Range Rover Velar interior
The interior has loads of high-tech and luxurious kit, so long as you avoid the entry-level versions. The infotainment systems look particularly cool, but aren’t the easiest to use.
Style
The middle of the Range Rover Velar range is the place to head if you want the sort of equipment that makes this car’s cabin high-tech and luxurious.
Despite costing more than £45,000, the entry-level models don’t even come with leather seats or satellite navigation as standard, which feels a bit mean. If you suffer from a bad back and want lumbar support on your seats then you have to go all the way up to HSE trim.
What you do get on every model is a futuristic-looking dual-screen infotainment system that is surrounded by a smart, minimalist dashboard with plenty of leather and soft-touch plastic trims. SE models and above also receive a third screen in the form of an interactive digital dial display.
Top-spec HSE versions come with plusher leather upholstery too, but sadly you still get a few brittle, scratchy surfaces – mainly around the door bins and under the centre console, so still in places you will come into contact with.
If you want to add more trims to the cabin then there are a selection of aluminium, ash and carbon fibre bits on offer. They’ll cost you from less than £100 to more than £1,000 depending on which ones you go for.
If you like your Velar to look a bit sporty, there’s an R-Dynamic version of every trim level, which brings bonnet vents, bumper accents, plus chrome gearshift paddles and ‘sporty’ metal pedals.
- Cash
- £44,595
- Used
- £36,490
Infotainment
Watch our Range Rover Velar infotainment video review
All of the Range Rover Velar’s infotainment and heating systems are controlled through two 10-inch screens that sit above one another in the centre of the dashboard and in the centre console.
The top screen is dedicated to the Bluetooth, DAB digital radio and satellite navigation (if it is fitted.). The system was recently updated with the latest Pivi and Pivi Pro systems, which are easier to use and more responsive, although still not as intiuitive as systems such as BMW’s.
The top screen also offers access to a variety of other tech features, and over-the-air updates are now possible so Land Rover can keep the car up-to-date as it ages.
You’ll need to use the bottom screen to adjust the cabin temperature, which is a system that isn’t as quick and easy as the conventional knobs and dials you get in the bigger Range Rover Sport. You start by selecting what it is you want to tweak – heating or seat temperature for example – and then use the circular dials to adjust the temperature up or down.
It means you’ll have to spend quite some time staring down at the centre console when you should be concentrating on driving. However, the physical circular dials for temperature, seat heating and fan speed are easy to operate and appeallng on the eye.
Previously, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were an optional extra – frustrating in a car at this price point – but as of 2021 with the latest Pivi and Pivi Pro systems both are now standard.
The digital driver’s display that comes as standard on the SE and HSE models is a very modern-feeling touch. Instead of conventional analogue speedo and rev counter dials with a physical needle, you get a high-resolution screen that complements the rest of the Range Rover’s futuristic cabin.
The only slight letdown is the odd touchpad-style controls on the steering wheel, which mean it isn’t quite as user-friendly as the Audi Q5’s similar Virtual Cockpit system.
The Range Rover Velar‘s standard eight-speaker stereo sounds OK for an upmarket SUV but the upgraded Meridian systems that you get on all but entry-level models are a marked improvement. S models have 11 speakers, SE versions come with 17 and there’s a 23-speaker system available if you fancy pumping out Glastonbury-volume tunes in a Waitrose car park.
- Cash
- £44,595
- Used
- £36,490