The system responds quickly but the soft buttons are small, and it can occasionally take an age to fire up first thing. The infotainment system is much like your smartphone in that it takes a series of swipes and taps to get the job done but familiarity certainly helps. While it all looks super after Jeeves has polished it up, it’s a smeared mess of fingerprints in the sticky summer heat, as are the flash looking screens. There’s precious little storage space about and the centre console is awash with shiny, reflective surfaces. The door handles feel to be hewn from solid metal while the brushed alloy trim detracts your eye from the plastics on the centre console that really should be lined with something soft. There’s a big sunroof and the black suede headliner is something everyone just has to stroke. The off-white hue is not the most serviceable but sure does impress. Its leather is soft, supple, stitched and quilted, while the massage function soothes on your ride home. The finishing you’ll find suitably palatial however. We’d say it’s a tad cramped behind the wheel you tend to brush up against some part of the dash on your way in. It’s not Range Rover Vogue tall, so is easier to board. You wouldn’t call Velar small, but it’s not huge inside either. It starts at $187,900, and this one here totalled $208,350 thanks to extras like the head-up display, 22s and the $14,200 satin metallic finish!īut the flash paint adds to the Velar’s immense presence which, along with the black detailing, big 22s and a staunch stance will get you noticed. The SVADE is not a limited edition as such, but will only be produced for one year. There was no need to overdo the interior either, limited to quilted Windsor leather seats, an ebony suede headliner and dark alloy detailing. The front bumper plunges deeper with more grille real estate, the side skirts flare subtly while the rear houses a quartet of OTT tailpipes for the tuned, active exhaust system. Much of the Velar’s suave silhouette has been retained for the SVADE, SVO going easy on the styling steroids. The firm’s charged 5.0-litre V8 gets another outing here, its 405kW/680Nm outputs put to good use. The steering, eight-speed auto and the active locking rear diff have been SVO’d to a degree, while bigger roll bars have been added. There are 21-inch forged alloys (22s are optional) sitting over enlarged brakes, the two-piece rotors measuring 395mm up front. The distribution of the permanent AWD is variable but the Velar doesn’t throw as much rearward quite as often as the F-Type. This effectively alters the ‘spring rate’ for more responsive handling. The team at Special Vehicle Operations oversaw the development, which has this Velar riding on adaptive air suspension but the chambers have a reduced volume. Think of it as a measured blend of sports and luxury. SVAutobiography models major more on luxury, but this Velar, being the Dynamic Edition, still has plenty of go. Moreover, it’s no cut and paste of the F-Type SVR into the Velar shell. While the name is a linguistic smorgasbord, it’s another high-end performance option for the deep pocketed. A while back we drove the Jaguar F-Type SVR, a rowdy cat full of grunt and growl, and there’s a similar offering from Land Rover with its Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition. M, AMG and RS models all do exceedingly well here, and it’s a similar story over at JLR where its SVR offerings are well received. Kiwi buyers in the upper stratosphere of the market like their luxury with a solid dose of performance. Is the result as epic as its long-winded name? Now SVO, JLR’s go-fast division, has devised a V8-powered version. ![]() The Velar is a good look but some reckoned it lacked cylinders under the bonnet to snare their interest.
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