Range Rover review

The Range Rover started out as a fairly functional vehicle, but it's now the epitome of a luxury SUV. While the original was designed so you could hose mud out of it, more recent Range Rovers have been more likely to steal sales from luxury limos than farm vehicles.

There was no need to rip up the rulebook for this new sixth-generation Range Rover, then. Land Rover simply set out to build an SUV that does what the previous version did – only better. Of course, the latest model (which is codenamed L460) is bigger and more expensive too – but then all the best luxury SUVs are big and expensive.

With a starting price hovering around six figures, the Range Rover competes with top-end versions of the Audi Q7 and BMW X7 plus the Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne. There’s also the more traditional Mercedes G-Class.

Range Rover video review

You can buy the Range Rover in two different sizes – standard-wheelbase (SWB) and long-wheelbase (LWB). The SWB version is just over five metres long (a touch shorter than a standard-wheelbase Bentayga), while the LWB has an extra 200mm between the front and rear axles, and is available as a seven-seat SUV or a "super-luxe" four-seater.

There’s decent choice of engines too. You can have a traditional petrol or diesel, or a company car tax-efficient petrol plug-in hybrid (PHEV).

With all that variety, which version of the Range Rover should you go for? And how does it stack up against its rivals? 

What’s new?

- July 2025 - High-performance Range Rover SV Black announced with seats and floor that vibrates to enhance the audio system
- May 2025 - Land Rover contributes £150 per month towards Range Rover insurance cover

No version of the Range Rover feels sluggish. Indeed, our pick of the range – the 296bhp D300 diesel – is the slowest version, yet still covers 0-62mph in a brisk 6.6 seconds. The smooth and punchy D350 diesel brings that down to 6.0 seconds.

For the quickest Ranger Rover, you’ll need the P615 petrol, which develops 606bhp from its V8 engine to rocket this 2500kg SUV from 0-62mph in an astonishingly quick 4.5 seconds. Below that, there’s the 523bhp P530 version, which is only 0.1 seconds slower to 62mph.

The two PHEVs – the P460e and P550e – can officially go up to 75 miles on electricity alone. For comparison, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E Hybrid has an official electric range of 49 miles and the Bentley Bentayga manages 27 miles. The P550e is smooth and silent in electric mode, and switches seamlessly to petrol power when needed. There's plenty of pace, making it an incredibly impressive PHEV.

The Range Rover's ride is appropriately cosseting and luxurious. Adaptive air suspension comes as standard and it's incredibly well planted, controlled and smooth, especially on motorways.

The only problem is the enormous alloy wheels, ranging from 20in to 23in, which affect the quality of the ride. At low speeds on rough roads, you feel and hear the occasional thump, and it sometimes sends a slight shimmy through the chassis.

The ride is still outstanding overall though, and it's worth noting that all the rivals suffer from the same issue with big alloys, including the generally smooth and comfortable BMW X7.

The Range Rover is huge but also surprisingly easy to drive around tight, twisty, urban roads. A huge part of that is down to the standard rear-wheel steering, which enables the rear wheels to turn up to seven degrees.

At high speeds, they move in the same direction as the fronts to improve stability, but at low speeds they move the opposite way, reducing the turning circle to below 11m (less than for a Volkswagen T-Roc). It makes this big luxury SUV much more nimble than you might expect.

It's happy to hustle along faster country roads too. There’s plenty of body lean but the Range Rover's active anti-roll bar system helps you carry some pace through a corner without it feeling overly top heavy. However, the light steering doesn’t gain much weight in corners, so there’s little sense of connection with the front wheels. 

It’s not as confidence-inspiring for the driver as a BMW X7 but the Range Rover has all rivals beaten when it comes to driving off road. All versions have all-wheel drive with a low-ratio gearbox, making it an incredibly capable off-roader.

The body stands 295mm off the ground when the suspension is set to its highest off-road setting (it’s 219mm in its default setting). It has high approach and departure angles, so it doesn't get grounded, and a 900mm wading depth.

This is a very calming SUV to drive, with an impressively quiet interior. Road roar and engine noise are barely noticeable, while a little wind noise at motorway speeds is the only thing that gently disturbs the peace.

The Range Rover is available with an active noise-cancelling feature, which can be added as part of an upgraded Signature sound system. It includes microphones in the wheels to monitor exterior noise, allowing the headrest-mounted speakers to transmit a frequency that cancels it out.

The eight-speed automatic gearbox is smooth-shifting on the move, but can be a little hesitant to engage if you need a quick burst of pace at low speeds. Stopping the car smoothly is effortless, thanks to the consistently weighted brake pedal.

"The Range Rover’s rear-wheel steering makes it the most manoeuvrable version yet. I’m surprised how easy it is to drive in a multi-storey car park." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The fundamental driving position in the Range Rover is very good indeed. You’re perched high up from the floor, while the seats are 20-way electrically adjustable as standard, with 24-way adjustable massaging seats on higher trim levels. There’s also a huge range of electrical adjustment available in the steering wheel.

It's easy to get comfy, and the incredibly soft, comfy and supportive seats should keep you comfortable even after hours on the motorway.

The Range Rover's standard digital driver's display is crisp and clear, but the top corners can be partially obscured for some drivers if the steering wheel is set too low. A head-up display is available as an option.

It’s a shame the physical controls for the ventilation system and drive modes have been removed and integrated into the infotainment touchscreen. It makes it much more fiddly to make minor adjustments to the settings.

The Range Rover's high and commanding driving position is matched by terrific visibility. Even with the seat in its lowest setting, the driver has a crystal-clear view all the way down to the nose of the car.

The door mirrors are helpfully big, and a huge rear windscreen gives you a great view out of the back. You get a 360-degree surround camera as standard, along with all-round parking sensors. On Autobiography trim, you get a rear-view mirror that, at the flick of a switch, becomes a screen showing a view from the back of the car. It lets you see behind you even if the boot is loaded to the roof.

There are incredibly helpful off-road cameras too, offering a view out of the front of the car very low down. That means that as you go over a blind crest you still know exactly what’s going on beneath you. The cameras also provide a side view down by the front wheels to help you avoid boulders or tree roots when off-roading.

Every Range Rover gets a 13.1in infotainment touchscreen mounted on the dashboard. It responds swiftly and the resolution is impressive, while large icons mean they’re easy to aim for. The menu lay-out is logical as well.

Amazon Alexa, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto all come as standard so you can use your phone apps rather than the Land Rover system. A Signature sound system with 34 speakers is available and brings a clear, even spread of sound, but it’s not so punchy that it’s antisocial.

Even so, it’s a shame you don't get physical buttons or dials to help operate the touchscreen. The rotary dial controller in the BMW X7 gives that car an advantage over touchscreen-only systems because of how much easier it is to use as you drive.

A luxury SUV needs to have a knock-out interior – and the Range Rover delivers just that. Depending on the spec you choose, you can have thick, high-quality leather (or a plush vegan alternative), beautifully textured wood veneers, crisp metallic finishes and even some ceramic dials.

It mostly feels robust and solid, but the rival Bentley Bentayga feels a little more indulgent and luxurious. The only cheap-feeling material you’ll notice is on the steering wheel, with the silver plastic trim and flimsy buttons. It's a shame considering the metal paddle shifters on the steering wheel feel so good.

"I like that the main electric seat controls are easy to find on the door, but you have to delve into the touchscreen to adjust the lumbar and headrest, which is fiddly." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The Range Rover sits high off the ground, but its Access mode quickly puts the car in its lowest suspension setting when you open the door so you don’t need a stepladder to climb inside. Once there, you’ll find masses of space up front. If you raise your seat as high as it will go, there'll still be lots of space to spare above your head.

In terms of storage, the door bins are a little narrow, but otherwise there’s plenty of room for your odds and ends around the interior.

There are two big gloveboxes plus three hidden compartments on the centre console for wireless phone-charging, cup holders and a very deep cubby under the central arm rest. As an option, you can have a fridge in the armrest cubby.

Whether you go for a standard (SWB) or long-wheelbase (LWB) Range Rover, space in the second row is very generous. It has a wide, tall interior with lots of room for adults to stretch out, even with a sunroof fitted. You can adjust the angle of the backrest electrically, and window blinds are available as an option.

The middle bench has seating for three, but as an optional extra on the long-wheelbase model, you can swap it for a more luxurious two-seat rear set-up. You can even have a champagne fridge instead of a middle seat, and you can add a three-pin socket back there too.

The Range Rover is also available as a seven-seater with a third row of seats. The middle row moves forwards electrically in around eight seconds to create a decent opening to access the back. The rear-most seats are mounted 41mm higher than the driver’s seat to allow for a better view.

Tall adults might find their heads pressed up against the roof if they sit up straight, but they'll have enough leg room if the middle row is moved forwards slightly. The BMW X7 offers even more third-seat space.

If you go for the five or seven-seat models, the Range Rover's middle row splits and folds 40/20/40. In the seven-seater, the rear-most seats fold flat into the boot floor.

The front passenger gets the same 20-way electric seat adjustment as the driver, including height and lumbar controls. On some versions there's the option to fold the front passenger seat away using a chauffeur setting in the touchscreen's seat adjustment menu.

The Range Rover has one of the biggest boots of all the car models we've tested. It's absolutely vast, and we managed to fit in 10 carry-on suitcases. Plus, there’s no reduction in boot capacity if you go for a plug-in hybrid.

With all seven seats in use in the seven-seater, there's enough space for a few soft bags, and in five-seat mode it's gargantuan.  An electrically operated split tailgate is standard, and that allows a top chunk of the tailgate to lift up while the lower chunk folds out flat. The bottom section doubles up as a place to sit when you’re parked.

You can add some cupholders or optional fold-out seats there, and you can also add a section of boot floor that pops up to act as a backrest, or as a helpful divider to stop your luggage rolling around. The downside of the split tailgate is that, when the bottom section is folded down, it can be quite a stretch to reach anything at the very back of the boot.

"The Range Rover is a tall car but it’s handy to have a button in the boot that lowers the rear suspension to make it easier to load items in." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The Range Rover is expensive, even by luxury SUV standards. The equivalent BMW X7 undercuts it comfortably and the Audi Q7 is significantly cheaper. Top-end Range Rovers muscle into Bentley Bentayga price territory, and there’s plenty of scope to send the cost soaring with some ticks on the options list. The only car that makes it look like a bargain is the absurdly expensive Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

This is a thirsty car too. The diesels officially achieve around 37mpg, dropping to 24.5mpg for the P530 V8. That is, unless you go for one of the PHEVs. If plugged in to charge regularly, they can officially manage more than 300mpg.

Likewise, if you're considering a Range Rover as a company car and want to keep BIK tax down, you'll want one of the PHEVs. For the lowest tax, stick with a lower-spec version (more expensive versions have slightly shorter electric-only ranges, which push up the tax rate).

The PHEVs can charge up quickly with a maximum speed of 50kW, which gets them a 0-80% charge in under an hour using a decent public EV charger. A full charge using a 7kW home EV charger will take about five hours.

The Ranger Rover trim levels start at SE and go up through HSE and Autobiography, with SV at the top of the line-up.

Entry-level SE is very well equipped, and it’s the trim we’d go for. It includes a plush leather interior with wood veneers and thick carpets, 20in or 21in alloys, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, three-zone climate control, keyless entry, soft-closing doors and a panoramic roof.

HSE comes with bigger alloys, and heated and ventilated rear seats. Autobiography adds massaging seats. SV has pretty much every option but sends the price soaring.

All new Range Rovers come with a half-day training course to help you get the most out of the model's off-roading abilities.

There’s no escaping the fact that Land Rover has had a terrible reliability record. It has always been one of the worst performing manufacturers in our What Car? Reliability Survey – coming 27th out of 31 car makers in the 2024 results.

The latest Range Rover has yet to feature in the survey but the previous-generation model had a poor reliability record. The warranty is nothing special either: you get unlimited mileage but only for up to three years.

This latest Range Rover achieved the full five-star rating when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2022. It provided a strong level of protection for children in the rear seats in both frontal and side impacts. Meanwhile, protection for adults was good in a side impact but less impressive in a frontal one.

The Range Rover comes with lots of safety equipment, including blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning and automatic emergency braking (AEB).

"If you plan to use your Range Rover for towing you'll want to get the optional Towing Pack. It includes a tow bar, as you'd expect, and I like the function that steers you into a space while you concentrate on reversing." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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