SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition aims to compete with the best Porsche has to offer in the Macan.
Shouldn’t it be called SVR?
When Land Rover decided to build a performance flagship of the Range Rover Sport several years ago, it additionally badged the SUV with the SVR letters.
Now it’s the Velar’s turn of going on steroids, although it goes by the name of SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition (for the sake of convenience, let’s call it SVA).
To underscore its racy ambitions, the Velar SVA gets subtle visual exterior and interior tweaks. The roof, for one, has a different colour from the body, while wheels measure 21in in standard form and 22in as an option.
Is it as powerful as the SVR?
Not really. When the Sport SVR first appeared, the brand’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 produced 550hp before rising to 575hp in the existing facelifted form.
The Velar SVA also uses the same engine and eight-speed transmission hardware as the Sport SVR albeit with 550hp.
Land Rover claims that the Velar SVA hits 100kph from standstill in 4.5sec, the same time as the Sport SVR. That’s probably due to the Velar’s smaller and lighter body.
Some chassis tuning has been carried out in the Velar SVA including tweaked differential lock, stability control, steering, dampers, anti-roll bars and all-wheel drive that can send 100% of torque to the rear wheels when necessary. There are bigger brakes, as well.
How do its rivals fare?
In terms of price position and image, the Porsche Macan Turbo is the closest rival. But when specced with Performance Pack, the 440hp Macan Turbo is a tenth of a second faster than the Velar SVA from 0-100kph.
Another alternative on the 10 million baht front of high-performance SUVs is the Mercedes-AMG GLC63 S Coupe, whose 510hp guarantees it an impressive 3.8sec acceleration time.
Last year, BMW issued some teasers of the X4 M in prototype form, although it’s still not known how much power the 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine will produce.
