I feel the Range Rover is the Maharaja of SUVs. The opulence it offers, along with its towering presence and the brand’s heritage, makes it an aspirational vehicle, especially in India. All generations of the Range Rover have been status symbols for celebrities and industrialists alike. The latest generation seems to be quite a hot seller. Every other day, I see people from the film industry spotted with a swanky new Range Rover at the airport, with the latest one belonging to Sanjay Dutt in a beautiful British Green shade – an SV grade model!
We have driven most iterations of the Range Rover, including the SV and the Autobiography LWB diesel. I wanted to get behind the wheel of the last one left in the media fleet, the Autobiography LWB in its petrol variant. It arrived at our office in the beautiful Charente Grey shade, catching everyone’s eye on the street. The attitude it exudes with its majestic styling makes people turn their heads, whether they have a passion for cars or not, they definitely notice it.
While it looks absolutely gorgeous, I’ve noticed that Land Rover designers have made the latest generation Range Rover look less rugged. This trend has been consistent with every new generation of this SUV, as each one gets a more polished and smoothened-out appearance compared to its predecessor. This is mostly because they wanted to make it more aerodynamic, especially with the latest iteration, which will also include an all-electric version with the same form factor by the end of this year.
It’s still a huge SUV and with the LWB version, you need to be mindful of its towering form factor. While driving it in Mumbai, I had to carefully plan my route and destination to avoid narrow roads and ensure there was enough parking space wherever I went. Despite these challenges, I managed to handle them with ease – more on this later.
Step inside the cabin, and you’re greeted with a lounge-like feel and the premium scent of a luxurious, leather-laden interior. Of course, you can choose from a wide range of upholstery and interior colour tones. Our test car featured a light beige and dark brown colour combination. It felt very premium and airy but I noticed that the light-coloured upholstery had accumulated dust and dark marks quickly, which is to be expected in our country.
One of the most celebrated aspects of the Range Rover is its commanding driving position and that’s still very much the case. You sit high up with a clear view of the bonnet and the traffic ahead, looking down on fellow road users. However, I’ve noticed a change in the new Range Rover compared to its predecessor. The new model feels more relaxed and somewhat more cocooned. The previous generation had a slightly more commanding driving position with a more upright feel and even the ergonomics were designed to match that stance. For example, the window controls were positioned on top of the door pad but they’ve now been moved down near the door handle. Additionally, the windscreen feels more raked for better aerodynamics.
The dashboard is more upmarket and features a large touchscreen infotainment system that is quite easy to use. It is paired with an impressive 18-speaker audio system, delivering the high-quality acoustics you would expect from a luxury SUV in this price range. I personally love the new steering wheel design. It looks very appealing and is great to hold. The digital instrument cluster behind it looks classy and provides detailed information, including full-screen maps with navigation, which adds to the overall convenience.
It comes with a comprehensive massage function for all the seats, except the rear middle seat. I used it frequently while driving in the congested Mumbai traffic. Imagine getting a soothing massage from your neck to your lower back, combined with cool ventilated seats during peak traffic hours and Mumbai’s humid weather – it’s an indescribable experience. The system offers different massage types, including Wave, Pulse or a combination of both, as well as options for massage direction and intensity.
The Range Rover also comes with a 360-degree camera system, which I find to be one of the smoothest and highest resolution displays available. It provides views from all angles, making it invaluable for parking, off-roading and navigating the cramped lanes of Mumbai. The ClearView display, embedded in the IRVM, also proves handy by offering a camera feed of the rear view. There are countless more features and gizmos in this SUV, detailed here.
Now, let’s focus on the performance of the petrol-powered Range Rover. Our test car is equipped with a P400 3.0-litre straight-six turbocharged petrol mild-hybrid engine under the massive hood. It produces 400 HP at 5500-6000 RPM and 550 Nm of torque at 2000-5000 RPM. This engine propels the large SUV from a standstill to 100 km/hr in 5.9 seconds and has a top speed of 242 km/hr.
This engine feels very smooth and refined, offering good low-end punch to effortlessly haul this 3-tonne SUV around the city. You don’t need to apply much pressure to the throttle for low-end performance, just a light tap provides enough initial response to handle slow-moving traffic. When you encounter an open stretch, pushing the throttle deeper results in silky-smooth acceleration that builds up linearly. The engine pulls strongly without any sudden surge of forceful power, which you might experience with the 4.4-litre V8 unit in the SV model. The 3.0-litre unit aligns well with the Range Rover’s character for most owners, unless they are performance enthusiasts.
With so much weight to carry and a 6-cylinder petrol engine under the hood, it’s natural to be concerned about fuel efficiency. In peak traffic conditions in Mumbai, with the AC on full blast, seat ventilation running and regular driving, we were getting around 4 km/l. We noticed this when the fuel level depleted quite quickly (chuckles!). However, the next day, on a drive to Nashik for a media event, we adopted a lighter driving style and were pleasantly surprised to see fuel economy improve to 12-14 km/l. This is quite impressive for a petrol-powered Range Rover. If your driving involves a mix of city and highway conditions with this engine, you can expect an average of 9-10 km/l.
I can’t overstate how easy it is to drive this 5.2-meter long and 2.2-meter wide palace on wheels. The steering is as light as a cloud, allowing you to turn it with just your pinky finger. Combined with rear-wheel steering and a commanding view from above, maneuvering around the city and parking becomes effortless. On the highway, it’s a fatigue-free experience, I could drive it all day long and cover miles without feeling the need to stop.
The ride is exceptionally comfortable with minimal body roll. As a daily driver of a Tata Safari Storme, I was impressed by the contrast in handling. This big brute was remarkably well-controlled around corners. In fact, it was enjoyable to tackle twisty roads in Dynamic mode, as it hugged the corners well. While the steering feedback could be more precise, it’s not really meant for that.
After returning from Nashik, our time with the media car came to an end. I had to catch a flight back to Delhi on the same day from Mumbai. We drove directly from Nashik to the airport and I decided to drop the car off at the departure area of T2. Why am I mentioning this? I wanted to share an anecdote from the airport. As I approached the departure lane, I decided to try entering through the VVIP lane, which is on the far left where the paparazzi wait to spot celebrities. This lane is usually gated for security checks to ensure only VVIPs can enter.
I drove up to the VVIP lane with the Rover and flashed the lights. To my surprise, they opened the gate as soon as they saw the vehicle, without even asking for any details! That’s the kind of prestige that comes with this nameplate. Now, it’s even more desirable for the affluent Indian audience, as Land Rover assembles the car locally in India, leading to a price drop of Rs. 56 lakhs. The 3.0-litre petrol Range Rover Autobiography LWB is currently priced at Rs. 2.60 crores (ex-showroom).
