In October 2021, the world of motoring paused for a short while as a momentous and infrequent thing happened – an all-new Range Rover was launched.
The Range Rover is a icon of the road without peer, so much so that the Queen, aka Lilibet, drives an Epsom Green L322 Range Rover herself when she isn’t being chauffeured around in her ‘State Review’ landaulet-style ‘Rangey, designed by Land Rover Design and engineered by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations department. Over the years, the Queen has had over 50 Range Rovers – how’s that for a show of confidence?
Now that we have context, we can continue with the matter at hand – the all-new Range Rover Sport, expected to be unveiled before the end of 2022. The Range Rover Sport has become Land Rover’s best-selling model and that’s hardly surprising when one considers the luxury, capability, heritage, status and practicality on offer. In fact, the ‘Sport accounts for 40% more sales than the standard Range Rover. And so, as we near the end of the current L494 generation Range Rover Sport, we’re starting to hear rumours regarding its replacement, one of which, while not surprising, is an interesting suggestion as to what the top-spec SV model’s engine offering might be.
Thanks to the new car’s MLA Flex architecture, the Mk3 Range Rover Sport will be a vastly different proposition from the outgoing car, which will be a remarkable 10 years old by the time it is replaced. Substantial improvements in rolling refinement come courtesy of a 24% reduction in structure-borne noise, as well as a 50% increase in torsional stiffness.
It’s no secret that the full fat Range Rover makes use of BMW engines now, either the inimitable N63 4,4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 or the exceptional B57 twin-turbocharged straight-six. There are also two MHEV versions, the ICE part of them being the B58 straight-six a la M340i and a slew of other BMW models. As it stands, the new Range Rover is capable of a 0-100km/h sprint of just 4,6 seconds with the petrol BMW powerplant…
Could this mean, then, that SV models of both the big-body Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will be powered by the S63 V8 as found in the M5, M8 and X5/6 M models? The likelihood of this is very high, and what powertrains they are. Without a doubt, they will transform performance Range Rover models into genuinely competitive products within their segment. Not that they weren’t competitive, but the ever so fruity 5,0-litre supercharged V8 was neither efficient nor modern, and performance-wise the ‘Rangey Sport just couldn’t keep up with the competition, literally.
With potentially over 450 kW, as well as a huge improvement in efficiency, the Range Rover Sport will be able to roll with the big boys – the Lamborghini Urus, Aston Martin DBX and the Maserati Levante Trofeo. At this stage, all we can do is wait and see…
