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By Mark Jones

Road Test Editor


This Range Rover Sport SVR has the bark to match its bite

Carbon Edition is the perfect choice if you don’t see yourself parading around in a BMW X5 or Mercedes GLE.


If you are not keen on driving a BMW X5 M like Mr and Mrs Halenby, or Mr and Mrs Dube with their Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S, then just maybe a Range Rover Sport SVR Carbon Edition is worth a look at. And by look at, I mean just look at it, it looks pretty mean!

On the outside, you get a bonnet with the centre section composed of carbon fibre, along with carbon trim on the bumper vents, main grille, lower grille surrounds, side mirror covers, rear tailgate and engine cover. Huge 22-inch gloss black wheels, and an SVR badge in place of the less aggressive type sports normal Land Rover oval take care of the visual aggression you would expect from a limited-edition SUV that comes in at R2 813 000.

SVR Carbon Edition-branded treadplates that illuminate as soon you open the doors invite you into one seriously sporty and roomy, interior. It offers the likes of heated, slimline, lightweight SVR Performance seats, with SVR logos embossed on the headrests. Not that I think it would make a huge difference in your life, but these racy looking seats also come in 30 kg lighter than the standard ones. Information for just in case you plan to tackle the Nurburgring or something like that.

Range Rover Sport SVR
Lightweight 22-inch alloy wheels are standard.

And just like having performance seats that are heated front and back, Land Rover also decided that you would like a 19-speaker Meridian Surround Sound System with a dual-channel subwoofer and Trifield technology that is good for 825-watts of sound.

Talking of numbers, another area where the Range Rover Sport SVR Carbon Edition does not need to stand back for the competition is in the power and torque departments. What’s the point of having this mean looking SUV that snarls at everybody when you punch the accelerator but can’t really defend itself in a bit of a street fight with those antagonistic Germans that have M and AMG in their titles.

The Sport SVR is the fastest, most powerful, and dynamic Land Rover ever produced and offers 423kW/700Nm from its tried and tested 5.0-litre supercharged V8. I didn’t get a chance to run this SUV that comes out of Special Vehicle Operations in Coventry due to Covid-19 related issues. But the claim of 4.5 seconds to 100 km/h and a top speed of 283 km/h is good in anybody’s books.

Range Rover Sport SVR
SVR Carbon Edition interior

And I sure as hell had a great time irritating my grumpy old neighbours by being irresponsible and blasting around our suburb. Serves them right for thinking I am a drug dealer. PS: I am not saying you or I are drug dealers, although we all know a guy who knows a guy these days that can get you some horribly overpriced alcohol, but you do kinda feel a bit badass when in a Range Rover Sport SVR Carbon Edition

The Range Rover Sport SVR Carbon Edition comes standard with Land Rover’s Care plan that gives you a warranty and servicing for five years or 100 000 km, whichever comes first.

All new or Approved Pre-Owned Land Rover customers in South Africa also receive complimentary driver training at the state-of-the-art Experience Johannesburg facility in Lonehill, Johannesburg. The package is available to owners and a partner, and includes refreshments, lunch and adrenaline all free of charge.

For more information on complimentary driver training for customers, or any of the other offerings available from Jaguar Land Rover Experience please visit www.landrover.co.za/experience, email info@experience.landrover.co.za or call 010 023 0462.

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