In theory, the Velar is just a stop-gap which fits between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport and stops all the sales from leaking to the Mercedes GLC. It doesn't have the off-road capabilities or supercharged V8 of its bigger brother. But turn up to the party in this thing, and it's like all the lights have gone off.
The Evoque is still the preferred 4x4 of the UK's football players. But we think it looks trie-hard next to the Velar. The proportions completely reset what we expect from the brand, and a minimal approach to body cladding means features like the flush-fitting door handles stand out.
About the only thing that we don't like is the company's obsession with overcomplicated names. It's supposed to be a connection to the past, but that could be a hindrance for Velar, which mainly attracts new buyers.
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R-Dynamic is a fancy way of saying this is a trim level that looks sporty but doesn't need to come with a powerful engine. Think of it as the Land Rover equivalent of M Sport or Volvo's R-Design. Unless we're mistaken, there aren't other R-Dynamic models; all the other ones including the Evoque have the Dynamic pack. But that kind of makes sense, since the letter R is Jaguar's thing.
The body kit from the €59,800 R-Dynamic is also available on the €108,050 Velar First Edition. Of course, that one adds all the best toys.
This beautiful red Velar also wears the D300 badge. As you might expect, that means it's got a 300 horsepower diesel engine, a 3.0-liter V6 with 700 Nm of torque that affords 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprints in 6.5 seconds. You can have a few other engines as well, such as a 2.0-liter diesel with 180 or 240 HP, the Ingenium 2.0-liter gasoline units with 250 or 300 HP or the supercharged V6 packing 380 ponies.
HSE is the best of four equipment lines for the Velar R-Design. With this engine, it costs just over €90,000 and brings with it 21-inch satin dark silver wheels, Matrix-LED headlights, 20-way adjustable memory seats, a surround-view camera and puddle lights.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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