The performance of a $76,000 crossover should be impressive. And damn if Land Rover doesn’t deliver.
Its 2,000 break-in miles complete, our long-term Range Rover Velar P380 SE R-Dynamic was set for its requisite flogging at the Fontana test track. We came back with some rather compelling numbers.
Here’s the specs spew: 0–60 in 5.7 seconds. 0–100 in 14.9 seconds. The quarter mile in 14.2 seconds at 97.7 mph. A 26.2-second figure-eight time at 0.70 average g. And 60–0 braking in 124 feet. All that from a 4,547-pound crossover.
Granted, it’s no Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, but if you wanted these kinds of performance numbers from a luxe-packed Landie, you’d have to pony up for a Range Rover or RR Sport with a supercharged V-8—and then you’re either tickling six figures or well into them. So, really, it’s a value proposition.
Road test editor Chris Walton found the supercharged V-6’s thrust to deliver all the way to redline. Shifts come slowly but smoothly. Threshold braking entails the expected and generous dive, long pedal travel, and some ABS buzz (but little vibration)—but also good directional stability and no sense of the rear getting too light.
Testing director Kim Reynolds found power delivery to be “solid and smooth,” while handling was “rather tail-happy, immediately rotating on entry under braking and then very happy to hold it out under power.” He describes this sensation as “fun and unexpected.”
That said, Reynolds noted the Velar “needs to be driven rather smoothly. Its body motions are slow, so changing its mind takes time.” Walton describes its handling as coming with “a load of body roll, but it doesn’t wallow.”
A couple complaints were made regarding some low-speed chassis boom, as well as the need for a very early upshift into third gear; wait too long, “and it gets hung up in the rev limiter, and that screws up everything,” Reynolds noted.
In the name of science, we also tested a turbo-four version of the Velar, which as you might expect was slower: a 7.7-second 0–60 and a 16.0-second quarter mile at 85.7 mph. It was also more ponderous around the figure eight. But it shaved 7 feet off its sibling’s threshold braking test—that’s what saving 155 pounds in the nose gets you.
Quicker brakes in the turbo-four aside, we’re still happy we got the P380 version and its irresistible surge of power.
Read more about our long-term Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic SE:
| 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar P380 R-Dynamic SE |
| BASE PRICE |
$70,595 |
| PRICE AS TESTED |
$76,041 |
| VEHICLE LAYOUT |
Front-engine, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door SUV |
| ENGINE |
3.0L/375-hp/332-lb-ft supercharged DOHC 24-valve V-6 |
| TRANSMISSION |
8-speed automatic |
| CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) |
4,547 lb (50/50%) |
| WHEELBASE |
113.1 in |
| LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT |
189.1 x 76.0 x 65.6 in |
| 0-60 MPH |
5.7 sec |
| QUARTER MILE |
14.2 sec @ 97.7 mph |
| BRAKING, 60-0 MPH |
124 ft |
| LATERAL ACCELERATION |
0.84 g (avg) |
| MT FIGURE EIGHT |
26.2 sec @ 0.70 g (avg) |
| EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON |
18/24/20 mpg |
| ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY |
187/140 kW-hrs/100 miles |
| CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB |
0.96 lb/mile |
The post 2018 Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic SE Long-Term Update 1: Wall of Power appeared first on Motor Trend.
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