Land Rover Shows Preview of 2015 Range Rover Sport SVR

Land Rover is chumming the waters as it prepares to launch the first model from its new line of high-performance vehicles. The British automaker posted a preview of the 2015 Range Rover Sport SVR, which promises plenty of motoring fun. Lurking under the hood is a 5.0-liter V8 engine and a supercharger that work together to belt out 550 horsepower and 502 lb.-ft. of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission is also standard equipment.

If you think that sounds impressive, Land Rover says the SUV can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds. The brand also claims the vehicle has a top speed of 162 mph. Measuring a new model’s performance on the famous Nurburgring is all the rage these days, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the Range Rover Sport SVR was unleashed on the Green Hell. It was able to record a best lap time of 8:14, which is excellent for an SUV with four-wheel drive.

Now Land Rover fans can hang with people who own performance SUVs like the BMW X5 M and Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG. The result will be even more kids getting to soccer practices and games in record time.

There are few mechanical differences between the regular Range Rover Sport and the SVR. Most of the improved performance comes through computer modifications, like reprogramming the engine management system to squeeze out more horsepower and torque. The transmission received a new shift logic that makes gear changes faster, which also helps with the SUV’s more dramatic performance abilities.