Just 20 years ago, the name Land Rover means rugged, off-road machines. These days, though, it’s increasingly becoming a fashion statement – or perhaps more accurately, a status symbol. A Land Rover or Range Rover now signifies wealth and power, and driving one of these now means that you’ve made it in life – you can thank the footballers for that. So as any enterprising carmaker would, they’ve taken the new prestige and ran with it, with the launch of the Range Rover Velar in 2017.
And it seems there’s enough demand for such a Range Rover, because the company has since unveiled a facelift update for the Velar last year to keep the luxury SUV fresh for its wealthy customers – not that the Velar looks ‘old’ by any standards, but you know, it’s for the ultrarich after all. So if you’re among the elite group who’s considering one of these, peep the full gallery below to see if the new Range Rover Velar ticks the right boxes for you.
The facelift update in 2023 has brought along a couple of new exterior design tweaks to the Velar, most notably the reworked lighting fixtures with “Pixel” matrix LED technology in front and a new “jewel-like” daytime-running light signature, alongside a simplified rear light signature for the tail lights. Paired to the new mesh design for the front grille and cleaner bumper designs, the new Range Rover Velar facelift certainly exudes a little more class and poise when compared to its predecessor.
For a car that will definitely spend a lot of its time sitting around valet parking spots, these little tweaks might just be the biggest and most important updates it can get.
READ MORE: 2023 Range Rover Velar facelift launched in Malaysia, from RM639k
But alas, it is still a car after all, which means you’ll still be spending time in it – even if it’s going from one shopping mall to another. Fortunately, the classiness from its exterior design does also extend into the cabin, which has now also received a similar ‘simplification’ treatment courtesy of the new 11.4-inch curved touchscreen floating right in the centre of the dashboard.
The new Pivi Pro infotainment system has replaced the dual-screen set-up of its predecessor, which also necessitated a redesigned centre console. JLR has gone for a minimalist look here, leaving behind only a small island for the gear lever in the middle of the sea of matte plastic surface.
But while I do appreciate the restraint in piano-black details (which will immediately leave behind a fingerprint-y mess if you so much as breathe on it), the resulting panel does just feel a little too bare and empty, and unfortunately a little cheap. And that’s before we discuss the usability nightmare now that even the climate controls has been moved up and into the touchscreen.
Fortunately, the overall quality of the interior is still top-notch, especially with class-leading material choices all over, including squidgy leather on top of the dashboard. On the range-topping L variant, there’s also a 30-colour ambient lighting system, alongside a cabin air purification system to make sure you feel as good inside as how it looks.
ALSO READ: Jaguar Land Rover officially rebranded to JLR – New logo revealed
When it comes to driving, the Range Rover Velar is exactly like how it looks – smooth, classy, but yet still commanding. The Velar remains largely unperturbed even on the worst pot-marked roads thanks to the electronic air suspensions as standard here in Malaysia. It’s not the smoothest ride in its class, but the overall presentation of its drive – from its engine and gearbox, to its road handling manners and quiet cabin courtesy of the active noise-cancelling system – just emanates a certain calmness and tranquillity, making the Velar an incredibly pleasant place to be in on the move.
The 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four mill doesn’t give you the most poke, but if you’ve been possessed and for some reason want to take the Range Rover Velar for a little spirited driving, its chassis is still capable enough to delivering the sort of dynamism that you’d usually only expect from the firm’s sister brand Jaguar (though it shouldn’t be too surprising, since the Velar is based on the F-Pace after all). JLR does say that it’s also quite capable off the beaten paths, but given its target customer crowd, the off-road driving modes will probably be left completely untouched in the majority of these, and so we also didn’t bother testing it out ourselves.
At prices starting from RM638,800, the Range Rover Velar presents itself as the second-most-affordable model you can currently buy from the British brand – but it stands nearly just as tall as its full-fat siblings. It’s still not cheap, of course, but when you have a design that just screams desirability? Well, that might just sound like the bargain of the century for the right crowd.
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