Range Rover Velar review

Driving position

There’s no doubt you’re in a Range Rover when you’re driving the Velar. You might not get the full armchair experience of Land Rover’s bigger models, but the seats are sumptuous, making you feel like the royalty of the road.

Despite the Velar’s chunky dimensions and large pillars, masked quite well but its trendy design, outward visibility is akin to a much smaller crossover. The A-pillars don’t block forward vision too much, and even with a sloping roofline, this mid-sized Range Rover has a large rear window.

It’s easy to get comfortable, and we found it easy to reach the right position with the standard 14-way electrically adjustable seats. The optional 20-way seats take this up a notch, or six.

Tech and features

The first-gen Range Rover Velar spans several years on sale, and a mid-life facelift in 2023 brought about a revamped look, especially inside, where the differences are most noticeable.

We drove this facelifted version, which means we put the new and much-improved Pivi Pro infotainment system to the test.

Land Rover used to get a lot of criticism for its in-car tech, which was less responsive and lacking in features compared with its luxurious German rivals.

Thankfully, the new Pivi Pro system is a breeze. We experienced very little lag and found everything we needed on the easy-to-use system.

Earlier models had three screens – a digital instrument display, an infotainment system and an extra display on the centre console for controlling car functions like its very capable four-wheel-drive system.

Physical temperature dials were integrated into this extra screen, which made adjusting the climate on the go easy.

Land Rover has done away with these for the facelifted model – instead, everything is controlled via the touchscreen.

Ordinarily, we would complain about locking core controls behind several menus on a screen, but the Velar’s engineers thought about this.

With some clever software design, you can tap and slide the temperature icon to change it with one gesture, rather than having to open up the full climate control panel. The same goes for the volume. All very handy.

There are other tricks throughout the car that add to the premium Range Rover feel, like the sunblind that auto-closes when you turn off the engine to stop the cabin from getting too hot in the sun.

We also really appreciate that you can disable adaptive cruise control and use plain old cruise control. When the sensors got blocked by extremely heavy rain (not a Velar-only problem; any car would’ve struggled), we switched back to classic cruise control and kept going.

Engines and power

You can pick from a reasonable selection of engines in the Velar, which isn’t often the case with other SUVs.

There are four- and six-cylinder engines to pick from, as well as petrol, diesel, mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid options.

We drove the 3.0-litre D300 in the Discovery, which has noticeably more poke than the 2.0-litre D200 without sacrificing too many miles per gallon.

The other 3.0-litre engine you can get in the Velar is the P400 – it’ll do 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds and sounds the part, too. Although, anyone looking at this should consider the P400e plug-in hybrid instead. It has a 2.0-litre petrol engine but also a 40-mile electric-only range, plus it’s the quickest Velar to 62mph (if only by 0.1 second).

It’s also worth noting that the Range Rover Velar was one of the first plug-in hybrids to feature a CCS connector for tethered charging at motorway services (as well as the Type 2 connector and separate cable for charging at home).

Handling and ride comfort

We tested the Range Rover Velar with its standard suspension setup rather than the optional air suspension.

It does a good job of flowing over undulating surfaces, but it still feels connected to the road if you’re a keen driver.

If you prefer a more cushy ride, we’ve had experience with Land Rover’s air suspension in other models, and it tackled potholes with a bit more grace.

Some rivals, like the Porsche Macan and BMW X4, feel more agile to drive, but the Velar is still able to handle sharp corners at quite some pace.

Boot space

Land Rover quotes its boot space as measured with liquid to the headliner, whereas other manufacturers usually use industry-standard VDA litre blocks to the parcel shelf.

According to Land Rover, the Velar has a 748-litre boot, or 625 litres in the case of the P400e. This extends to 1,811/1,693 litres with the seats down.

It’s generally said that the Range Rover Velar has around 550 litres of storage space if you use the VDA method, depending on your source.

Many of this car’s coupé-shaped rivals have 50-100 litres less storage, which makes the Range Rover Velar an excellent family car.

We had no problem loading a weekend’s worth of scuba diving kit into the boot, but even if you’re only packing in a few light bags, four bag hooks keep them from sliding around.

Rear seats

Don’t be put off by the Velar’s sloping roofline because rear headroom is good. Legroom is average – it could be better given this car’s comfort credentials, but six-footers still won’t have any problem fitting in.

There’s a hump in the middle of the floor, so foot room is more snug, but this is at least an SUV that can fit three adults side-by-side.

Storage solutions

We really liked the facelifted Velar’s minimalist interior – nothing needs to be on show.

There’s a wireless phone charger and some extra storage behind a pop-out door under the screen. And the armrest slides to reveal/cover two deep cupholders as you please.

You can fit a few bottles and other bits in each of the door bins, too, to keep clutter out of the way.

In the back, there’s a central armrest with integrated cupholders.

Towing

All Velar models can tow a 750kg unbraked trailer and a braked trailer weighing at least two tonnes.

Many of the petrol and diesel models can tow up to 2.5 tonnes, which is more than most caravans, but it’s worth checking as spec changes on an annual basis.

Off-roading

Nobody buying a Velar will ever take it off-roading, but because it’s a Land Rover product, it should still live up to that name.

Besides the usual comfort, eco and sport-oriented driving modes, there are special settings for all the off-roading you can think of, except maybe amphibious mode (although it can wade through 530mm of water with the standard suspension). These all help the car’s computers prepare for low-traction situations.

The worst we threw at it was a bit of an incline on a muddy verge. Even so, where a front-wheel-drive SUV might’ve struggled for traction, the Velar didn’t bat an eyelid.

Safety

When it launched in 2017, the Range Rover Velar was awarded a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, with strong scores across the board.

You get the usual array of safety equipment, such as emergency brake assist and numerous airbags.

Safety systems like emergency brake assist (and the adaptive cruise control mentioned above) can be turned on/off using handy shortcuts on the steering wheel. It’s much easier than digging through the infotainment like other manufacturers make you do.

Buy a newer model, and it’ll have to comply with updated safety regulations that came into force in 2024. Put simply, every car sold after then, including the Velar, has a sound warning to alert you if you creep over the speed limit.

Range and charging

We drove nearly 700 miles in a P400e, including around 500 miles on the motorway, which is typically where plug-in hybrids are at their least efficient. Despite weighing a touch over 2.2 tonnes, the Velar averaged nearly 40mpg.

Spend most of your time around town, and economy figures will vary. There were plenty of trips where we were able to get more than 100mpg or keep the Velar in electric-only mode – the 143hp electric motor can easily keep up with motorway speeds.

All diesel models will likely sit between 30-40mpg depending on your driving, with petrol versions returning below 30mpg.

Reliability

Land Rover hasn’t been without its fair share of reliability concerns over the years, and while it’s had trouble shaking that reputation off, it’s generally no longer deserved.

The Range Rover Velar should be as dependable as any other large SUV.

Unfortunately, the Velar’s relatively poor scores in consumer reports are largely skewed – owners will usually only report negative experiences, so positive journeys can be underrepresented.

Insurance groups

Insurance groups for most Velars are between 31 and 48, with many of the more powerful engines and high-spec trim levels in the 40s.

There’s also a 550hp V8 performance model, badged SVAutobiography. That’s in insurance group 50, but if you can afford to buy and run that, insurance premiums won’t be a priorty.