Car review: Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE D300

Palms relishing the steering wheel shod in luxurious Alcantara, massaging, cooled front seats easing the strain on a blisteringly hot stretch of Autoroute, cushy ride soaking up the bumps, ears seduced by the punchy Meridian Sound System, the Range Rover Velar is surely the perfect choice not just for family life in London, but on a French holiday tour too.

Starting in London - where this car’s relatively compact proportions make it easier to park and manoeuvre than the larger Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and where its chic R-Dynamic lines catch plenty of admiring glances - we swish down the A3 to the Brittany Ferries terminal.

First, we watch the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard slip into the distance, spotting HMS Victory and HMS Warrior from the deck of the considerably less streamlined - but certainly more comfortable - Bretagne, as we steam towards St Malo.

Then we consult the Velar’s hefty handbook to work out how to ‘tune’ it for continental roads. We’ve already negotiated the instrument panel menu to disengage the alarm (the rocking of the ferry sometimes sets them off, irritating other passengers and running batteries down). Now we want to switch the headlights to Continental driving mode and the speedo to KPH instead of MPH.

It sounds like child’s play, and if it’s as easy as it was to set the tyre pressure monitoring system to ‘heavy load’ after pumping a few more psi to accommodate four adult-sized passengers, a ton of luggage and, on our return, some wine, we’ll be happy.

The overnight crossing means there’s just enough time for a bite to eat, followed by a good night’s sleep in the comfy cabin, before we successfully follow those handbook instructions - phew - and roll off the ferry as dawn breaks over St Malo.

Despite the expense, toll roads are a great, fast, time-efficient way to cover distances in France, and the Velar performs admirably as we head deep into the Loire. The three-litre V6 diesel, producing 300 bhp and 700Nm of torque is always civilised, but at motorway speeds it is inaudible. Powerful too, and coupled to a smooth-as-can-be eight-speed gearbox.

The only sounds are a little, unobtrusive wind noise from the top of the windscreen... and BB King ’s twanging guitar on the 825-watt speakers and thumping subwoofer.

With 0-60mph coming up in just 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 150mph, there’s always plenty in reserve for swift, safe overtaking, or joining fast autoroutes. Coupled with the elevated seating position in this sleek 4X4, affording a great view down the road, the Velar is a very fine cruising machine indeed.

There’s plenty of room in the 673-litre boot and we’ve made the most of it, cramming in everything needed for a week away, including beach and camera gear, too many guidebooks which remain mostly unread, folding picnic chairs, rugs and so on.

Finally, we switch to smaller, winding country roads as we approach our rented gite at Bourgueil, and cram in four giant bags of shopping at the last minute too, for the week ahead. The Velar packs it all in. But first we switch to Dynamic mode - sharpening up steering, suspension, engine and gearbox response - to enjoy the last few miles.

You can select - on one of the Velar’s magical, large screens - whichever performance parameters you desire in Dynamic mode, tweaking here and there, and saving your settings for future use. As we near our destination, the on-board computer says we’re averaging 34mpg, which has included plodding through London, high-speed autoroutes, and that heavy load.

Our twins - one now a six-footer - have plenty of room in the back, the air-con is on ‘max’ to combat the 34-degree heat, and we all arrive refreshed.

The week-long break - including much lolling in the heat at the gite, but plenty of long-distance chateau-viewing too along the Loire and eating in French restaurants - proves a number of things. Firstly, the Velar - while being a superb, luxurious family car in London - is a great long-distance cruiser too, at once capacious, extremely comfortable and offering loads of driving enjoyment with sharp steering, rewarding handling and power. It sounds great when you accelerate hard.

It also shows that having extra ‘toys’ on board - Matrix LED headlights that cleverly, automatically, dip and rise on dark roads at night, lane departure warning for safety on the autoroute, electronic air suspension that gives a magic carpet ride, gearshift paddles for a sporty feel - make it all more fun and engaging.

But in the heat, on those long stretches of autoroute, the most valued features are probably those massaging front seats which also blow streams of cold air through tiny perforations, and the £1,115 panoramic roof, giving the kids a great view out.

I also like the sleek look that the Privacy Glass (£390) gives the lines, complemented by the R-Dynamic Black Pack.

My only grouch is my repeated inability - despite that handbook - to easily engage that otherwise superb Adaptive Cruise Control, via the shared control for Cruise and Speed Limit. It’s fiddly and needs a re-think.

Only grouch? Well, not quite. The Forward Alert function - which bongs when you get too close to an object ahead - is far too sensitive and bongs the whole time in normal driving, so I switch it off.

And while we’re in grumble mode, will French drivers ever learn how to use roundabouts? They speed perilously around the entire circumference in the ‘outside’ lane, erratically changing direction and seldom indicating when turning off. And on autoroutes, when you do finally achieve a safe gap from the car in front with Adaptive Cruise Control, they invariably feel compelled to ‘fill’ it - or sit on your tail. Madness. You could end up going backwards instead of forwards.

No wonder the French authorities are taking increasingly stringent steps to drive down their high fatality levels, making greater use of speed cameras and - this July - dropping speed limits from 90kph to 80kph on all secondary roads without central partitions, in a bid to save a further 400 lives a year.

One last gripe. Why do so many French restaurants all serve precisely the same, unimaginative fare? It’s hard to break away from identikit galettes, salades and omelettes, unless you pay through the nose. Even a lunch of galettes, plus drinks, can set you back £50 for a family of four. Buy a ‘proper’ but relatively modest meal – perhaps a little duck, or beef and a dessert – and you’re looking at £120. Not cheap.

Finally, in our dash for the ferry home (does anyone, ever, leave enough time?) we even put the Velar’s accomplished 4X4 system into action. We arrive near Caen at one of the major roundabout entrances to the ferryport - just in time - to find it securely barricaded off for a local festival. And not a deviation sign in sight.

We’re forced on a bonkers, zig-zagging cross-country, off-road tour of bumpy fields by hi-viz-clad festival officials, and send up plumes of dust as we scramble for the port....

We make it onto Brittany Ferries’ Mont St Michel in the nick of time, reflecting not just on the wonders of holidaying in beautiful France, but on the fact that few cars would have offered the same comfort, fun, long-leggedness, luxury, enjoyment - and off-road ability in our hour of need.

Details: Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE D300

Engine: 3.0-litre V6 twin turbo

Price: £70,530

Top speed: 150mph

0-60mph: 6.1 seconds

Emissions: 167 g/km

Combined MPG: 44.1.

More on Land Rover at bit.ly/2IzvHzu

• Information on how to sail from Portsmouth, Plymouth or Poole to Cherbourg, St Malo, Caen, Le Havre or Roscoff, with Brittany Ferries, at brittany-ferries.co.uk/