Drag Race: Old vs. New Range Rover Sport

Carwow arranged for a quarter-mile race between the old Range Rover Sport SVR and its modern SV counterpart to see which one is faster on the uptake. Both pack V8s under the hood, but the newer generation is rightfully considered the most powerful RR Sport in history so far.

Starting with the SV, it was introduced last spring with a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged BMW V8 under the hood. It outputs a healthy 635 PS (626 hp / 467 kW) along with 750 Nm (553 lb-ft) of torque. The SUV weighs in at 2,485 kilos (5,478 lbs).

The previous generation also commands a V8, but a wholly different one. It is a 5.0-liter JLR engine outfitted with a mechanical supercharger. The powertrain pumps out 575 PS (567 hp / 423 kW) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque. The older car is also slightly lighter at 2,310 kg (5,093 lbs). Eight-speed AT and AWD are something both have, so there are no significant differences in that regard.

The new RR Sport won the first standing race outright, securing a solid headstart and only proceeding to widen the gap from there. In the end, it finished the quarter in 12 seconds and its rival came 0.9 seconds behind.

What followed was a half-mile race with a rolling start from 50 km/h (31 mph), and that one turned out much more intriguing. The SVR pulled ahead from the start and stayed there until roughly halfway in, but then, the SV started rapidly closing the distance. It never did close it completely, though, yielding victory to the older SVR model by half a body.

In the end, the drivers concluded that the way the supercharger was functioning in the SVR and the way its automatic transmission was set up helped it win against the SV. The next rolling race saw both cars switched to manual shift mode. The cars went nearly side-by-side for the first half of the race and while the SV won this time around, the gap was minimal.