What's the news?
This is the Range Rover Velar, the fourth model in the luxury SUV marque's line-up and a new creation that fits between the smallest Range Rover Evoque and larger Range Rover Sport cars. It has been revealed in London ahead of a Geneva Motor Show debut and it will come with six different engines at launch, comprising a range of four- and six-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesels.
Exterior
Prise the badges off the Velar and it couldn't be anything but a Range Rover. However, it wears some new design cues that are specific to the model, such as the slimmest headlight clusters ever fitted to a production Land Rover vehicle in the form of full-LED units and flush, deployable door handles that contribute to the Velar's 0.32 Cd figure - making this the most aerodynamic Land Rover product in history. There's no doubting it's a handsome thing, although we've yet to make our minds up about the large expanses of metal on the nose section, or the strangely elongated rear overhang (more than a metre in length). The wheelbase measures 2,874mm, allowing for plenty of passenger room within, and at the back is a 632-litre boot.
Irish trim names are yet to be confirmed, but, going by existing models in the Range Rover portfolio, the grade structure should follow the announced pattern of Velar (as the D180 only), S, SE, HSE, R-Dynamic S, R-Dynamic SE, R-Dynamic HSE and then the limited First Edition.
Interior
Reductionism is the watchword for the Range Rover Velar, as the cabin focuses on 'elegant simplicity, sophistication and refinement'. The Velar achieves this through one of the major talking points: the Touch Pro Duo infotainment system, which features two 10-inch high-definition touchscreens behind 'black panel' displays (i.e. nothing is visible on them until they're lit). As Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) in-car entertainment software has been cited as being slightly behind the curve up until this point, the Velar could be the car to kick-start a tech revolution that sticks it squarely to the German manufacturers, with their fancy iDrives, MMIs and Comands.
Good news for vegetarians, as well, as the Velar isn't exclusively clad in cow hide. A Dapple Grey premium textile material, developed with Kvadrat, with Suedecloth inserts in Ebony or Light Oyster to complement it, is offered as an alternative to leather. Safety features include six airbags and advanced driver assistance systems, like Autonomous Emergency Braking with pedestrian detection, Adaptive Cruise Control with Queue Assist (standard on the HSE cars) and an Adaptive Speed Limiter, while the luxury toy count on-board is too long to list here.
Mechanicals
The body has an aluminium-intensive structure so the Velar should be relatively light, which will help with handling and performance. Talking of which, six engines are going to be used, including JLR's new Ingenium petrol units - these are four-cylinder powerplants that replace the existing forced-induction petrol engines that were sourced from Ford. All models will have all-wheel drive and eight-speed automatic transmissions, while air suspension will be offered on the more powerful six-cylinder Velars; there's more ground clearance (251- plays 213mm) and wading depth (650- versus 600mm) on the air-sprung variants.
Kicking things off are two Ingenium diesels rated at 2.0 litres in capacity, the first being the single-turbo D180 unit and the second the twin-turbo D240. These numbers refer to their outputs in horsepower, while torque stands at 430Nm on the D180 and 500Nm on the D240. Expect 0-100km/h, economy and emissions figures of (respectively) 8.9 seconds, 5.4 litres/100km (52.5mpg) and 142g/km, plus 7.8 seconds, 5.8 litres/100km (48.7mpg) and 154g/km.
The brand-spanking Ingenium petrol engine also comes in two power trims, with either 250hp and 365Nm, or 300hp and 400Nm. The latter engine won't be available until later in the year, so no figures are quoted as yet, but expect the P250 to use 7.6 litres/100km (37.2mpg) and emit 173g/km of CO2, with 0-100km/h in 6.7 seconds. For the four-cylinder Velars, the top speeds are 208km/h for the D180, and 216km/h for the D240 and P250 variants.
Not enough for you? Each family of engines is capped by a V6 range-topper and these motors will be familiar to you from the Jaguar F-Pace, which also uses the same two specifications. The D300 is a 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel with 300hp and 700Nm, good for 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds and a 241km/h top speed. Expect 6.4 litres/100km (44.1mpg) and 167g/km of CO2 with this unit.
Then there's the reassuring presence of a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, called the P380. That means 380hp, 450Nm, 0-100km/h in 5.7 seconds and a 250km/h limited top speed. Fuel consumption stands at 9.4 litres/100km (30.1mpg) and CO2 emissions are 214g/km.
Anything else?
The Velar's name harks back to the original development cars for the first Range Rover of the 1960s and it is in fact from an Italian word, velare, meaning to veil or cover. So now you know. This midsized Range Rover SUV will go on sale in summer 2017, with prices yet to be confirmed - although, given an Evoque starts at around €42,000 and a Sport kicks off at €84,000, it would be reasonable to suggest the Velar's entry point will be in the vicinity of €60,000.