Range Rover review

The Range Rover is a little bit like The Queen doing a Tough Mudder: it has a hugely regal image, but is also capable of tackling much more than your usual snowy driveway or slippery field. It’s similar in size to a Mercedes GLS and BMW X7, but the Range Rover beats both for off-road ability.

In fact, the Range Rover beats the Mercedes for interior luxury as well – almost everything in the Range Rover comes with soft leather, plush carpet or cold-to-the-touch aluminium finish. Not only that but the different buttons and knobs in the Range Rover feel expensive to the touch and there are many ways to personalise the interior to your taste.

All Range Rovers also get a three-screen infotainment system. You get one screen behind the steering wheel, one screen in the middle of the dashboard and another below it which lets you change the climate control settings, driving modes and seat heating. For ease of use, the Range Rover touch screen is slightly behind a BMW X7’s iDrive with its rotary-dial controller, but you’re unlikely to be put off.

The five-seat Range Rover can’t seat seven like a BMW X7 but the space it does provide for five is extremely generous. There’s more than enough room for your tallest friends to stretch out in the front and back, while you can even get top-spec Autobiography models with two luxurious armchair-like seats instead of a traditional three-seat rear bench.

It’s not just people the Range Rover can carry in comfort – its boot’s absolutely massive, too. There’s space for a few large golf bags with the back seats in place and room for two bikes if you fold them away.

The Range Rover towers over other road users and gives you a level of confidence few alternative SUVs can match

Even if you fill the boot to the brim, the Range Rover’s petrol and diesel engines are powerful enough to pull it quietly along at motorway speeds. There’s a six-cylinder diesel that’s ideal if you do a mix of motorway and city driving, but it’s worth investigating the either the 3.0-litre petrol or the plug-in hybrid version if you rarely venture out of town.

If that doesn’t sound particularly exciting you can get a 565hp supercharged petrol V8 model but it’s expensive to buy and you’ll become very familiar with the inside of petrol stations.

Whichever model you pick, you’ll find the Range Rover hugely relaxing to drive. You can take it a step further by speccing the optional cruise control and lane-keep assist combo that will accelerate, brake and steer your Range Rover in its lane for you – provided you keep your hands on the steering wheel.

Standard-fit air suspension softens the blow of large potholes impressively well and helps keep its vast body level in tight corners – though it’s not as agile in high-speed corners as an X7.

Unlike the Porsche, the Range Rover is a serious off-roader, and comes with plenty of features designed to keep you safe if you head off the beaten track. Its clever four-wheel-drive system helps each tyre maximise grip on slippery surfaces and the suspension keeps its bulky body stable over the trickiest of rocky terrain.

So, the Range Rover offers a blend of luxury and off-road ability that few cars can match, even if it isn’t the most fun on a country road. 

Why not check out our deals pages to see how much you could save on this iconic luxury SUV.