Range Rover SUV powerful and pricey
According to Land Rover, this is the world’s first ” full-size luxury SUV Coupe,” a limited-edition two-door Range Rover so fast and so hedonistic that it will create a whole new segment.
In that quest, Range Rover’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 has been pumped up yet again, this time to 557 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That’s good enough, says Land Rover, to motivate the SV Coupe from rest to 100 km/h in just 5.3 seconds. Now, that might not sound impressive compared with three-second Porsches, but remember that a Range Rover weighs about 1,000 kilograms more than an itty-bitty 911, and a Range Rover’s primary purpose is supposed to be traipsing through mud and ruts. A gargantuan SUV that accelerates like a fairly well-endowed sports sedan is some pretty darned impressive stuff.
For some reason, Land Rover also thinks the fact that the SV Coupe can hit 265 km/h is important, though quite where one is supposed to go that fast in the mud is not fully explained. If you do choose to go that fast on the road, however, you’ll be happy to know that the SV is eight millimetres lower than the four-door version and, thanks to air suspension, it automatically lowers a further 15 mm above 104 km/h for greater stability.
Each SV Coupe will be hand-assembled by the experts at the SVO Technical Centre in the U.K. — a first for Range Rover.
SV Coupe clients can choose from four front-to-rear contrast interior colourways, or a range of single-tone interior colours. Both are complemented by a choice of three elegant wood veneers. A first for Range Rover is the Nautica veneer, which carefully balances heritage craftsmanship with new technology, fusing walnut and sycamore together. The front seats are 20-way adjustable and, in the rear, 10-way power adjustable. Even the doors are power operated.
A new, optional exterior paint finish named Liquesence swaths the Coupe in a liquid metal finish, a first for Range Rover. Other optional SV finishes include tri-coat, tinted clear coat, pearlescent, something called Chroma Flair and satin matte. This is also, says the company, the first Range Rover with a 23-inch wheel option.
As with all Range Rovers, permanent four-wheel drive with a twospeed transfer box and an active locking rear differential is standard. A revamped Terrain Response system means that the new Coupe should be able to go places no luxury vehicle should dare.
As for pricing, if you do have the means to ask, the suggested list price — and, no, they won’t be bargaining because Range Rover is only making 999 of them — is $335,000.
That’s Rolls-Royce territory, folks. This SUV business suddenly got serious.