Land Rover Range Rover Velar 2018 Review - Long-term Test #1

What's the Velar like to drive?

If there's one aspect of the Range Rover Velar that has won it universal applause, it's the design – inside and out.

But it's very easy to get carried away by striking looks and sensual interior fittings and layout. The real question is this: What's it like to drive?

To be frank, it's a mixed bag. The Velar on test is very quiet at open-road speeds, and trundles along with the engine ticking over just below 1400rpm when the speedo's registering 100km/h on the dial. Nevertheless, as quiet as it is, the diesel V6 is obviously a diesel.

Sure, it's free of the worst sort of labouring and vibration that have been hallmarks of diesels in the past, but it's not an engine that could ever be mistaken for a petrol V6. At least with its warbling engine note it doesn't sound like a four-cylinder diesel. There's a bit of turbo whine audible at revs up to around 2000rpm during light-load acceleration.

As the power and torque figures for this engine clearly illustrate – work in a rotational direction is everything here. Peak torque arrives from as low as 1500rpm and starts to tail off at 1750. Power maxes out at 4000rpm, according to Land Rover's stats for the Velar with this engine. In practice, that's how it feels to drive.

While the redline is up around 5000rpm, the diesel does run out of puff and there's not much point demanding more power beyond about 4000rpm. Changing up at this point yields faster acceleration in the next gear.

In the Dynamic driving mode the engine provides quick response and stronger, more measured acceleration for standing starts and acceleration up to the point where maximum power is available. The V6 also sounds sportier in this mode, particularly in the mid-range.

So the engine packs a fair whallop when you need performance, but operating in the car's Comfort mode it delivered its power in a way not intended to disturb Sir and Madam on the way to the country club – until such time as Sir was practically standing on the accelerator.

Close comfort

Although there is some lag in Comfort mode, the Velar is quite useful for cutting in and out of traffic with ease. There's rarely any need to floor the accelerator to get in front of another vehicle when merging – just a light touch of the pedal is all it takes... once it's on the move. Response is much better in Dynamic mode, but the Auto mode is probably the best compromise.

Fuel consumption over a fortnight was 10.8L/100km in mostly urban running, and 10.4L/100km in a test loop comprising a mix of country and arterial roads, plus a brief section of freeway. An idle-stop system conserves fuel in the urban environs, and restarts the engine with little of the compression-related bumping and rocking normally expected of a diesel. It's not as smooth as most petrol engines, but quite acceptable from a diesel. Those fuel consumption figures, however, are far removed from the official combined-cycle test figure, and significantly worse than even the claimed urban figure of 7.4L/100km. Short runs from a cold start do the Velar's fuel economy no favours.

The engine runs through a ZF eight-speed automatic, which is as smooth and capable as ever, but the shift paddles are largely redundant. But there are occasions when they might be of value. Turn the transmission selector another notch clockwise (to Sport mode) and the paddles will only give you the gear you've requested.

The transmission won't shift up automatically at redline. That's welcome in an off-road context, or even punting the Velar hard along sealed roads, although it's hard to imagine this family-oriented prestige SUV running at the sort of speed where holding a lower gear becomes a safety factor.

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Cornering/braking and ride

While the Velar is a bit of a snooze in Comfort mode, its handling and steering are transformed by changing to the Dynamic setting. All of a sudden the steering is way more tactile, the Velar adopts a flatter stance in corners and noses in towards the apex with the sort of response unanticipated in a prestige SUV.

Body roll begins to make its presence felt at higher speeds, but the Velar's handling encourages the driver to push on, even as the tyres begin to protest. This is where the Jaguar DNA from the F-PACE begins to shine through. Velar may just be the best handling, grippiest Range Rover in the line-up.

Braking gently is no problem, thanks to the nicely progressive pedal feel, and the brakes on the other hand are very strong, allied with the tremendous straight-line grip the Velar has to offer.

Even in Dynamic mode, the ride comfort of the Velar is not particularly harsh or punishing. Body control is very composed on country roads and it's supple indeed, when the system is switched to Comfort. Over ripples at low speed the Velar does exhibit some initial impact harshness. It takes a decent thump (like a speed hump) to get the suspension working.

The rest

Just a few quick points about the Velar, from a personal perspective. First up, I observed during the international launch of the Velar in Norway that the driver's seat is not to my liking. Nothing's changed in Australia. And that's despite the 20-way adjustment with position memory, massage and heating/cooling. It's a combination of shaping and cushioning that fails me.

Even using all the adjustment (including lumbar) to the full, I couldn't approach a configuration that was near enough to be comfortable and commanding for me. Despite the 20-way adjustment, the headrest appeared immune to my efforts to adjust it. It was canted forward enough that it was in contact with the back of my head much of the time.

For inexplicable reasons, I couldn't for the life of me find the means of entering a destination using a voice command in conjunction with the satellite navigation. Using the touch screen and digital keyboard on screen was time-consuming and frustrating also. JLR has provided better, more ergonomic satnav interfaces in the past.

On the plus side, the Velar's optional headlights ($3900 tacked on the price of the vehicle) are magnificent. They're just possibly the best headlights I've ever sampled. Highly responsive to on-coming traffic, the LED units would selectively dip multiple elements at the same time without leaving the driver blinded. They were adaptive too, for negotiating dark corners safely. And even on low-beam they were very effective at lighting the way.

Finally, the forward-collision warning is quite sensitive to vehicles in front; it would activate frequently during the fortnight the Velar was in my possession. Fortunately, it's not that sort of odious audible alarm that will have you jumping out of your skin.

As a postscript, this test vehicle came with about $36,000 worth of extras... Some, like the $4700 sunroof and the Meridian 23-speaker audio system for $5640, you could probably do without.

How much is a 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE D300? 
Price: $171,030 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 221kW/700Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined) / 10.4L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 167g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP (2017)