Range Rover Sport SVR sets Tianmen Road record

Land Rover's performance sport utility vehicle, driven by Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Ho-Pin Tung, has smashed the record for negotiating the 99 corners of the famous Tianmen Road.

The standard production Range Rover Sport SVR set a new unofficial record of nine minutes 51 seconds for the 11.3km ascent at an average speed of 68.8km/h, beating the previous best of 10 minutes 31 seconds - set by a Ferrari 458 Italia supercar in 2016.

With 567bhp available from its enhanced V8 supercharged engine, the new Range Rover Sport SVR is the fastest-ever Land Rover and can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 280km/h.

The new performance flagship features bold design revisions and increased use of lightweight materials to enhance performance, handling and agility.

Coupled with changes to the chassis, the new SVR delivers more dynamic responses without compromising traditional Range Rover comfort. The engineers at SVO focused on controlling pitch under heavy acceleration and braking, and changes to the damping hardware have improved turn-in, mid-corner grip and body control.

The record-breaking ascent is the latest challenge completed by the Range Rover Sport after the PHEV model made the dizzying climb to the iconic Heaven's Gate natural rock arch at the road's summit last month. The PHEV made its debut in a race against two-time open-water swimming world champion Keri-anne Payne and endurance athlete Ross Edgley in Devon, U.K.