2023 Range Rover Velar

After the promise of its handsomely sharp exterior, the Velar’s cabin certainly doesn’t let the package down, bringing with it a fine sense of occasion.

Whether its Windsor leather or fetching Dapple Grey ‘premium textile’ (aka fabric) with Light Oyster suedecloth, it brings a sense of richness and textural variety that works a treat to our eyes.

The quilted effect across the dash fascia and door inserts is classy and inspired, with some of most ornate and interesting door trims in the business. And, the split ‘textile’ armrest is delightful.

Light, airy, visually diverse and downright interesting, the Velar interior mightn’t be to everyone’s taste, but the feel-good factor is through the panoramic glass roof.

Land Rover clearly focuses on presentation, and the execution and finish of the cabin generally meet its aims. The Touch Pro Duo screens are pleasingly sharp, the signature motorised rotary transmission controller maintains its neat party trick, and all of the metal-look details genuinely look metallic, even if some such as the handles and door inserts betray their plastic origins to touch.

Little of it, such as the column stalks and door controls, seem conspicuously part-binned from the wider Jaguar Land Rover family. That said, the digital instrumentation content is of a look and design so different to that of the infotainment unit – especially the navigation mapping – it looks to be supplied from a whole other car manufacturer. It certainly doesn’t give German rivals much pause for envy, but it’s clear and legible and offers a modest degree of personalisation.

The front seats are beaut if a little too firmly padded, though they do with some of the most aggressive back massaging action out there – it’s just a shame they’re bit noisy in operation inside the otherwise serenely quiet cabin ambience. I’ve never warmed to this oddball steering wheel design, as nicely trimmed in suedecloth as it is.

The P380 Velar variant gets standard-fit air suspension, 21-inch wheels, R-Dynamic appearance tweaks, those neat signature pop-out door handles, LED lighting with Matrix-style headlight trickery, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming/heated/power-folding mirrors, an acoustic laminate windscreen, a powered tailgate with gesture control, front and rear sensors along with one-touch electric windows all round.

The P400e mates a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a 105kW electric motor and a 19.2kWh lithium-ion battery.

Total system outputs are 297kW of power and 640Nm of torque, while claimed electric-only range on the WLTP cycle is 53km.

The four-cylinder D200 is dead for 2023, and instead there’s a six-cylinder D300 available only in a new special edition model called, appropriately enough, the Edition.

The new Edition returns a six-cylinder diesel to the Velar line, which was available until 2019 with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel in D300 guise. Now, the D300 is powered by a 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-diesel.

The Edition D300 is based on the mid-range R-Dynamic SE spec but builds on it with gloss black exterior detailing, a black roof, plus various standard inclusions like a panoramic sunroof.

The 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-diesel features an identical 221kW output to the old twin-turbo V6 diesel, though it has 50Nm less torque (for 650Nm in total) and is 0.2L/100km thirstier on the combined cycle (7.0L/100km).

P250 models use a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine producing 184kW of power and 365Nm of torque.

All Velars feature all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Claimed 0-100km/h times are as follows:

• P250: 7.5 seconds
• P400: 5.5 seconds
• P400e: 5.4 seconds
• D300: 6.5 seconds

The Touch Pro Duo format is mostly good. It looks great, its interface is reasonably straightforward though it does demand some familiarity to negotiate quickly and without distraction. Much like we found in our dedicated review, the actual response to finger pressure is a little hit and miss, while access to features through the steering wheel controls is clumsier than it need be. The Meridian sound system, though, is rich and fulsome.

It has 748L of boot space, expanding to 1811L with the second-row dropped.