Land Rover Range Rover Velar 2018 Review - Long-term Test #2

You don’t have to be any sort of automotive Einstein to know that the Land Rover badge is synonymous with off-roading and off-road ability – in fact, it’s almost a generic term for a four-wheel drive wagon.

But have the current crop of Range Rovers coming out of their oh-so British factory gone soft?

Is our long-term Range Rover Velar more a soft-roader rather than a battle-bred serious 4x4 like its forebears?

To find out we took our Velar for a run in the bush… well, a somewhat tentative run in the bush given the price of the car on test.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of bashing our expensive beauty around the countryside, let’s have a look at the tale of the tape.

On paper, the Velar certainly looks the goods. It has stacks of grunt, 700Nm at 1500rpm to be precise, which helps off-road. It has an approach angle of 27.2 degrees, a departure angle of 29 degrees and a ramp-over angle of 23.5 degrees. To put this into some kind of perspective, a Ford Ranger 4x4 has angles of 29 degrees, 25 degrees and 21 degrees respectively.

Add to that the Velar’s wading depth of 650mm, ground clearance of 251mm, its Terrain Response 2 system that raises and lowers the vehicle at the touch of a screen, Hill Descent Control, active rear locking diff, and more, and you’ve got a pretty well-equipped off-roader.

The first section of our test off the blacktop was a drive through a state forest on a typical Aussie dirt road after a decent fall of rain. The road was a bit potholed and corrugated in places and although the Velar was riding on 21-inch wheels with low-profile tyres, it fairly ate this section to the point where, as I drove along casually chatting to our photographer Rene, I realised I was exceeding the speed limit by a fair amount without noticing.

This vehicle is an absolute weapon on the dirt! Its levels of grip are fantastic, it tracks straight and true even through corrugated corners, and it fairly eats potholes.
I did get the feeling though that if it did let go, it would be in a big way… so I slowed down.

It’s worth noting here that I was subsequently told by a Land Rover driver trainer, that if you opt for the Grass/Gravel/Snow setting, it’s even better on the dirt, something I’ll try on my next outing for sure.

The next level of our test were some deeply rutted tracks that we knew further into the forest. Here we selected the Mud/Ruts mode which raises the body of the Velar to its full extent on the airbag suspension.

It’s here that the excellent wheel articulation of the Velar comes to the fore and the all-wheel drive grip and Active Locking Diff combine to keep it moving even when we reached, and indeed exceeded, the suspension’s travel.

As I got used to the capabilities of the Velar, we became a bit more adventurous and tackled some muddy bog-holes where it was obvious that some other vehicles had been stuck before us, and the Velar came through unfazed.

As we were only a single vehicle with nobody to recover us, I didn’t take to the Velar to its limits, but we did go far enough to declare that this thoroughbred is no show pony. It is a seriously capable four-wheel drive vehicle that will do what 90 per cent of adventurous families will want to do.

And so, after a day in the forest, we headed back to civilisation along our previously-driven dirt roads. But then, flashing up on the central screen, was the graphic depicting our tyres which showed that our right-rear was a bit low at 2.0 bar (or 29psi).

Back on the blacktop, it was down again to 1.9 bar (27.5psi) and I was heading for the roadhouse to top it up. By the time we got we were down to 1.8 and I knew we had a puncture.

A quick look under the luggage compartment revealed… a space saver! My heart sank as I looked at this puny, poor excuse for a wheel with a tyre about the same width as the one on my motorcycle.

How Land Rover can offer up a vehicle with as much off-road equipment and as much off-road ability as the Velar has, then stick a space saver in the spare-tyre compartment is beyond me.

Admittedly, the 21-inch low-profile tyres on our long-term Velar are not ideal for off-road work, but a space saver? The nemesis of anyone who has ever ventured off-road? Pah-lease!

Undeterred, we topped-up the injured tyre and headed back to my home, which was fortunately not far away, and put the stricken Velar in my garage.

I went in search of the tyre changing equipment supplied by Land Rover and found a scissor-style jack that looked like a reject from a 1970s Falcon and a short wheel-brace and set to work. The jack proved only just adequate to raise the Rover off the garage floor and after some struggling and one can of Dr Carlton’s magic amber elixirs, I got the space saver on.

It was fortunate that we’d virtually left the forest before the tyre started to go down, but the message is clear – don’t go too far off the beaten track with the 265/45 R21 Continental rubber and half a spare.

Yes, the Range Rover Velar is a capable off-roader. The traction and suspension aids are not gimmicks, they do work, and work well. The wheel and tyre combo on our long-termer is not ideal nor really fit for purpose as they’re expensive and not as suited to off-road conditions as other combinations may be.

Sure, they’d be fine in light-duty stuff like dirt roads or snow but for anything more, I’d opt for a change.

Has it diminished my view of the Velar as one of my favourite vehicles of all time? No. It’s still a bloody lovely ride.

How much is a 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE D300 cost?
Price: $171,030 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 221kW/700Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined) / 10.4L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 167g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP (2017)