Live Thread: 2024 Range Rover Velar Dynamic SE review

For a split second, we thought the Range Rover we’ve been given to drive and review for a week was called “Velour” and not “Velar”–but maybe that was sort of the point?

Land Rover says its Range Rover Velar offers “levels of luxury, refinement and all-terrain capability never before seen in the mid-size SUV segment.” So, maybe, mistaking the Velar’s name for a plush fabric isn’t too off-brand.

At any rate, the Velar we’ve been given is a Dynamic SE model, which slots right in between the base “S” trim and the top “Dynamic HSE” trim. (The Velar is also a bit of a tweener, according to Land Rover, designed to bridge the gap between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport.)

Powering the Velar is a turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline-six that's rated at 395 horsepower and 405 lb.-ft. of torque.

In addition to all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic, the powertrain also includes a mild hybrid system that functions to “harvest, store and redeploy energy normally lost during deceleration.”

The Velar is rated at 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway for a combined 21 mpg.

MSRP for the Range Rover Velar Dynamic SE starts at $70,600, with our loaner for the week carrying an as-tested price of $79,933.

Comments

JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
7/1/24 9:51 a.m.

I didn't drive this thing very far, but I drove it far enough to like it a LOT more than the Evoque we had a few weeks ago. Yeah it still has the goofy screen that forces you to go multiple levels deep for basic controls, but the driving exerience itself is orders of magnitude better. The Evoque felt like a cheap rental car wrapped in a handsome shell, but this feels like a premium piece of machinery. Seating position and steering are well laid out, and the driveline lash and imprecision that plagued the Evoque is replaced with a far more sophisticated feeling interaction.

Still a weird car, though. Not really sure who it's for, which clearly means "not me."

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
7/1/24 12:17 p.m.

Is this the most traditional vehicle in the current Range Rover lineup? And I don’t mean that it’s traditional in the traditional sense. I mean that it’s traditional in that it’s closer to a normal SUV by today’s yardstick.

Like JG mentioned, the driving dynamics aren’t fussy. The controls make sense. You seem to do less hunting for things in this one.

I still wish that not everything was accessed through the screen, although the radio control on the steering wheel helps.

More to come.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
7/3/24 9:12 p.m.

Orlando and back in the Range Rover last night, so an hour each way.

Quiet and comfortable on the highway although, at one point, I swore that hood was opening! Really?! Here on I-4, my favorite road?

I got off the highway. The hood was latched securely but, dang, it was flexing a bit.

Other than that excitement, yeah, a good highway cruiser. Power when you need it, good visibility, comfortable seats, communicative steering, meaty steering wheel.

Easy to park and good in town, too. Didn’t feel too big.

Even though everything–and, like everything–is done through the center screen–heat, a/c, audio, driving modes–I can’t recall Apple CarPlay setting up so quickly in another car. It was intuitive to set up. (Can’t say the same about the 530i currently sitting in my driveway.)

We’ve had a few Ranger Rovers pass through lately, and I admit they tend to be an acquired taste: odd controls, way smaller interiors than you’d expect, etc. This was, by the far, the most normal one. Not sure if that’s damned by faint praise or not, but that’s what I keep coming back to. If I had to live with a Range Rover, it would be this one.