Remember when the Range Rover Sport SVR managed to climb up Heaven’s Gate in Tianmen, China? Well, it looks like the SUV’s adventures in the Chinese locale isn’t done. Not content with its first achievement, the most powerful Range Rover in history had a go at tackling the infamous road’s 99 twists and turns. The goal was to beat the current record, which is held by the Ferrari 458 Italia after posting a time of 10:31 earlier this decade. So did the Range Rover Sport SVR do it? Let’s just say that you’ll be surprised by the result.

We’ll give away the ending and tell you that the Range Rover Sport SVR not only beat the Ferrari 458 Italia’s record, it absolutely obliterated it. Unofficially, the Range Rover Sport SVR, with Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Ho-Pin Tung behind the wheel, clocked in a time of 9:51. You don’t need to be a genius in math to figure out that the Range Rover Sport SVR posted a lap time that’s 40 seconds faster than the time posted by the 458 Italia. ‘Incredible’ isn’t even the proper word to describe it. What the Range Rover Sport SVR did is beyond words.

To make the SUV’s feat more impressive, it actually managed to drive around the length of the road at an average speed of 42.8 mph, or roughly 68.8 kmh, by comparison. It may not sound like much, but imagine tackling the 99-turn Tianmen Road at speeds that are slightly over the speed limit of most American highways. Pretty scary, right? The man behind the wheel of the SUV thought so.

"I am used to the high speeds of racing, but this was even more demanding,” Tung said. “Maintaining concentration was the biggest challenge, as the road twists and turns constantly with huge drop-offs to the side. The consequences of getting it wrong would have been really serious, so I focused on establishing a rhythm. The Range Rover Sport SVR made this easy – it may be an SUV, but it has the performance and agility of a supercar and can take you to places a supercar can only dream of."

The Range Rover Sport SVR’s new achievement is another testament to its abilities. We already know that it’s the most powerful Range Rover in history. Land Rover made sure of that with its constant reminders that the SUV packs 567 horsepower out of its supercharged V-8 engine. But it’s become more than just that, too. The SUV has become a crowning achievement for Land Rover. In a lot of ways, Tung is right. The Range Rover Sport SVR is a supercar in SUV clothing.

References

Read our full review on the 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR.

Read more Land Rover news.

Read more car video news.