2023 Range Rover Sport - Test & Development

The New Range Rover Sport has made its global premiere with a dramatic world-first climb up a flooded dam spillway in Iceland.

The epic ascent saw New Range Rover Sport resist the surging torrent of water flowing down the ramp of the Karahnjukar Dam – the biggest of its kind in the world – at a rate of 750 tonnes per minute. A loss of traction risked plunging down the perilous 90m drop at the base of the spillway to the valley floor below.

The successful spillway ascent was screened for the first time at an exclusive launch event at Jaguar Land Rover’s Advanced Product Creation Centre at Gaydon, UK.

Official James Bond stunt driver Jessica Hawkins was behind the wheel as the New Range Rover Sport demonstrated its grip, traction, performance and composure, completing the latest in a series of challenges for Land Rover’s luxury performance SUV. Previous feats include a record-setting hill-climb at Pikes Peak, a first recorded crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the Arabian Peninsula and a first ascent of the 999 steps to Heaven’s Gate in China, in 2018.