Land Rover Range Rover review

The Range Rover is an expensive car, and it’s possible to make it much more expensive with even a brief flirtation with the options list. It won’t be a cheap car to run or pay tax on, either, but the P400e is by far the most affordable, since it produces just 64g/km of CO2 (for context, the next closest in the range is the SDV6 diesel at 164 g/km).

If you choose the former engine and keep the spec sensible, you shouldn’t lose out too badly on depreciation; all models hold their value reasonably well.

If your financial limit is entry-level Vogue spec, don’t worry; even this has plenty of kit as standard, with everything from cruise and climate control to a twin-screen central infotainment system that includes a DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity and a digital TV receiver.

The sweet spot of the range is Vogue SE, which adds more driver assistance tech, heated and cooled semi-aniline leather seats, soft-close doors, 21in split-spoke wheels, a more advanced terrain response system and a 825W surround-sound system (the standard car gets a more humble 380W set-up).

At the top end of the line-up, Autobiography cars get more lavish materials inside, a massage function on the front seats, executive-class rear seats, a sliding panoramic roof, further driver assistance features and more powerful ‘pixel’ LED headlights.

The SVAutobiography model, meanwhile, gets everything on the options list thrown at it; it features a 1700W Meridian audio system, quilted leather semi-aniline seats, a rear seat refrigerator, mohair mats with leather bindings and deployable leather-trimmed tables.

And then there’s SVAutobiography Dynamic, which offers a lower ride height and special side vents and front grille, as well as more driver-focused chassis settings.

Despite the rugged reputation of the brand, Land Rover cars don’t actually have a stellar reputation for reliability. Our 2018 reliability survey backs this up, because the brand finished in an awful 30th overall; that’s just one position off rock bottom. The Range Rover also came last in the large and luxury SUV class – hardly a confidence-inspiring performance.

All Range Rovers get highly sophisticated electronic systems to keep you on the straight and narrow, and that applies whether you’re on an A-road or venturing into the wilderness. The car has received a maximum five-star crash test rating from Euro NCAP – although the organisation was less enthused about its performance in collisions with pedestrians. You get automatic emergency braking and a lane departure warning as standard, while the options list includes blindspot monitoring and lane-keeping assistance.

The anti-theft technology is state of the art, too, prompting Thatcham Research to award the car the maximum five stars for resisting being stolen and four out of five for resisting being broken into.

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