Range Rover Sport SVR at Goodwood – more SVR models on the way from JLR

Range Rover Sport SVR on the hillclimb at Goodwood Last week, on the run-up to the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Land Rover revealed the most powerful road car they’ve ever created – the Range Rover Sport SVR. The Sport SVR comes with the 5.0 litre V8 Supercharged petrol engine from cars like the Jaguar XFR-S and XJR, delivering 542bhp and the promise of performance figures that come within shouting distance of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, complete with a thunderous V8 soundtrack and most of its off-road abilities intact. But after speculating on what Land Rover would call their range topping Sport – R, RS, SO or something else – that turned in to ‘something else’ with the arrival of a new JLR moniker – SVR.

Banks and Dallenbach ready for Pikes Peak with 1,400 hp

Not content to rest on his laurels after developing new diesel engines for military applications, Gale Banks and his company Banks Power will run a 1,400-hp, 1,301 lb-ft methanol-fueled vehicle up the now completely paved course at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 8-12. Banks teamed up with Paul Dallenbach and Leonard Arnold of Dallenbach Racing for the occasion.

Aston Martin in talks with Mercedes for engine supply

It has seemed for some time that Aston Martin’s wish-list for future engines revolved around Mercedes. They currently use a V12 developed from Ford’s Mondeo V6 and a V8 that’s a development of the 4.2 litre that was in Jaguars (and Range Rovers) until a few years ago, but new engines (and new platforms) are vital if Aston are to remain competitive. Before the recent investment in AML by Investindustrial, there were plans for Aston to use both engines and platforms from Mercedes (the Lagonda SUV was built on the underpinnings of the Mercedes GL) and even the possibility that Aston Martin would design and build the next generation Maybach.