First Look On The 2018 Range Rover Velar Luxury SUV

Priced from £44,8300 and topping out at over £80,000, it covers every conceivable base now occupied, not only by the F Pace, but rivals from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche to name a quartet.

JLR expects the Range Rover Velar to bring “a new type of customer” to the brand, saying that it offers a combination of luxury, refinement and all-terrain capability never before seen in the mid-size SUV segment. When Charles Spencer King designed the pre-production Range Rovers in the 1960s, engineers chose the name Velar to keep them hidden. A year ago the company sold 583,313 cars, 44% of which were Range Rovers. Apart from being sporty and discreetly muscular, the Velar is also very efficient with its design with a drag co-efficient of only 0.32 which makes it the most aerodynamic Land Rover ever produced. Taking a cue from Tesla, the Velar features flush-mounted deployable door handles.

Land Rover says the Velar will be more capable off road than any of its rivals.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Design Officer, credited the final product to Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. Everything feels refined rather than renewed. The upper screen is for infotainment while the lower is reconfigurable depending on your activity, and includes two rotary switches that alter function depending on what is being displayed. It’s been treated to withstand dirt and moisture.

It features leading-edge technology like the Land Rover InControl Touch Pro Duo infotainment system with two, interactive 10-inch touchscreens. The highlight is the 10-inch stacked displays at the centre of dashboard.

Adaptive Dynamics monitors wheel movements to vary the damping forces whilst the optional Configurable Dynamics allows the driver to tailor the vehicle settings to their individual preferences, much like in the MY18 Jaguar updates. The bottom screen features seat heating and cooling, terrain response and climate controls. Two large dials can also be used to operate the screens. The steering wheel buttons also have tiny screens in them so their pictogram changes with context.

There is a further 12.3-inch display for driving stats and, if that’s not enough, there is the optional head-up display for the driver too. From S trim and above it also features 4G internet connectivity to bring a host of online services into the auto and act as a wi-fi hotspot. Instead of the usual navigation destination enter address, you just start typing the address into a search box and it’ll try to find it for you. Priced at $90,295, these will all come standard with the 380-hp V-6, full two-tone leather interior, copper weave carbon fiber trim, a 1,600W Meridien sound system, special 22-inch alloy wheels, and the choice of three colors including an exclusive satin finish silver from Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations.

The Range Rover Velar is created to compete with midsize luxury SUVs (think BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE/GLE Coupe), and its engine offerings will have across-the-board appeal: a 180-hp diesel, a 247-hp four-cylinder gasoline engine, and a 380-hp supercharged V-6 gasoline engine.

With what’s described as a “visually reductive” styling it’s certainly the sleekest looking model in the firm’s line-up. Four-cylinder diesel editions will cost from £44,830 – nearly £15,000 more than the most basic Evoque, but only about £5,000 up on the average transaction price for the smaller auto.