Land Rover Range Rover review

We will deal a bit more with its off-road credentials in the designated section, but the car is fitted with Land Rover’s adjustable drivetrain, traction, stability and suspension control system called Terrain Response II.

This is a big car. It was before but it’s even more so now, at 5052mm long in standard-wheelbase form, with a 2997mm wheelbase, to which the long-wheelbase version adds 200mm. Big, but still less than both a Bentley Bentayga (5141mm) and a BMW X7 (5151mm).

It is also a wide car, at 2047mm with its mirrors folded and 2225mm with them out, but previous Land Rovers have mitigated this slightly by offering significantly better visibility than their competitors.

All engine options are mated to an eight- speed torque-converter automatic gearbox made by ZF, with a low- range transfer box for more serious off-roading. It drives all four wheels, except on the road at between 12mph and 100mph if it’s above 3deg C, in which case the car slips itself into 2WD, said to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 4g/km.

Comfort and Isolation

Isolation is what the Range Rover delivers in spades. Partially that will be down to the noise- cancelling effects of the anti-noise it plays through its headrests but also, one suspects, as a result of the sheer hard work that has gone into the physical isolation of the cabin.

At idle Range Rovers barely put any more noise than is ambient into the cabin, and take the at-speed figures under advisement that it was damp under- tyre, which will raise them slightly. In the dry, one of our testers – who records voice notes while driving to refer to later – was surprised to hear himself say “I’m now doing 60mph”, given there was no louder background noise than at 30mph. We would be surprised if there’s a more isolated car on sale this side of a Rolls-Royce.

Road surface bumps and lumps are brushed aside with ease. Jaguar Land Rover doesn’t get all aspects of vehicle development equally right, but with the leisurely accuracy and linear response of its controls, and the deftness it gives its cars’ chassis, this is one area where few if any other car makers – especially of big cars like this – quite nail it. A Bentley Bentayga is less cosseting, we’re confident.

Run over surface imperfections or cat’s eyes or expansion joints in the Range Rover and you will hear, but not feel, even on 22in rims, a muffled thud from somewhere in the distance. And yet it doesn’t combine this with uncontrolled float or pitch or wallow. 

Off-road notes

Those who find that a Range Rover won’t go far enough off road for them will be a lot braver than most owners. Land Rover is like a supercar manufacturer when it comes to off-roading: it knows some owners won’t use the capability but its reputation depends on it being there.

All of the usual numbers, then, are right up there with class-leading ones. With its air suspension raised fully, at 295mm, it even has 4mm more ground clearance than Land Rover’s own Defender, and 55mm over the Mercedes G-Class. Approach, ramp/breakover and departure angles are all competitive with those two models too, while the Range Rover’s wade depth is a full 900mm.

Just as good, though, is a raft of on-board tech to make using that ability easy, while the rear steer adds a healthy dose of agility on tight track turns. What won’t help it, as in other areas, is a kerb weight pushing two and three-quarter tonnes.