Land Rover launches 404kW Range Rover Velar SVA

Land Rover has confirmed it will unleash a new Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic flagship equipped with a 404kW version of its supercharged 5.0-litre V8.

Powered by the same muscular powertrain as its Jaguar F-PACE SVR cousin, the new Range Rover Velar SVA has been created to rival performance SUVs like the Porsche Macan Turbo.

On sale in Europe now, Land Rover says that with the powerful supercharged 5.0-litre V8 on board, prodicing a mighty 680Nm, the Range Rover Velar SVA can hit 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds and top out at 274km/h.

That's 0.1 second slower to 100km/h than Porsche claims for its Macan Turbo, with a 2km/h faster top speed -- although the Porsche and the new Velar SVA are both blown into the weeds by the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S and the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Q, which are capable of hitting 100km/h in an incredible 3.8 seconds, with the latter topping out at 283km/h.

Instead of outright sporting thrills, Land Rover says its Velar SVA has been tailored to provide "traditional Range Rover refinement and comfort", hence it doesn't wear the 'SVR' badge reserved for the fastest, most hard-core models.

That said, the Velar SVA come with a louder active sports exhaust system that's claimed to shed around 7.1kg of weight compared to the standard version.

Reigning in all the performance, the new flagship Velar SVA gets powerful four-piston brake callipers up front with large 395mm discs and fractionally larger 396mm rear rotors.

Improving body control, the fastest-ever Range Rover Velar comes with a tweaked version of the standard car's air suspension that's combined with thicker anti-roll bars and revised adaptive damping.

Both the SVA's steering and all-wheel drive systems, plus its eight-speed transmission and active rear differential, have all been re-tuned to maximise performance.

Finally, a stronger transfer box was added to the all-wheel drive to cope with the increased torque peak.

Externally, the Velar SVA gets new quad tailpipes, larger front air intakes, a new grille and redesigned rear bumper.

Land Rover says the Velar SVA will also come with a set of lightweight 21- or 22-inch alloy wheels with bespoke badging and new colour choices.

Inside, the 20-way adjustable, heated, cooled and massaging sports seats come in quilted leather. There's a sports steering wheel, aluminium gearshift paddles and a new knurled chrome finish for the rotary gear selector. An optional carbon-fibre finish is now an option.

In the UK the Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic is priced at £86,120 ($A154,000). Australian pricing and delivery timing is yet to be confirmed.