Sussex 444 (Brown 144, Wright 96, Briggs 4-74) and 164 (Wright 61, Tomlinson 4-37) beat Hampshire 231 (Ervine 66*) and 285 (Carberry 79) by 92 runs
Scorecard
Seam bowler Matt Hobden and part-time spinner Luke Wells mopped up the Hampshire tail to give Sussex a 92-run win after Hampshire gave them a scare at the Ageas Bowl.
Hobden and Wells made light work of Hampshire's lower order - taking four of the six fourth-day wickets to open their LV= County Championship bid strongly.
Hampshire had been given a glimmer of hope after Michael Carberry scored 79 on Tuesday evening but regular wickets stunted the promoted side's chase.
Sussex captain Ed Joyce said: "It is great to get a win under our belts against a really good team. We let ourselves down with the bat in the second innings to give them a sniff of victory but our bowlers throughout the game were outstanding and so was our catching - both of those things helped us win the game."
Needing 197 on the final day Hampshire started poorly, Will Smith adding just one run to the overnight score before he tickled down leg side to a juggling Ben Brown off Hobden.
Hobden bagged a second, in a devastating five-over spell from the Hotel End, in his next over when he knocked over Adam Wheater's stumps. Ajmal Shahzad took his sixth scalp of the match to end an anti-climactic opening hour - Gareth Berg pushing outside off stump to short extra cover.
Chris Wood and Ervine put on 109 for the eighth wicket to save Hampshire's first innings but could not repeat their heroics - Ervine scored 42 but Wells picked up his wicket with his first ball to all but end the hosts' hopes.
Wood played positively, smashing a straight six off Wells as he and Briggs scored a flurry of runs - adding 26 in 5.2 overs together. Wood succumbed for 30 - edging Steve Magoffin behind - before Wells bowled James Tomlinson to wrap up victory.
Sussex commanded a first-innings lead of 213 after a fantastic century by Brown and excellent pace bowling, but after skipper Ed Joyce decided not to enforce the follow-on the visitors were skittled for 164.
England batsman Luke Wright started his season with impressive fifties in both innings, and Sussex will be enthused by their exciting pace attack who shared 16 of the 20 wickets.
Hampshire were given a sniff of a highest-ever home chase at the Ageas Bowl after a fast-paced start but regular wickets let down the home side.
Captain Jimmy Adams admitted he and his top-order colleagues under-achieved as his team were twice bowled out for under 300.
"It's not ideal or what we envisioned," he said. "I thought yesterday guys showed a lot of character and give us a chance of winning the game today - but it wasn't to be. We missed a big score from one of the top six which was the difference in the two teams.''
The 2014 Division Two champions will travel to Warwickshire next week, while Sussex will face the other promoted side Worcestershire at home.
