[Rob]

Join What Car? for an exclusive preview of the new Range Rover Velar on Saturday 20 May 2017 in Solihull, West Midlands.

You will also get to take the 'Range Rover Story' tour at the Land Rover factory.

At the event, you'll get a close-up look of the car and a Q&A opportunity with the Land Rover team, before being interviewed for the magazine.

To apply, email the following information to [email protected]

Your name
Your age
Your mobile number
Your occupation
What car you currently drive
Where you'll be travelling from on the day
Why you want to see the new Range Rover Velar

See more: https://www.whatcar.com/news/2017-range-rover-velar-exclusive-reader-test-team-previewe/

 

[Cobstar]

Thank you for flagging this, Rob.

I was lucky enough to be selected for the event and had a very interesting and enjoyable morning at Land Rover Solihull with the SO.

A big thank you to Kris from What Car and the Land Rover Team for hosting the event. It was good to get an opportunity to talk to Kris, Colin, the Range Rover UK Product Manager, and Kim, Land Rover Public Relationships Manager.

Following coffee in the Land Rover Experience Reception Centre we took a passenger ride in a 12 seater Land Rover Defender over to the static Range Rover Story exhibition. As ever the Land Rover Experience staff were entertaining, knowledgeable and informative hosts.

We were given a guided tour of the Range Rover Story exhibition. It was really interesting to see the early sketches. There was an engineering mule which had been refurbished for the exhibition. Also a full size Range Rover prototype clay replica - which had different treatments for lights on the nearside and offside.

Then the big unveil of the Range Rover Velar and a chance to have a look around the car. The car was a First Edition P380 in Flux Silver with a Black Contrast Roof. The satin paint finish looked stunning - as it should as a £5k+ option. Do you think someone has a sense of humour with the naming of the paint colour? I couldn't help thinking about the flux capacitor and the unpainted steel body belonging to the Back to the Future De Lorean

I thought the car looked beautiful in the videos and photos announcing its release. In the flesh I think the car looks even better - from all angles. The bronze highlights looked good on the Flux Silver paintwork. And the carbon fibre and copper trim finishers were very nice too.

It was a nice place to be sat inside too. I like the clean lines around the dash on the passenger side. The two display screens look well thought out in terms of ergonomics and user friendliness but I don't know how robust they will be for daily use. And the car seems built to have genuine off road capability like all its stable mates.

Hopefully the quality of the driving experience will match the good looking, well thought out design of the car inside and out.

Do I want one - yes as long as the drive matches the looks. Will I be able to afford one with the right petrol engine at some in the future - I don't know but I hope so.

It was good to chat to the other reader panel members too.

I think the Reader Panel review is going to be published in the August issue of What Car.

A few pictures I took with my camera phone - not great photography but hopefully they'll be of some interest.

 

[VelarMan]

Great write up! Noticed you posted this in the RRS forums too! Funny how the majority there are dissing the Velar

 

[BLAM]

Good write up, thanks for sharing.

 

[Cobstar]

Will be interesting to see where the Velar interest goes in terms of posting on forums.

Given overlap of Velar and RRS2 pricing at some points it will be interesting to see who jumps ship.

This is a great forum as is Rob's F-Pace one. I've got a Discovery so also find Martin's Disco4.com and RRS forums great resources. Considered an RRS last year but like the RRS2 much more and couldn't afford one.

Had a fantastic day offroad at Rockingham earlier in the month in an RRS2 having done Eastnor in a Discovery last year. Came away liking the RRS2 much more than I expected to.

Will be interesting to see where the Velar takes market share from in terms of existing JLR customers. I like the Velar but speccing the one I want begs the question why not an RRS2.

 

[VelarMan]

I am moving from RRS2 to a Velar First Edition- why? Because I want the latest kid on the block which is apparently going to be a much better drive and quicker than the RRS too. The updated RRS 2.5/3 has a lot to live up to now.

 

[Cobstar]

The LR Team last Saturday were very keen to emphasise it would be the most dynamic driving experience in the range.

I can't wait to find out what the drive is like on and off road given there is no low range.

Will look forward to detailed owner reports from you on a regular basis