Range Rover Velar 2017 review – a flawed but beautiful British classic

The world’s headlong rush into Sport Utility Vehicles gives Land Rover something of a problem. As an SUV specialist, where do you go when everyone else is parked on your lawn? Low cunning suggests that if rivals zig, you should zag, so this, the new Velar is the least SUV-like SUV Land Rover has ever produced.

It’s also the fourth Range Rover, which sounds a bit like a long-lost Frederick Forsyth thriller, but being a Rangey allows a lot of leeway with costings and pricing. There’s expensive stuff in here: motorised door handles; experimental furniture fabrics; and state-of-the-art screen technology. Prices start at £44,830, but expect average transactions to be in the early £60,000 bracket.

It's also the first Range Rover to be aimed as much as the aesthete as authentic (if relative) off-road superiority. With its short front and long rear overhangs and gently sloping roof, it’s one of the most complete pieces of design since the 1998 TT rolled out of Volkswagen's Californian design studio. Under Gerry McGovern, Land Rover design is self referential to the point of solipsism, but I’d suggest that in its fine proportions, the Velar carries the stamp of the first-ever SUV, Jeep's Wagoneer designed by Brooks Stevens in the early Sixties.

Velar is a Latin word meaning sail or veiled, which was the badging on all 26 prototypes of the original 1970 Range Rover – it’s clever to revive that redolent name. The aluminium body framing and drivetrains are shared with Jaguar’s F-Pace, which in turn come from the XF saloon. It's lower and longer than its bigger and smaller Range Rover sisters, with a lower roof height and longer wheelbase relative to its 4.8-metre length.

The five-seat cabin is pretty conventional from the facia backward, with good head room, but slightly limited leg room for the rear bench, which splits 40/20/40 per cent with a top-hinged hatchback and 673 litres of load space.

But check out that dashboard, based around a single cross-beam design with twin configurable touch screens using Panasonic's Magic Dial technology first introduced at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in 2016. This really is a vision of a button less future, where virtually everything is hidden behind toughened glass, but the triple rotary dials (heating and audio volume) float on top of the screen.  

It's been a lot of work for Land Rover and Panasonic and the results are like no other car and work superbly. Similarly the new high-quality fabric upholstery option is a first from furniture company Kavadrat, providing a slightly strange, but novel seating feel.

Four main engines are offered: two petrol and two diesels. Most popular will be JLR's vocal but willing four-cylinder turbodiesel producing 177bhp or 236bhp. There's also the company's newly developed 2-litre turbo petrol four pot in 246 and 295bhp forms. The V6 units are the 295bhp turbocharged three-litre 'Lion' turbodiesel and the 374bhp supercharged three-litre unit.

Performance across the range runs from top speeds of 130mph to 155mph, 0-60mph acceleration from 8.4sec to 5.3sec and CO2 emissions from 214g/km to 142g/km. All vehicles use ZF's eight-speed automatic transmission and have four wheel drive.

The driveline is much like the F-Pace, but with subtle differences to give more off-road agility as well as more capable body geometry and a deeper wading depth (up to 650mm). There's optional air suspension for its front wishbone and rear multi-link suspension. The engine sits longitudinally in the frame and drive to the front wheels is via a power take off into an electronically controlled multiplate clutch pack.

In addition there is a multi clutch pack in the rear axle acting much like the old Salisbury-type limited-slip differential to limit wheelspin, but again controlled electronically. While there's no low-ratio transfer box (which limits the towing weight to 2.5 tonnes), Velar does have a sophisticated set of algorithms to give a range of ride-height and drivetrain options for different terrains.

It makes for a formidable off-road prowess, although as we discovered during a tricky scramble up to a skiing chair-lift station on top of a mountain, it asks rather a lot of the brakes to control individual wheel slip and they were exceedingly smelly and hot at summit.

There are five trim levels: Standard; S which costs another £5,590 and introduces 19-inch wheels and air suspension, leather upholstery and a powered tailgate. SE costs another £3,940 with 20-inch wheels, matrix LED headlamps, 12.3-inch TFT screen and 360-degree parking view. HSE is £6,500 more and gives 21-inch wheels, higher quality leather, power adjustable steering column, adaptive cruise control, park assist and lane keeping assist. R-Dynamic is the top model costing an additional £2,420 and there is also a fully-loaded First Edition trim level starting at £83,350 which is about the price of a Range Rover Vogue SE.

While most will chose the tax- and fuel-efficient two-litre turbodiesel, that model wasn’t available so we drove the three-litre oil burner instead. It delivers 516lb ft of torque, a top speed of 150mph, 0-62mph in 6.4sec, 44.1mpg (we managed 32.1mpg) and 167g/km of CO2.

It’s a growly cast-iron, single-turbo 24-valve V6, built in Dagenham, a legacy of Ford and Peugeot development and quite heavy (so equipped the Velar weighs almost 2.1 tonnes). It suits the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission quite brilliantly, however. Performance is strong, with a boosted mid-range slug of torque, but while the engine is smooth and largely refined, you are always aware of just how hard it is working. That gearbox rarely misses a beat, only when easing off after hard acceleration and then getting back on the throttle does it snap abruptly up a ratio.

To drive Velar feels soft and not as precise as the F-Pace. The air-suspended body rolls gently through the turns, but it doesn't flop around and the damping control is up to it and stops it cornering on those flush fitting door handles. Drive it hard in the softest suspension setting and short undulations will have the body floating slightly, but the auto function tightens the damping up.

Similarly it galumphs along in a straight line and even on smooth roads it pitches diagonally requiring constant steering corrections and feeling busy. And those big 21-inch tyres are simply harsh across sharp-edged holes and over sleeping policemen – the 22-inch options are even worse.

The steering is light but accurate and it's easy to place the nose in a corner, though the heavy nose will push wide at speed. There isn't a huge amount of feedback to the wheel, but there's a lovely lift off the dead-ahead position, which gives a feeling of confidence. You'd not want to throw this car around as you would the Jaguar or the Range Rover Sport, but for long journeys the comfort is outstanding, which somehow fits the Velar's ethos.

It's expensive and for all the coachwork's charm and otherworldliness of the cabin, there are a few bum notes apart from the slightly iffy ride. Those door handles look naff, the door pockets are as gloomy as Gollum's cave, I never got quite comfortable in the driver's seat, and the uppermost touch screen is an inch too shallow to show a decent amount of sat nav map.

But when you see the Velar, somehow none of this matters much. I hate to write this, for there are some folk who will never, ever forgive Land Rover for what it has done to the new Discovery, but Velar is so handsome that when you walk away, the temptation to turn and just take one more look is well-nigh irresistible.

Length 4,803mm, width 1,930mm (no mirrors), height 1,665mm, wheelbase: 2,874mm. Weight 2,065. Boot 673/1,731 litres.

Range Rover Velar – full specifications

Range Rover Velar 3.0L D300 R-Dynamic HSE

TESTED 3-litre V6 turbodiesel engine with ZF eight-speed fully automatic transmission. Four-wheel drive via active multiplate clutches in the centre and the rear differential

PRICE/ON SALE from £44,830 to £85,450. As tested £70,530. On sale now. POWER/TORQUE 295bhp @ 4,000rpm, 516lb ft @ 1,500rpm

TOP SPEED 150mph

ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 6.5sec

FUEL ECONOMY 44.1mpg/mpg (EU Combined), 32.mpg on test.

CO2 EMISSIONS 167g/km

VED BAND 151 - 170 £500 first year, then £140

VERDICT  Intriguing and handsome design, which makes other SUVs look a bit too, erm utility, but it's not all brilliant. It rides harshly on the big wheels and the body control is fidgety on motorways and too soft for enthusiastic driving. The facia is a delight, but rear leg room isn't commodious and it's bloomin' expensive. Still quite a lovely thing, though.  

TELEGRAPH RATING four stars out of five

Range Rover Velar – rivals

Volvo XC60 from £32,935

You need to spend £34,465 to get a 4x4 version of this lovely SUV and that also gets the heavy but lovely 5-pot 2.4 diesel. Looks great, ride is spiffy and the cabin is a delight.

Jaguar F-Pace from £34,730

Elegant and understated, the F-Pace is a solid hit and we think it will be a rival for the Velar (as will the seven-seat Range Rover Sport). F-Pace is cheaper, a better road drive, but not as charming inside or as sophisticated off road than Velar. 

Mercedes GLE from £51,290

You need the optional off-road pack to give equal (or better) off-road performance and the diesel option is the older 2.2-litre four pot unit, but the GLE is a solid performer, with good handling and a terrific nine-speed automatic.  

BMW X5 from £48,140

One of the first car-derived SUVs from a non-specialist car (not withstanding the M-class), the X5 is a class act. Understated to the point of invisibility with prices for the powerful and economical diesel in 4x4 form starting at £50,410.

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