 horsepower versus 230, whatever, nothing.

05:05 All right, you ready?

05:06 Because you're about to get spanked.

05:07 (laughs)

05:08 Oh boy.

05:09 (laughs)

05:10 Bam!

05:11 Let's do this on five, four, three, two, one, go.

05:15 (engine revving)

05:17 Torque!

05:17 (engine revving)

05:19 Not enough.

05:20 (engine revving)

05:22 - I have rear braking.

05:23 - Camisa!

05:25 Keep up with me if you can.

05:26 Whatever tires they did that Nürburgring time on

05:31 were not these tires.

05:33 How am I supposed to pass that?

05:34 It's too big.

05:35 (laughs)

05:37 She's about to pass me on the outside.

05:39 Fat chance, bucko!

05:40 (engine revving)

05:42 Oh, holy shit!

05:44 (upbeat music)

05:46 Sorry, Mindy.

05:47 (laughs)

05:48 Oh, bitch!

05:49 (engine revving)

05:51 This is the stupidest thing I've ever done,

05:53 and I've done some pretty stupid things.

05:55 (engine revving)

05:57 Keep trying, racer boy.

05:58 (engine revving)

05:59 No!

06:00 (laughs)

06:01 No!

06:01 (engine revving)

06:02 Not easy to pass unpredictable people.

06:04 (laughs)

06:05 (engine revving)

06:07 No!

06:09 Come back.

06:09 (engine revving)

06:10 This is where we're leaving.

06:11 (engine revving)

06:14 Come on, I got him.

06:15 I gotcha, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

06:16 Not in the brakes.

06:17 Whoa!

06:18 Never, you'll never get me!

06:20 (laughs)

06:21 Totally unstable under the braking.

06:23 (engine revving)

06:24 It seems to be

06:25 that I'm going to die trying to keep up with him.

06:30 Range Rover this, buddy!

06:31 (laughs)

06:33 Do you have any idea how much this thing weighs?

06:35 (engine revving)

06:38 All right, I'm not gonna get him.

06:40 It's clear I'm not gonna get him.

06:42 So now I'm just gonna cheat.

06:44 (laughs)

06:45 Off road.

06:46 (engine revving)

06:49 What the hell, did you crash?

06:52 I'm in an off road vehicle.

06:55 (laughs)

06:57 (engine revving)

07:00 You are not a dude, I'll be.

07:02 (engine revving)

07:05 You're a true freak.

07:08 (engine revving)

07:10 Crazy.

07:10 Oh God, that's a big ravine.

07:12 (engine revving)

07:15 (laughs)

07:22 I got him.

07:23 What the hell, you can't do that!

07:26 Oh, but I just did.

07:29 This is a problem.

07:30 Oh, he's trying on the inside.

07:33 Not gonna do it, buddy.

07:35 I'm bigger than you.

07:36 Where is he?

07:37 I can't see him.

07:37 He's good.

07:38 But not good enough because final corner.

07:41 I'm ahead.

07:42 Nope, sorry buddy.

07:43 And across the line.

07:47 Victory!

07:49 (laughs)

07:50 Oh, foiled again.

07:52 (engine revving)

07:55 (engine revving)

07:57 (engine revving)

08:01 (bell rings)

08:03 (engine revving)

08:11 (engine revving)

08:14 (engine revving)

08:18 (engine revving)

08:21 (engine revving)

08:23 (engine revving)

08:26 (engine revving)

08:29 (engine revving)

08:32 (engine revving)

08:40 (engine revving)

08:46 (engine revving)

08:50 (engine revving)

08:58 (engine revving)

09:01 (engine revving)

09:16 (engine revving)

09:25 (engine revving)

09:28 (bell rings)

09:53 It's funny to drive something so tall on the racetrack.

09:56 We're way up here.

09:57 It doesn't lean at all,

09:59 which is really disconcerting to me.

10:01 No, it doesn't lean much.

10:02 It's really weird.

10:03 And that, and also, you know,

10:05 the higher you are off the ground,

10:06 the slower your perceived speed is.

10:08 You know, like when you're in a plane,

10:10 it doesn't look fast at all.

10:11 You're so high, every time I look down,

10:13 I'm like, Jesus, I can't.

10:15 And people look like ants.

10:16 Yeah, well, you just run them over like ants.

10:18 That's the British way.

10:20 Really what's obvious when you were chasing me

10:22 in the Alpha was, if Jaguar Land Rover

10:25 actually turned an eight minute, 14 second lap

10:28 around the Nurburgring,

10:29 there is no way it was with these tires, right?

10:33 I'll tell you, Jason, I can't believe it.

10:36 Look at the push here in turn eight.

10:37 We're only doing 105 miles an hour.

10:40 Once these tires break away,

10:42 it's almost like they turn into marshmallows.

10:45 (laughing)

10:46 Like that.

10:46 They just, they just roll under and just lose all grip.

10:51 There's no way to get them back.

10:53 - I'll stand for validation of what you were saying.

10:57 - Thank you for that, I appreciate that.

10:59 These tires have no business being on a racetrack.

11:02 The truck, look, the engine's brilliant,

11:04 the tranny's great, the all-wheel drive system

11:07 puts it all down, even will let you drift

11:09 around some of the slower stuff.

11:11 - Yeah, it sounds good, too.

11:13 - Yeah, and then the tires.

11:15 - Then this.

11:16 (laughing)

11:20 - Why don't you dial in three more turns of lock?

11:22 - You know what, it doesn't body roll much,

11:26 but I do think the whole thing tilts.

11:28 - You're right.

11:29 - Maybe it's tire flex.

11:31 - Tires deflect under its own weight.

11:33 - Something's moving, it's not body roll,

11:35 it's the whole thing is tilting.

11:39 - It may be the entire earth,

11:40 given how much this thing weighs.

11:42 - Yeah.

11:42 - 5,411 pounds.

11:45 - Luxurious pounds.

11:46 - Luxurious, sumptuous pounds.

11:48 - British pounds.

11:50 - Oh, aren't they worth like two to a thousand dollars?

11:53 - Yeah.

11:53 (laughing)

11:56 - This is a truck that does power slides.

11:59 It has to be electronically restrained

12:01 to 162 miles an hour.

12:03 It can beat an Alfa Romeo 4C around Willow Springs

12:08 because it's got the 10 and a half inches

12:10 of suspension travel needed to cheat.

12:12 The idea of an SUV that can do this stuff

12:16 is as absurd now as it was 20 years ago.

12:20 And again, in the past 20 years,

12:22 your phone has gone from being a phone

12:24 to being a Cray supercomputer.

12:25 - Hey, when did Adam Sandler start reviewing cars?

12:28 - This kind of thing might be the new normal.

12:31 And that is just fine by us.

12:32 Hey, you know what this car has?

12:39 - What does it have?

12:40 - I know you don't know this yet,

12:41 but it has a refrigerator.

12:43 - Oh, that's great.

12:44 - Right here in the center console.

12:45 Would you like a demonstration?

12:46 - Is that for when we're done making the video?

12:48 - That is.

12:49 So you open this.

12:50 - Pass.

12:51 - Take this out, throw it in the back seat.

12:52 And then you can keep your spotted dick.

12:55 - Oh no.

12:56 - Simpsons premium quality spotted dick sponge.

13:00 - I know it.

13:01 - Yeah, it's good.

13:02 Is it good?

13:03 - It's a dessert.

13:04 I wasn't brave enough to try it.

13:05 - Yeah, I don't really think I ever wanted

13:07 to have any spotted dick.

13:09 If you're hungry, I also have some Hobnobs.

13:11 - What is that?

13:12 - I don't know, try some.

13:13 Hold on, we have this.

13:14 - It's chocolate.

13:15 - Wait, wait, wait, let's see.

13:16 Nice.

13:17 - Ooh, traditional English raspberry curd.

13:19 What do you think?

13:20 - Curd, let me try it.

13:21 It's not that cold, Jason.

13:22 Yummy.

13:29 - Really?

13:30 - I think that raspberry curd would be really good

13:32 on my spotted dick.

13:33 Walker's Shortbread.

13:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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