Jaguar Land Rover has a special fondness for an acronymical stew, scattering letters and TLAs across the bumpers and boots of its many and varied products. In the grand tradition of automotive naming conventions, the more bits and bobs you add to a name, the higher up the ladder you have climbed. The Range Rover product line is a particularly carefully structured ascent, starting from the lowly Evoque all the way up to the flagship Range Rover itself, with the all-new Velar adding another rung of attainment this summer. So, where do you go from the top?
SVO stands for Special Vehicle Operations, a department launched in 2014 to add lustre to the JLR brands. Since 2016, SVO has been based out of a dedicated base in Coventry, where a band of engineers and craftspeople are tasked with bringing in extra bling, primarily to arrest the legions of aftermarket accessory-peddling organisations from getting there first (diverting a healthy chunk of money in the process, as well as upsetting the JLR design departments). SVO does a fine job in two departments; speed and style. This is the outfit that builds the supernaturally swift Range Rover Sport SVR, as well as the wheeled bunker that is the fully armoured Range Rover Sentinel. It has also hand-built six examples of the legendary Lightweight Jaguar E-Type, recreated precisely from their 1960s origins, and presumably has many more tricks up its sleeve.
When it comes to transforming Range Rovers, the unspoken but obvious target is the new breed of luxury SUVs epitomised by Bentley’s impressive (but gauche) Bentayga, and soon to be joined by an-yet unnamed product from Rolls-Royce that threatens to rewrite the rule book all over again. Range Rover hopes its heritage, skill and innate style will hold sway against these new rivals. One salvo in the strike back is the new Range Rover SVAutobiography Dynamic, a stylish collision between the two worlds of SVO. Taking the engine from the Sport SVR and splicing it with the upscale interior of the Range Rover SVAutobiography LWB, has resulted in a car that’s fast, comfortable and capable. Despite its ultra-luxurious interior, the Dynamic’s supercharged V8 lurks under the bonnet to tempt you with torque, acceleration and visceral sound.
You can’t begin to imagine the mechanical prowess that goes into making something this tall and this heavy go around corners with confidence, let alone propel itself to 62mph in 5.1 seconds. Only rocket scientists and demolition crews are used to seeing objects this big move quite this fast. However, once you’ve floored the Dynamic a couple of times, the charm of rapid acceleration wears a little thin. Perhaps this is because you’re approaching the point of diminishing returns, the top of the graph, the point of compromise. Even the world’s most skilful engineer can’t override gravity, and while the Dynamic will corner with aplomb, the combination of mass, high seating position and sheer physical size causes your inner voice to scream in alarm at every apex. Even if you ignore these internal alarm bells, you’re unlikely to get close to the Dynamic’s limits, at least on a road. Nevertheless, the vast majority of owners will ignore the ‘Dynamic’ and simply reserve that bounteous power for the occasional overtaking manoeuvre, and instead get down to enjoying the ‘Autobiography’ ethos.
While SVO saves its very best for the LWB version of this car, there’s really very little difference between them apart from swisher rear seats and more legroom. Specification is essentially down to you, with every facet of the interior trim and outside paintwork up for grabs. Optional extras are few and far between, because pretty much everything you need is included, from the 10” Rear Seat Entertainment Screens and massively powerful Meridian sound system, to the perforated leather and big panoramic glass sunroof. Such is the nature of this market, however, that SVO manages to tempt buyers into putting a little bit of extra personality into their car – at a cost, of course.
The missing part of the equation is off-road ability. Like every single Range Rover model, the Dynamic can cross terrain you’d think twice about trying to hike through. If you do decide to tackle the rough stuff, the disconnect between interior ambience and exterior chaos is unbelievably pronounced – with water lapping at the wing mirrors and branches scraping the sunroof, and all wheels churning through foot-deep furrows of slippery mud, you can be sitting in air-conditioned comfort, listening to something suitably stirring on the multi-speaker surround sound system. At this point, we could say something flip about how Range Rover owners rarely push their cars to the limit, but the same could be said for any number of technologies. When was the last time you exceeded the dive limit on your Submariner? Simply knowing the ability is there is more than sufficient, and, as no-cost options like the electrically-stowed towbar attest, there are very few all-rounders as competent as this.
From £132,800.00; landrover.co.uk
