Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Raise a Champagne glass to the Range Rover Velar
WE HAD arrived in the Champagne province from Paris driving the new Range Rover Evoque Autobiography P300e and were due to swop it for the bigger Range Rover Velar Dynamic HSE P400e for the drive back the following day.
That's right, the place where those bottles of bubbly are made, that makes you wonder whether it's worth spending all your hard-earned money on.
Having been given a tour of the Veuve Clicquot cellars, with its 24km of underground tunnels and storage rooms, and heard the history and effort that goes into making it, I reckon there's no harm in occasionally splurging on it for a special occasion.
There was also the small matter of a Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against hosts France.
Sitting at the dinner table receiving updates on “X” and from the folks back home, it was clear that the game was a cracker. While the food was a gastronomic delight, my Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) hosts magnanimously excused me from the table for the last 20 minutes or so to allow me to watch us squeak in by a single point. That made our first drive with the Velar through the famous Champagne vineyards the following morning special.
As with all Land Rover products, its off-road heritage remains paramount, with some models, like the Defender, more suited to serious off-road shenanigans. In the case of the Velar, an Intelligent All-wheel Drive system is good enough to take you to places where front- or rear-wheel drive cars would get stuck or hung on a ledge.
There were a few tricky bits that highlighted the various modes and how it dispenses with the obstacles. I reckon that would be about the extent the average Velar owner would venture off the black stuff, if at all.
The Velar fills the gap between the Evoque and Range Rover Sport. In the Dynamic HSE P400e, it's powered by a 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine paired with an electric motor that provides a system output of 297kW and 640Nm, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
JLR says it will get to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 209km/h. As with the Evoque and JLR's SUV designs in general, the Velar is just as impressive a head turner, with curves, lines and proportions perfectly placed. The interior matches the sleek exterior, with premium fixtures
and fittings and soft touch surfaces. It has an extremely comfortable driving position, thanks to 20-way electrically adjustable seats, and there's lots of room for rear passengers.
Most of the interior settings are found in the 11.4-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen infotainment system which, when driving through narrow village streets, is somewhat distracting although if you're the owner, I suppose you would have set up the car to your personal liking.
We left Epernay fully charged, using the EV mode which should give you a real-world range of about 50km, and set course to our centuries-old Villa destination via delightful villages and some highway driving.
Before we left, we were given a talk by health and wellness content creator Adrienne Adhami, about JLR's mission, I suppose, to make cars that become an extension of your daily life by decluttering it with breathing and stretching techniques, their air
purification system, noise cancelling, head-up display and using voice commands to adjust the settings.
It's a far cry from my TD5 Defender 90 where the only digital gadget I have is an aftermarket tyre pressure monitor and you're cooled by opening the flaps under the windscreen.
Driving through tight corners and twists, the steering is light and direct but don't expect SVR-type feedback, the Velar is more comfortable cruiser than hot hatch.
The hybrid system doesn't allow space for adaptive air suspension but the front double wishbone, with passive anti-roll bar and integral multi-link passive anti-roll bar and rear suspension do a decent job of taking care of road imperfections and would, no doubt, handle our crumbling roads.
There were many tractors and trucks on the road, which gave us an opportunity to test its passing prowess by giving it a bit of stick.
The switchover between battery and engine is seamless and the turbo-charged 2.0-litre isn't shy to move it along swiftly, just enough to know that it can do the business and doesn't mind working hard.
The noise-cancelling feature and decent insulation keep things civilised inside, so there's no need to raise your voice or turn up the volume.
The Range Rover Velar Dynamic HSE P400e is a quality package that isn't cheap at R2 195 400 but it's worth a closer look if you're in that market. You'll make a statement when you stop outside the Mount Nelson Hotel or a five-star Sandton Restaurant.