This week, we’re looking at the lavish 2023 Land Rover Range Rover SV. It’s wild to think how far the epochal proto-luxury SUV has come since its debut in 1970, and how it’s been a hot commodity the entire time. It was based on a novel premise that’s since become the standard: Build a truck that could be a capable utility vehicle through clever engineering and rugged design, and be reasonably accommodating for its passengers. This was a fairly fresh idea, as the SUV acronym we know now wouldn’t be coined for decades, and trucks were just for work.
The original Land Rover brought an impressive amount of technology to the table, like its Buick-derived aluminum V8 engine and coil spring suspension, instead of the leaf springs typically used in trucks. On its debut, it wasn’t even close to being luxurious as we’d define it now, not having power steering, an automatic transmission, or even a second set of doors. The Range Rover’s luxury was that it drove great on or off road and could seemingly handle anything. There was no single vehicle that was so good at so many things before it.
It helped that it had a serious ace up its sleeve — the original Range Rover was really, really, ridiculously good looking. “An exemplary work of industrial design,” or so said its plaque at the Louvre. Fun fact: that design was something of an accident. The original prototypes had rudimentary stamped aluminum body panels, meant as placeholders so the test cars could be driven around. The team liked this squared-off look so much that they basically just tidied up the rough edges and put it into production.
It became an instant hit, and quickly grew wildly popular around the world. What was originally intended to be a pragmatic field vehicle for military officers and farmers, quickly became sought after by fashionistas, royalty, intrepid explorers, aristocratic land owners, and more than a few autocratic rulers of developing nations. They all demanded more luxury, and the Range Rover steadily grew ever more comfortable, eventually becoming famously fancy.
In our modern era, the full-size luxury SUV market segment has swelled significantly. It’s become crowded with exceptional talent from nearly every manufacturer, even the upper-crust marques like Bentley, Rolls Royce, and Maybach. Land Rover’s own Range Rover Velar, Sport, and Evoque have made things even more convoluted, and so the OG big-body Rangie has undergone some serious renovation to set itself apart. This fifth generation truck, introduced last year, sports a crisp and decidedly futuristic design that looks every bit as distinct as its top shelf rivals.
Our beyond-loaded SV Long Wheelbase tester takes the luxurious directive to new heights, effectively turning it into an opulent off-road limousine. The SV trim is not just a loaded model, but rather opens the doors to a slew of additional bespoke options to push the big Rangie over the top. The most obvious of which is our Rangie’s striking color scheme, which adds Corinthian Bronze lettering and trim as part of the SV Serenity exterior theme, and opens the doors to a bronze roof and wheel accents, too. It pops against our tester’s Icy White tri-coat pearlescent paint, a $13,000 option all on its own.
Of course, the cabin of the Rangie is where the money is. The SV Serenity theme continues inside, with Noble Chrome trim and a white ceramic shifter and dials complimenting the Natural Cream Ash wood trim and Perlino white and Caraway brown extended leather, which extends over nearly every surface including the door sills and headliner.
JLR’s Pivi Pro infotainment is displayed on a beautiful floating 13.1-inch screen, and audio is provided by a 1600-watt Meridian sound system with 35 speakers. It works in conjunction with a silent noise floor, courtesy of double-pane acoustic glass, active noise cancelling, and thick carpet to produce a phenomenal listening experience.
The real showstopper in the cabin is the back seat. This long Rangie forgoes an optional third row, and greatly sacrifices cargo capacity, in exchange for the SV Signature Suite. This adds 24-way adjustable rear seats, with the obvious heating and ventilation, and adds hot stone massage function and the ability to recline fully, with power extending thigh support and footrests. I, fully extended at six-foot-one, could not reach the seat in front of me.
There’s more decadence, controlled by the touchscreen on the centre console between the seats. There are screens on the backs of the front seats, with HDMI inputs and sets of headphones tucked neatly in the door pockets. There’s a powered table that rises out, slides backwards, and folds out of the wood veneer centre console. Between the seats lies a refrigerator, conveniently shaped to house a pair of bespoke SV glasses and a bottle of whatever is your pleasure — though it’s specifically sized to house champagne. There’s a powered pair of cupholders just for said glasses, too.
This extravagant option, for all its resplendent comfort, makes our tester pretty close to useless as a real car for real people. I wasn’t being hyperbolic when I said it’s a limo; this Rangie is almost exclusively for VIPs, C-Suite executives, and people who have a driver in their entourage to be chauffeured around in. The fixed fridge compromises cargo space, which shouldn’t be an issue — your client’s cargo is likely in a separate vehicle, anyway. It bears mentioning that this option will set you back a whopping $25,000; it’s not meant for your kids and the dog.
Despite being built for chauffeuring, this doesn’t mean the super voluptuous SV isn’t a treat for the driver as well. Range Rovers have always been magnificent to drive, and this is no different. Motivation is handled by a twin-turbo V8 borrowed from BMW, routed through the same ZF eight-speed automatic that’s so perfectly paired with BMW’s engines. It provides effortless and thoroughly abundant acceleration at any speed, with a healthy eight-cylinder growl that Land Rover could have tuned out, but delightfully decided not to.
There’s more going on than raw might here, though. The mad scientists at Land Rover were the first to bring air suspension to market decades ago, and they’re quite possibly still the best in the game. The big Rangie doesn’t hide from its heft, but it does a fantastic job managing it, staying level through all but the hardest cornering. At speeds high or low, it’s gifted with an astonishing ability to soak up bumps, broken pavement, and the secondary forces that come with massive 23-inch wheels. It doesn’t so much glide over the road as it presides over it, aware of what’s happening, and totally nonplussed by it all.
The driver controls feel organic and linear, particularly the steering, which manages the deft balancing act of being glass-smooth and fairly communicative, inspiring confidence in its hired pilot without rousing them out of their resplendent splendour. It happened multiple times where someone on our staff would scoff “It costs how much?!?” followed by a short test drive, and then the same breathless “oh my God, that is so nice” every single time. It’s genuinely incredible how well this bourgeois behemoth drives.
On that note, there is the awkward issue of the price tag. It’s never been a secret that Range Rovers are not exactly affordable vehicles, but this decked out SV is something else. With the long wheelbase body, 500-plus-horsepower engine, colour-coded trim, roof, and wheels, deep white paint, extended leather, ceramic controls, and executive seating, our tester rung up to a staggering $307,155 before HST and the luxury tax. A kingly price tag fit for royalty, I suppose.
The 2023 Land Rover Range Rover SV is expensive, almost bewilderingly so, but it offers something else Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Porsche, and BMW’s M division can’t: it’s a Range Rover. It looks like a Range Rover, it feels like a Range Rover, it’s the original and still-undisputed king of the segment. Everyone else has elevated their game, and Land Rover has responded in kind with one of the most spectacularly opulent vehicles money can buy. It may be really far removed from its progenitor, but it remains a beautiful, capable vehicle that can do everything with style and aplomb. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
