All-new sport ute tough but genteel

in Alesund, Norway

Mix up the letters in the name Velar and add an M; the unscrambled word becomes “marvel.”

Certainly the drive route planned by Land Rover’s team for its newest Range Rover sport ute exceeded expectations. The outer islands of Norway’s Atlantic coastline provide magnificent vistas of fiords, mammoth granite peaks, glaciers, cascading waterfalls and verdant forests, the sort of scenery that would make a nature photographer weep with joy. The area has roads that would challenge many of the mid-size Velar’s rivals, but proved a walk in the park for the tough but genteel SUV.

The Velar is a pleasing intermingling of simplicity and elegance and is easily the most visually engaging of Range Rover’s now fourmodel lineup. In order of size, there’s the Evoque, Velar, Range Rover Sport and fullsize Range Rover.

Created from a clean sheet using Jaguar Land Rover’s lightweight aluminum architecture — the same platform used by Jaguar’s hot-selling F-Pace crossover — the Velar is a preview of the next generation of Range Rovers.

There’s the formal, horizontal feature lines, the floating roof and the tapered upsweep at the rear. Then there’s the added touches, such as the slender LED headlights and the flush, deployable door handles that, while helping emphasize the SUV’s looks, also contribute to a coefficient of drag of only 0.32, making it the most aerodynamic Land Rover/ Range Rover model ever.

The cross-pollination of Jaguar and Land Rover components doesn’t end with the platform; there are also the powertrains. The base engine is the 180-horsepower, 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium turbodiesel that delivers a robust 317 pound-feet of torque. But the engine that characterizes the Velar as the most road-happy of Range Rover’s lineup is the 380-hp supercharged 3.0-L V6 gas engine. For a 2,000-plus-kilogram vehicle, a 5.7-second zero-to-100-km/h time is nothing to be ashamed of.

Certainly there was more than enough juice under the hood to get around the copious vacationers and day trippers in their RVs and trailers, though the ZF eight-speed automatic paused slightly before dropping a gear or three to accomplish the task.

Then there are the sport ute’s off-road abilities, which, typical of Range Rover’s formidable reputation, are ridiculous, far exceeding what any rational driver would subject it to. Rutted dirt trails as well as several man-made exercises put up by Land Rover staff, designed to test the Velar’s suspension and wheel articulation and climbing skills, were readily dispatched.

In addition to all-wheel drive with Intelligent Driveline Dynamics and Adaptive Dynamics damping technology, a suite of traction technologies, including Terrain Response, Active Rear Locking Differential and All Terrain Progress Control, are at the driver’s fingertips. When equipped with the available (on V6 models) air suspension, ground clearance is 251 millimetres.

Rather oddly, instead of providing Velars in the more popular trim levels — base, S, SE and HSE in standard and sportier R-Dynamic — Land Rover chose to assemble a flotilla of top-line First Editions. This is an all-singing, all-dancing model of which approximately 50 units will be offered in Canada for the first year only and at a suggested price of $95,000.

Considering the base price for the Velar has been set at $62,000, the First Edition isn’t exactly typical. Built to impress with excess, it’s loaded to the gills with high-end content and an abundance of extra features.

Power is provided by the 380-hp V6 and the SUV features a wealth of extra features as standard equipment. They include a full leather interior, a copper weave carbon-fibre trim, a 1,600-watt Meridian sound system, special 22-inch split-spoke rims and a unique Flux Silver satin paint finish, one of three exclusive colours.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s chief design officer, calls it the “avant-garde” Range Rover.

“It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand,” he said at the SUV’s debut. “The Velar changes everything.”

Corporate hyperbole is expected, but this much is true: the SUV is a fresh approach to luxury adventuring for the iconic brand.

The Velar goes on sale later this summer.