Over the weekend, Goodwood Festival of Speed attendees got to hear and see the latest Range Rover Sport SV hustle up the famed hill for the first time. While the sporty off-roader made its online debut earlier this year, few had seen it in person, and virtually none had heard the sound of its new engine.
Ahead of this year’s festival, however, Land Rover invited me to check out a limited edition variant of its sportiest model in Malibu. It’s called the Edition One, and it’s built specifically for the brand’s most loyal customers. As such, it requires an invitation to purchase, with deliveries scheduled to begin early next year.
The Edition One is mechanically identical to the standard SV, meaning you get the same 626-horsepower twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter BMW-sourced V8 mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It retains its all-wheel-drive system as well as its multiple drive modes. It’ll sprint to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and top out at 180 mph, figures that a decade ago would’ve been reserved for supercars.
The SV offers optional 23-inch carbon fiber wheels, which save 78 pounds in total, and massive carbon-ceramic brakes, which are 75-lb lighter than traditional steel stoppers. Its 6D Dynamics air suspension is also new, sporting hydraulically-linked air struts, which can control pitch and roll, circumventing the need for anti-roll bars.
Inside, the SV features the carmaker’s new body and soul seat, which combines four transducers aligned in its backrest to produce synchronized vibrations allowing the driver and front passenger to feel the music they’re listening to, a first for any Range Rover.
Aside from unique badging on its exterior and interior, the SV Edition One is also offered in a unique matte Carbon Bronze shade, which won’t be offered for the standard SV. This color alone is a $10,150 option and will only be available for 215 of the 675 units planned globally.
As mentioned in the intro, Land Rover is only selling the Edition One through an invitation process. As of writing, all 675 units have sold. Although official pricing has yet to be announced for the U.S. market, expect the limited model to start at around $180,000. Deliveries are planned to start early next year.