Jaguar Land Rover’s 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is a wondrous engine, typically reserved for the brand’s fanciest offerings. Now it’s in a Discovery — but it’s not your average Discovery by a long shot.
Say hello to the 2019 Land Rover Discovery SVX, not to be confused with the old-school Subaru coupe of the same name. It claims to be the most extreme Land Rover yet, which is saying something, considering the automaker already builds some incredibly capable vehicles.
Under the hood is the aforementioned 5.0-liter supercharged V8. Output is a meaty 518 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque. Sadly, Land Rover is light on SVX specs, so we’re not sure how quickly it’ll reach 60 mph or anything like that, but straight-line performance is the opposite of this vehicle’s purpose.
It’s meant to go off road, and Land Rover made a bunch of modifications to the standard Discovery to boost its capabilities. On the lighter side, the forged aluminum wheels are wrapped in 275/55/20 Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tires. Getting a bit deeper, Land Rover raised both the unibody chassis and the air suspension system, using revised suspension components to increase the car’s breakover, departure and approach angles (though again, the specifics are missing).
It also packs something called Hydraulic Active Roll Control, which Land Rover didn’t really explain. My assumption is that it’s a hydraulic system that can couple and uncouple the roll bars at will, increasing wheel articulation when off-roading and improving ride quality when on the road.
Since it’s a Land Rover, it’s got capability built into its DNA. Its two-speed transfer case will help drivers traverse gnarly terrain, and it works in conjunction with a variety of other systems, including hill descent control and All-Terrain Progress Control, the latter of which holds a certain speed when you’re off-roading to give you a more controlled experience.
The SVX looks more hardcore than your average Discovery too, thanks to more aggressive bumpers, an LED light bar up top and a whole bunch of brightly colored trim bits. The interior features a Jaguar-style pistol-grip shifter in lieu of Land Rover’s usual rotary gear selector.
The 2019 Land Rover Discovery SVX will be hand-assembled at the Special Vehicle Operations Technical Center in the United Kingdom. Production is scheduled to begin in 2018, and pricing has not yet been confirmed.
