Never having much
exposure to Land Rover except for a fun test ride last year and exposed to
their thoughtful luxury, I was still pleasantly surprised with the snarling
2020 Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition. More like shocked,
really. Never mind the excessively long name, what is under the hood is what grabs
your aural attention.
Range Rover is the more
luxury focused model line-up versus the off-road oriented Land Rover. Its visually
striking for an SUV, with the black greenhouse and 21” large split-spoke wheels
with red calibers. A nice contrast with the Indus Silver paint. The upturned
rear end styling gives it a high stance appearance with very noticeable
tailpipe shrouds. More on that later.
Despite the opulence, the
engine has a small block V-8 with an unholy roar without the supercharger
whine. It’s a luxurious, muscle SUV that is very quiet when not a full throttle
and wonderfully comfortable at highway speeds. The engine settles down, tire
noise isn’t noticeable. Even with its weight, height and 550hp from the
corporate family shared supercharged 5 liter V-8, 75mph+ cruising it provided
22mpg. Increasing to 80mph saw 1800rpm on the tachometer for reference. Of
course, fuel economy won’t be stellar, its rated at 15 city and 20 highway.
That is offset with the convenience of a 21.7 gallon fuel tank..
How fast is it? For
reference, Car and Driver recently tested the acceleration, achieving a 12.2 second
ET @ 115mph in the quarter mile. Despite weighing 4595lbs, there is no doubt
whatsoever this is achievable.
It’s not the tightest
handling SUV, but performs the way you’d expect a luxury sedan to corner but with
very little body roll. Head toss is unnoticeable unless going over large
pavement differences like a sloped driveway to a crowned street. The tires are
Pirelli Scorpion All-Seasons, 265/45/21s but optional 265/40/22s being a wheel
and tire option. The Velar looks fairly large, but with the 113.1” wheelbase,
the turning radius is 38.5’ which was perfectly fine for parking lot
maneuvering. Parked next to the wife’s Audi SQ5, I was surprised to see that
the peak of the Audi’s roof was higher than the Velar.
The perforated seats are
not actively ventilated but it is an available option. They are heated and have
a massage function as part of this model edition. The side bolsters are
adjustable by rotating one of the adjustment knobs, and your back forms to them
to the seats nicely when the tension melts. And that’s before the massage! Like
your favorite pillow but cut into a tiny piece, the headrests are perfect in
their cushioning. There’s plenty of room for rear passengers and cargo, being a
good sized two-row SUV. The rear occupants also have a sweet little digital
display with left and right-side temperature, fan speed and air direction
options with matching metal bezels.
The interior touchscreens
work great, although there are a lot of small icons to deal with. But the icons
are intuitive and during the one week never referred to the owner’s manual
except to discover the seat adjustment knob rotates for the aforementioned
lateral bolster support. Like many touchscreens, the fingerprints are ever
present.
Commuting in the Velar SV
is effortless, the daily slog of stop and go traffic is made easier with the
driver assist systems. Land Rover calls their lane keeping assist Incontrol. It
provides small, constant steering corrections which conveys it’s always working
during the lane keeping and does a very good job. You get the idea it’s never
sleeping. Of course, turn lanes and other openings to the road can confuse it a
bit.
The Adaptive Cruise
Control in bumper to bumper and high
speed traffic works quite well except, like other systems, it has a delay in
braking while a vehicle enters your lane and the following distance gets too
close. In traffic, it slows nicely except when coming to a complete stop when
it’s not as smooth as a human gently braking. It still doesn’t recognize brake
lights in the distance though so setting the furthest following distance has
it’s advantages. For basic commuting, it’s great. One nice feature is the lane keeping
assist and cruise control resumes when manually back on the throttle which is
very convenient.
The driver centric
controls and displays are first rate. The steering wheel buttons are easily
manipulated by the thumbs. The beautiful center color display is configurable,
with map, entertainment and vehicle information displayed. The heads up display
is also large with multiple information displayed such as mph, transmission
selection, incline, wheel direction and more depending on the mode selected.
The various drive modes
provide ride height, suspension firmness, throttle response and exhaust
differences. Comfort was just fine in terms of engine response and driving. It
wasn’t too mushy, the throttle response satisfactory, but the louder exhaust option
was preferred. You get that in the Dynamic mode, and the ride was still very
nice but some expected stiffness over bumps. The that engine note just stays
with you though. Using the paddle shifters becomes habit forming. It’s as if
you’re sitting much lower, in a small two-door, on a track….
When selecting the Access
height mode, which as you guessed is for loading/unloading, looks perfect with
a lower stance. Unfortunately, above 22mph or so it reverts to the normal ride
height of 8.1” of ground clearance. The parking mode seemed to sense when the
vehicle was about to park and would shut off the vehicle when the rotary gear
selector, which rises up when the vehicle is started, is turned to park,
another little occasional thoughtful feature.
Land Rover doesn’t just
make street queens and they don’t’ mess around. When the large, 511 page owner’s
manual was finally consulted to get some specifications, holy cow (pun) the
leather envelope smelled really good. Assuming the highest ground clearance of
9.9” is selected, the approach angle is 24 degrees, departure is 26 degrees.
The wading depth is 25.6” but the Land Rover USA website states 23.6” . I am
curious to know what system or component is at 26” or higher where its not
recommended getting emerged in water. Another surprise found in the owner’s
manual is the service interval is 16,000 miles. Significantly higher than many
cars I’ve come across.
Complaints are minor. The
infotainment system glitched a couple of times even though Apple CarPlay would
start immediately. This in no way would this stop us from considering this SUV,
even at it’s as-tested price of $94,655. The split lid center console was
especially appreciated, even though it was a little shallow and small. Two
minor things stuck out from a questionable visual standpoint. The exhaust
shrouds have a large gap from the tailpipe. Approaching the vehicle, you can
easily see the ground between them. The other shocker was when opening the
hood, there was no plastic cladding hiding the supercharger and engine. That
seems very unusual these days!
Land Rover is the real
deal when it comes to SUVs. This is part of the Special Vehicle Operations
division and it shows. Not only that, they operate three! Land Rover Experience
centers in the US. Ranging from 1 hour to a full day with various tailored programs,
they operate at The Quail Lodge in Carmel, California, Biltmore hotel in
Asheville, North Carolina and Equinox resort in Vermont. Speaking from
experience at The Quail location, it’s not some easy trail, it is serious
off-roading with inclines and declines, spotters, etc. You’ve got to give
credit to them for offering multiple locations for driving experiences when
driving schools in general have had a rough go lately.
The Velar SV is truly a
luxo-muscle SUV, offering utility, opulence and performance making great sounds
outside the cabin and inside via the stereo. A complete package that makes it a
serious consideration for those seeking SUVs with that combination.
Check out the photo album
on the Barely Streetable Facebook page to get a really good idea of the
interior design and features.
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