Range Rover Velar SE R-Dynamic P380 2018 review

With pleasure, is how I’d best describe it. It’s smooth and so so quiet. Think of it like a big cat. I was stuck in traffic directly under the flight path where the planes are so low it feels like they’re flying through the trees, but all I had to do was shut the windows and it honestly felt like I was in my living room. Stealth.

Shut the windows and it's as quiet as being in your living room.

It’s also powerful. You would think a car this size would take a while to respond but it takes just a moment to pounce off the mark. Speaking of size, it's quite large and high which make me feel super confident on the road and remarkably safe, always a good thing when you’re shipping kids around, but it will take a few days to get used to. 

The size does not affect the car’s parking ability, however. The steering is so responsive that I squeezed into more than a few tight spots this week without any trouble - the reverse parking camera is HD so it’s basically like you’re watching a movie out the back. If this car were a celebrity, it would be The Rock. Strong and solid, but gosh, it looks good in a suit and is surprisingly agile. 

There is what I like to call your own airspace for each person. So, in the front, you have your own airspace in the driver’s seat and the passenger also has their own airspace. You’re not breathing each other’s air. Nice. There’s also plenty of legroom for me and my 185cm husband. The cabin is light and breezy. 

It will actually fit three children's car seats in the back.

In the back it’s the same story. My two girls, aged four and six, have plenty of room, they are practically swinging around in there - before they’re buckled in of course. It will also actually fit three children's car seats in the back, rather than just saying they fit. 

And the boot is huge. It’s 673 litres, which is one of the biggest I’ve come across in a five seater. With all the seats down, that jumps to 1731 litres. So big I can have a lie down in it, in my week of treating myself. 

The boot is huge. It's 673 litres.

But more useful than that, I can fit whatever the kids need in the boot without working up a sweat trying to jigsaw puzzle things in there. Their bikes, the groceries, a double pram, it all goes in without much fuss.

While there are loads of options on offer, all the important safety features come standard on the Velar SE. There’s Auto Emergency Braking, which stops the car automatically if it thinks you’re going to run into something, plus things like lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control. 

It has six airbags with side curtain airbags extending to the back seats, and there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether points for children’s car seats. The Velar hasn’t been assessed yet by ANCAP or EuroNCAP.

Well, I didn’t want to get out of it, if that’s any indication. My absolute favourite thing is that the boot opens automatically with a kick. Now, you do have to kick a certain way and in the right spot, but once you’ve read the manual, you’ll nail it.

The boot is high off the ground, but the back lowers automatically when loading groceries.

This means that when you’re overloaded carrying THINGS (ie, children, the groceries, the extra bag your toddler made you bring full of rocks), you can just kick under the car, behind the rear wheel and the boot will open. On its own. No bull. 

The boot is quite high off the ground which I noticed instantly: this is going to be hard to lift heavy bags into, I thought. But then the back of the car lowered automatically as I was loading groceries. Thanks for that, Range Rover.

There are three cupholders in the front (one is hidden under a shiny panel) because we all need more than one cupholder each, right? I do. Plus two cupholders in the back. The bottle holders in the doors have been designed to carry 750ml bottles. And there is an option to get a chilled gloved box, if you’re the type to want to bring healthy salads with you on road trips while everyone else gets Maccas. Just me? 

You do pay for all of this. The Velar I drove is $119,462 as standard, with $10,800 worth of extras (including the very excellent, but oh so pricey sliding panoramic roof I pointed out earlier for $4370). For a large car it’s reasonable on fuel but at these prices I don’t think the fuel cost is what you’re going to be concerned about. The claimed fuel efficiency is 12.7L/100km on the combined cycle. 

It comes with a standard three year/100,000 km warranty and Land Rover’s 24-hour roadside assistance throughout that period, and there is scheduled servicing for up to five years or 100,000km.