Range Rover sets Nürburgring record

Is anyone else falling asleep? Weeks ago Toyota snagged the most boring record ever at the ’Ring. Now, Land Rover’s Range Rover Sport SVR has set the lap record for the fastest production SUV around the 20.8km circuit.

We were starting to reach for the No-Doz, until we saw the Range Rover Sport SVR’s lap time of 8min 14sec. That’s quick for a car based on a 2.3-tonne monolith. Seriously, check out what it’s beaten.

The best Holden managed with the VF Commodore SS-V Redline ute was 8min 19.5sec. Something svelte as a 987-series Cayman S needs 8min 17sec and the fastest front-wheel drive car up until 2011, the Renault Sport Mégane (R26.R), took 8min 16.9sec – all slower than the Rangie.

However, the SVR’s certainly got the right weaponry. Because it corners about as fast as a Panzer tank, the SVR packs the colossal 404kW 5.0-litre supercharged V8 from the Jaguar F-Type Coupe R. This helps it overcome parachute-like aerodynamic drag on the Nordschleife’s long straights.

Land Rover claims it as a ‘production’ SUV record because the SVR, planned to go on sale in 2015, is based on a ‘production example’. And while ’Ring records may be getting a bit out of hand, who knows, maybe we’ll see a slew of even-more steroidal sprog-haulers emerging from rival brands vying for the crown, like a Porsche Cayenne GT2, or a Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG Black. And they’ll certainly be more interesting than a lap time.