ONELIFE #35 – American English

RANGE ROVER SPORT SVR
You don’t have to be in Austria, France, Germany,
Italy, Monaco, Slovenia or Switzerland to relish a thrilling
Alpine drive, particularly when you want to add extra
capability to the mix. Onelife ventured to St Austell,
Cornwall, in the south west of the UK, to take on the
‘Cornish Alps’ – white-topped mountainous spoil heaps
and deep moon-like pits created by over 200 years of
mining some of the best China clay in the world.
It’s a fitting environment to put the new Range Rover
Sport SVR through its paces, as the high-grade ‘white
gold’ extracted from the region is in constant demand
for specialist premium applications, from superior paper
finishes and quality materials production to castings
for precision engineering. Indeed, excellence in design
and engineering is at the heart of this most dynamic
and capable luxury SUV.
As you’d expect, the team at Land Rover Special
Vehicle Operations (SVO) has gone above and beyond
simply scrutinizing a few elements – their latest labor
of love is a true progression where everything on the
car has been evaluated and improved where possible.
CONNECTED CONFIDENCE
To fully explore these enhancements, Onelife needed
someone with extensive experience of the previous
Range Rover Sport SVR, as well as having the seasoned
skills to handle the challenging location. Enter Ian
Kitching, Global Lead Instructor for Land Rover Experience
with over 32 years of experience demon s trating Land
Rover vehicles in various conditions on every
conceivable terrain and surface.
It’s the first time Kitching‘s been acquainted with the
new Range Rover Sport SVR, so he’s understandably
eager to jump in. As soon as he settles in the cockpit
and gets hands-on with the unique leather-rimmed
steering wheel, his initial impression is that it’s a driver’s
vehicle through and through. “I instantly get a
commanding sense of connection and control. Just
sitting in the race-inspired seat gives me confidence
that makes me want to explore the SVR vehicle’s
dynamic handling potential,” he says.
In fact, the front seats are a key difference of the new
model. Fully adjustable, these sculpted, figure-hugging,
weight-saving and solid-backed performance seats
also set new levels of comfort, with heating and a new
optio nal cooling function built in.
Looking around the luxurious interior, there’s an array
of meticulous SVR-only details, such as satin-brushed
aluminum trim and, if you open the new additional
glove box, you'll find the owner’s manual with its
exclusive embossed leather cover.
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