Review / A sexy Range Rover? The limited-edition Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic isn’t the most practical or economical SUV – but splashing US$91,000 amid a pandemic feels right
With memory and massage heated seats and a supercharged eight-speed, V8 engine, no wonder owners love to spend time behind the wheel of this showy one-year-only release – and as any therapist will tell you, argues Hannah Elliott, allowing yourself to seek something so frivolous during a pandemic is not frivolous at all
If you want the sexiest Range Rover, buy the Range Rover Velar. Compared with the diminutive Evoque, which might be next in line for the title, the Velar is adults only; what you graduate too after your Evoque experience.
But not just any Velar will do. You need the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition.
Yes, at US$91,000 it’s the most expensive of the Velar range, compared with the US$56,300 required for the base model. But it rewards the extra price with mechanical clout and class: 550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque; zero to 60mph in 4.3 seconds; a 170mph (274km/h) top speed. Quilted, perforated Windsor leather is named after the royal family itself.
The Velar is the middle child of Land Rover’s SUV family – bigger than the Defender and aforementioned Evoque but smaller than the Range Rover proper and the Discovery. And the SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition represents the pinnacle of the Velar line. It’s far from the most practical or most economical. But one week driving in Los Angeles has me believing it’s worth the expense.
One more thing: the Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition is only available to buy this year. Exclusivity, it seems, is a total aphrodisiac.
Extras make it worth it
You get certain things when you buy the Velar SVAutobiography that you won’t get in the lesser versions. Good things. The supercharged V8 engine is special to the vehicle and the most powerful in a Velar. When fully engaged, it guns down the freeway with the earnest guilelessness of a British scout.