If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if the Queen’s Guard traded their rifles for launch control, here’s your answer. This is the 2025 Range Rover Sport SV, third generation, codename L461. And yes, it’s been around since 2005 — old enough to have a driver’s license and young enough to still post thirst traps on Instagram.
First Impressions: The Gentleman Bruiser
You first clock the Sunrise Copper Satin finish — a colour that says, “I have arrived,” but also, “please stand six feet away from my paintwork.” You could pick from 31 colours, but this one looks like molten toffee poured over a block of solid power. The 22-inch satin dark grey alloys look like they’ve been stolen from a Bond villain’s lair, and the red SV brake calipers are basically red carpets for your wheels.
From the stealth-like front grille to the integrated quad tailpipes, everything about it whispers menace and murmurs money. Even the bonnet louvres are sculpted with the same seriousness as a royal crest.
The Pedigree
This is a Jaguar Land Rover Modular Longitudinal Architecture MLA-Flex product, which is basically a posh way of saying, “I share my bones with the big Range Rover.” Designed by Gerry McGovern, the man responsible for the Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery, the Sport SV’s styling is minimalist in the way that a Michelin-star tasting menu is minimalist: it looks simple, but costs you more than your first car.
Interior: London Club Lounge Meets Space Shuttle
Step inside and you’re hit with black perforated Windsor leather, carbon trim, and SV Forged Carbon Fibre seatbacks. Every surface feels like it was touched only by gloved artisans whispering apologies to the leather. The Body and Soul Seats don’t just have massage — they have vibro-acoustic technology and six wellness programmes. Yes, the seats here are better therapists than your actual therapist.
You get 29 Meridian speakers pumping 1,430 watts, so even the navigation voice sounds like Adele mid-ballad. There’s a refrigerator compartment in case you need champagne at 0–100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, and soft door close so you never have to slam anything like a commoner.
Technology: Over-Equipped & Over-Qualified
The 13.1-inch Pivi Pro curved glass touchscreen is your command centre, and the 13.7-inch Interactive Driver Display is your control tower. Features include wireless CarPlay, Android Auto, live traffic, 3D maps, AI-assisted navigation, and a “Hey Land Rover” voice command — though it draws the line at ordering you a takeaway curry.
There’s all-wheel steering for turning circles tighter than your last pay raise, 6D Dynamics Air Suspension to control pitch and roll like a cruise ship stabiliser, and Adaptive Off-Road Cruise Control — because why should your chauffeur have to slow down just because there’s a river ahead? And yes, it wades 900mm deep, meaning your picnic spot can be inside the Thames if you fancy.
Performance: Polite Mayhem
Our test car has the big gun: a 4.4-litre, V8, twin-turbo BMW S63 engine. That’s 626 hp and 750 Nm of torque. 0–100 km/h? 3.9 seconds. Top speed? 290 km/h. This in a 2.5-tonne SUV that can also tow 3.5 tonnes and cross rivers. It’s like finding out the Archbishop of Canterbury can also deadlift 250 kg.
The active exhaust system has a button that toggles between “May I?” and “Move!” — a deep, cultured rumble that becomes a full brass band at full throttle.
Practicality (Yes, Really)
Boot space is 647 litres with the seats up, 1,491 litres down. That’s enough for golf clubs, designer luggage, or the egos of everyone who doubted you. The Automatic Access Height lowers the car by 50mm so your guests can enter gracefully without climbing like mountaineers.
Safety? Euro NCAP gave it 5 stars, and it comes with more acronyms than a government department: ABS, EBD, DSC, RSC, HDC, AEB… plus enough airbags to make your living room jealous.
The Drive
In Comfort mode, it glides like it’s skating on clotted cream. In Dynamic mode, the air suspension hunkers down, the exhaust snarls, and suddenly you’re in a sports saloon wearing hiking boots. Torque Vectoring by Braking keeps you tidy in corners, while the Michelin Pilot Sport all-season tyres are grippier than a London tabloid.
Verdict: The Aristocratic Athlete
The Range Rover Sport SV is what happens when the British decide to make a muscle car but insist on wearing a tuxedo while doing it. It’s absurdly fast, opulently luxurious, ridiculously capable off-road, and still somehow manages to make you feel like royalty on the school run.
It’s not subtle, it’s not cheap, and it’s not for people who measure fuel economy. But if you’ve got between ₹1.47 crore and ₹2.95 crore to spend and you want a car that can outrun, outshine, and outclass almost anything else on the road — while wading through a river on your way to a five-star lunch — this is it.
