Russian Puts Knobby Tires Range Rover Sport SVR, Takes It Off-roading

How well does a $130,000 high-performance SUV handle a Russian off-road course?

Land Rover’s marketing material for the Range Rover Sport SVR says “no other Land Rover is more at home on the Autobahn.” That’s an interesting statement to come from a company that staked its claim on the back of off-road ruggedness. Naturally, one has to ask if a 550-horsepower SUV that gets to 60 miles per hour in 4.7 seconds carries that same toughness off the beaten path. Thankfully, the Russian automotive YouTube Channel AcademeG decided to test the SVR in a real-world off-road environment.

The plan revolved around fitting the Range Rover with knobby Goodyear 275/55/R20 Wrangler Duratrac tires and AcademeG immediately ran into some fitment issues. While test fitting them, the tires rubbed the fender liners a bit. We don’t speak Russian very well, but when the show’s host imitates the sound of the tires busting up the fender liners on the $130,000 luxury SUV, we’re pretty sure that translates to “It’ll be fine.” The only things we understand from the video’s opening, actually, are “Da, Da…” We again translate that as “What could possibly go wrong?”

The plan is pretty much flawless and the execution is, well…At least they give it a show. The show host takes the SVR out to a well-trodden off-roading spot to see how it stacks up with some seriously industrial-style, Soviet-era off-roading vehicles. Those include a classic-looking bright-green Lada Niva and what we think is a beastly GAZ forward-control truck. The Range Rover gets a dose of mudding that it handles well enough and it can take on some small, loose-fill inclines, but some other bits give it some trouble. Nevertheless, it could have gone far, far worse.

Watch and find out for yourself. If you speak Russian, we would also love to hear what some of the lines are.