Range Rover’s 405 kW V8-engined Velar breaks cover. Is it a beast, or a very quick aristocrat?
When the Range Rover Velar was launched a couple of year or so ago, it came with two variations of four-cylinder diesel power and a supercharged petrol V6. That V6 gave a taste of the potential within this sporty Range Rover, which places on-road dynamics ahead of the traditional Range Rover off-road ability.
This past week Land Rover South Africa launched the new special edition Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography. In short, this is the Velar with a 5,0-litre supercharged V8, and an engine that does full justice to the inherent competence of the Velar chassis.
Along with the supercharged V8, profiled to deliver 405 kW and 680 Nm of torque in this application, the limited edition Range Rover has received subtle visual upgrades, bigger brakes and wheels, wider rubber, suspension re-calibration, a limited-slip rear differential, interior enhancements and a beautiful sound-track from quad exhausts that can be adjusted for either a muted burble or a (nevertheless refined) Godzilla-like growl!
Velar SVAutobiography visual clues
From the outside, the V8 Velar is identified first-off with a new front bumper section with gaping air ducts in matt black to provide better engine and brake cooling. The new bumper integrates well with the clam-shell-like profile of the bonnet, which also gets some SVA-specific detailing. At the rear the bumper has been reshaped to accommodate a quad exhaust system entirely appropriate with a life-force-enhancing V8 engine installation.
Subtle badges on the rear allude to the so-called “Autobiography” status of the Velar SV, although it has to be said that the package is very much angled toward the “dynamic” end of the spectrum, rather than the ultra-luxury of the larger Range Rover known by that name.
Sportier side mouldings down the flanks complete the on-road sportiness approach to the V8-engined Velar.
The full title of this Velar V8 is a mouthful
In fact the full title of the new car is the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition. We suspect in real life the title will be shortened to something like the Velar SVA, or simply the Velar V8!
Janico Dannhauser, Jaguar Land Rover South Africa’s product and pricing manager, confirmed that the new model will be a “limited release” car. This means that it will only be available in this form for one year. The limited edition status thus relates rather to a time period than a specific number of SVA’s being produced.
So, how’s the ride?
Officially the new Velar is rated with a 0-100 km/h time of just 4,5 seconds, which means it is plenty quick despite its 2 160 kg bulk. Top speed is rated at an equally-impressive 274 km/h and after our launch drive in the Groot Marico area, 100 km or so west of the greater Jo’burg metropolis, we came away impressed with the performance, but perhaps even more impressed with the Velar SVAutobiography’s high-speed stability.
Huge effort has gone into the ride-handling mix of the Velar SVA
The Range Rover engineers have uprated and re-calibrated the damping and the air-suspension systems on the car, as well as re-profiling the rear lock-up differential for more dynamic on-road ability. The car naturally still employs Range Rover’s full-time all-wheel-drive system, which in itself imparts good straight-line stability at high speed. But it is in the communication between the car as a whole, and the steering and suspension system, that the Velar V8 makes the most significant impression.
63 900 hours of suspension, steering and drive-train calibration
According to Range Rover, the Velar SVA engineering team spent close to 64 000 hours achieving a unique balance between steering feel, suspension compliance, body roll control and quick responses to driver inputs.
This has resulted in a huge five-seater SUV, weighing close to 2 200 kg, reacting to driver inputs with a precision that you would normally expect in a sports car or a very high-performance sedan. Of course, that statement takes into account that you are always aware of the Velar SVA’s size and mass, as well has its relatively high centre of gravity. But there is none of the slight oscillation that one sometimes gets with an SUV of this size. Nor, for that matter, that tendency to lurch into understeer when turning into a corner from high speeds.
Air suspension
The SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition available here comes with firmer air suspension and uprated, continuously variable dampers on all four corners, as well as stiffer anti-roll bars. On the launch route that Range Rover devised for us, we had ample opportunity to test this. While the roads in the area are generally in good nick, they feature undulations that could make lesser vehicles either skittish or lead to wallowing.
We are happy to say there was zero wallowing, or side-to-side weight transfer due to the undulations that stretched across the width of the road
Dynamic mode
Also new for the V8-engined Velar SVA is a new Dynamic mode, accessed on the revised infotainnment system. Hit this option on the redesigned screen on the console, and you can immediately feel the steering and suspension firm up. And yet, comfort is still present, with no serious tendency for sharp disturbances to “kick through”, or for the car to be deflected by bumps, undulations or mid-corner ripples.
Communication through the steering wheel
Best of all is the communication through the sport-style steering wheel. At high speed, the trick is to allow the steering wheel to move slightly to-and-fro over the undulations with a light fingertip touch, and trust that the Velar will continue to track along its intended path. This slight steering kick keeps you wonderfully in touch with what the front-wheels are doing, and the result is huge confidence that you are in touch with those big, wide-section, low-profile tyres.
In fact, the launch cars we drove were fitted with the optional 22-inch alloy rims, shod with 265/40 R22 rubber.
Racing a train
On the launch of the new Velar SVA V8, Land Rover arranged for the invited journalists to travel initially to the Magaliesburg (Groot Marico) area from Pretoria on an old diesel-engined train, supplied by Rovos Rail. The comfort aboard this old-but-fully-restored train was entirely in keeping with the sumptuous environs we would also experience en-route inside the newest Range Rover Velar.
The old-school charm of both conveyances in fact paid tribute to a great train race that was once undertaken by Rover, the car company that existed well before the first off-road-orientated Land Rover was built in 1948.
In 1930 a Rover saloon became the first car to beat the famous Blue Train, which ran between Calais and Cannes in those days - a distance of some 1 200 km. The Rover Light Six was driven by Rover test driver Frank Bennet, but what made us journalists feel at home on this re-enactment some 89 years later was that the co-driver of the old Rover Saloon was a certain journalist by the name of Harold Pemberton.
Groot Marico has its own charm
Appropriately, our Rovos Rail train, pulled by an ageing but dependable diesel loco, was painted in a dark blue colour. And although we were clearly not in the French Riviera, a glance out the window revealed that Groot Marico has its own unique charm, worthy of the wonderful tales that were inspired by the area in the 1930s by one of South Africa’s greatest writers, Herman Charles Bosman.
In summary…
To summarise, the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography is a very special car, offering a very special driving experience. The car manages to provide huge excitement from its 405 kW V8 that nevertheless remains refined, and we are glad that Land Rover’s Special Vehicles department didn’t see fit to go overboard with the snap-crackle and pop approach to its dual-tone V8 exhaust noise. It’s kinda like Godzilla went to finishing school….
The V8 Velar is going to gobble up petrol at a rate hinted at by the that exhaust gurgle, and we reckon you will be lucky to see less than an average consumption figure of 17 litres/100 km, even when imposing huge discipline on yourself. But what’s the point of this car if you don’t make that V8 grumble, howl or rumble?
For sumptuous luxury allied to an excellent ride quality, stylish good looks and rip-roaring performance, the Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition is very impressive. The big surprise is the dynamic acumen of this large SUV that seems to make the car shrink in size.
The price, including VAT and CO2 tax, is R1 743 325.
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