Zero-to-62 mph is a spec that the buyer of any performance vehicle is going to want to see in type. But not all vehicles are optimized to perform only on pavement, so why should acceleration estimates only relate to ideal track conditions? When it comes to a high-performance SUV, wouldn't it be interesting to see how quickly 62 mph comes in the rough? Land Rover thought so, so it put the 542-hp Range Rover Sport SVR through the acceleration paces on a variety of surfaces, including sand, snow and wet grass.
We already know the Range Rover SVR can dash from standstill to 62 mph (100 km/h) in a sporty 4.7 seconds. That time is listed right below the bit about the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine and its 542 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque (404 kW / 680 Nm). Land Rover didn't just let the paper do the talking, though, confirming the time at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, UK. 4.7 seconds, indeed.
If you really want to push a vehicle like the Range Rover SVR, you definitely don't spend all your time straight-lining it on a track. So Land Rover took it on a tour of five additional testing venues around Europe to let it sprint over a variety of ground types. It rode the same standard Michelin 275/45 R21 All-Season tires in all environments and relied on the standard Terrain Response 2 system to fine-tune drive settings and optimize traction and acceleration according to conditions.
After the track test, Land Rover flipped the Terrain Response 2 system to "Grass/Gravel/Snow" and tested it in all three. The SVR rolled through the wet grass of Land Rover Experience East of England, shooting from 0 to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds. So slick grass didn't hold the SUV back much. Neither did gravel, as the SVR mastered a gravelly quarry to the tune of 5.3 seconds to 62 mph, its best time off pavement.
Snow, on the other hand, proved more of a pull on the SVR's acceleration. Land Rover dropped the SVR at its winter test facility in Northern Sweden and relied on the four-wheel drive and Terrain Response system to keep things stable as it fired forward to 62 mph on a combination of snow and ice in 11.3 seconds, by far its slowest time.
Mud was the next trial for the Range Rover Sport SVR, and with help from the "Mud and Ruts" mode, it managed to splash around like a happy pig and make the 0-62 mark in 6.5 seconds. The high-speed grains of Pendine Sands in South Wales proved even less of an obstacle, as Land Rover dialed the SVR into "Sand" mode and sped its way to a 5.5-second 0-62 mph time.
There's no firing off to 62 mph in rock crawling mode, but Land Rover dropped the dial to this setting, anyway, climbing a rocky 32-percent incline to put an exclamation point on the SVR's well-rounded all-terrain performance.
"The Range Rover Sport SVR is famed for its on-road performance, but this hasn't been achieved at the expense of customary Land Rover capability," driver and Jaguar Land Rover stability applications leader Darren Jones summed up.
A list of the Range Rover Sport SVR's locations and times:
- Rockingham Race Circuit – Dynamic – 4.7 seconds
- Land Rover Experience Centre, East of England – Grass – 5.5 seconds
- Quarry, South Wales – Gravel – 5.3 seconds
- Winter Testing Facility, Arjeplog, Sweden – Snow – 11.3 seconds
- All-Terrain Testing Facility, South Wales – Mud – 6.5 seconds
- Pendine Sands – Sand – 5.5 seconds
Source: Land Rover
