Fifth-generation Range Rover review: classically modernised

RANGE ROVER NZ MODEL LINE-UP
RANGE ROVER (FIFTH-GEN)

Pros

Supreme luxury
Rear seats are sublime
Smooth styling
Everything a RR should be

Cons

Decadence costs
PHEV still some time off
BEV even further away

On the week the world reopens to New Zealand, MIQ-free, we fly to wine country in Northern California to sample every model of the all-new Range Rover: seven-seats, mild-hybrid and V8.

It’s not very normal. A dream car in a dream country in a dream time, that’s the new Range Rover. An aspiration for so many, Land Rover UK chose Northern California for the first official drive of the all-new Range Rover.

fifth-generation range rover review: classically modernised

The US is the model’s biggest market, and with borders reopening after two years of Covid restrictions, the world’s motoring media converged – masked when indoors – on San Francisco, for a few days of fitting luxury, while sampling most models in the all-new 2022 Range Rover, from the MHEV petrol six, to the twin-turbo V8 long wheelbase SV.

The Range Rover is an icon and halo for Land Rover, so like improving an icon, the challenge is making it better without ruining its heritage, or upsetting the very traditional, loyal customer who’s loathe to lots of change.

And that sums up the new fifth-gen Range Rover, because it’s both a revolution and evolution, its smooth and sleek style is the headline, but its range of short- and long-wheelbase models, various engines including a mild hybrid (MHEV) and forthcoming PHEV and BEV models, it’s also a turning point for the luxury British SUV.

View Range Rover listings on Driven

We’re collected at San Fran airport in the new Range Rover. It’s all rather nonchalant, in this moment of informal in-person visual introduction.

Since its “digital reveal” last October, IRL it’s so much smoother, cleaner and modern, and stands out like a sleek speedboat in a sea of rental car shuttle buses.

Into the back seat of the short-wheelbase P530 HSE V8 ($254,900), the sunblinds and sunroof (controlled from the rear) offer comfort and privacy, while the large Executive Comfort Class Plus rear seats offer not just adjustment, but a selection of back massaging, including hot stone! The 10-inch rear screens are great, but right now there’s San Francisco to see.

After some time seeing the iconic sights, Golden Gate, Lombard St, The Presidio et al, the Range Rover programme starts in earnest the way it should: from a luxury hotel with a luxury breakfast, into the luxury Range Rover for a trip back to the airport for a private jet flight: “Today, your flight is just a 20-minute hop over to Charles M. Schulz [yes, Mr Snoopy] Airport, into Sonoma County and Napa Valleys, for flowing roads and its world famous wine region.”

We exit to see 12 seemingly identical gold Range Rovers lined up like an old Le Mans start. Subtle differences arise, from wheels, to copper, sunset and satin finishes that are more obvious up close, but all represent versions of the range heading to New Zealand, from the $209,900 D300 SE diesel six-cylinder, all the way up to the P530 Autobiography twin-turbo petrol V8, at $284,900.

There’s also a special version, we’ll see tomorrow, which caps off the nine models in the range, with a PHEV version to launch globally mid-year, along with a full battery BEV version in 2024.

Fittingly, kicking off our 30 hours in the Range Rover experience, we start in the D350 SE MHEV. It’s overwhelmingly luxurious, from the scent of leather to the feel and stitching and bare essentials of switches: just enough to cover the common controls, with the more detailed features accessed via the large 13.1-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen: we have the 700Nm underfoot and that feels more than enough, with 0-100 in 6.1 seconds – impressively, only the D300 SE is slower, and at 6.9sec hardly slow.

We head south on the 101 freeway back towards San Fran, just 100km away, the suspension doing a superb job to minimise the float induced by these American concrete freeways, with the supple ride quality that the huge 23-inch tyres simply shouldn’t be able to offer. Noise is minimal thanks to active cancellation that cuts it down by almost a quarter, with just a hint of wind noise from the mirrors at 100km/h.

We soon turn inland towards some winding roads, and the suspension firms up, devoid of the wallowing that an SUV of this size would suggest. The evolution of the Adaptive Dynamics Terrain Response system offers a dial to manually select, but also GPS-based self-altering.

After a few hours, we swap into the petrol version P400 MHEV, and we find ourselves following the incredible coastal road, with sweeping 100km/h bends and stunning cliffs of Bodega Bay and small rural US towns like Point Arena. The petrol engine has a little more top-end power, less torque, and the same MHEV, but doesn’t offer much over the diesel version, apart from higher fuel costs. So it’s no big surprise it’s not part of the NZ range, so let’s move on.

A diversion takes us off-road at Salmon Creek, where we get to play in a different way: the ride height goes up, and the transmission goes down to low-range, and we set off around some slippery grass hills down into a muddy ravine, putting some of the off-roading credentials to the test, and all done with simple aplomb.

For petrol lovers, it’s the P530 (for ps, or 390kW) HSE, a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 that spans across six of the nine models; 750Nm of horse-float pulling torque, and 4.6 seconds to 100km/h, it’s the ultimate Range Rover heart, but done with compassion: there’s a rumble, but it’s like distant thunder, absorbed by the large amount of sound-deadening that allows in just enough aural pleasure to justify the expense of at least $254,900.

An overnight stay at the stunning Montage Healdsburg resort hotel, replete with indoor/outdoor private showers and stunning views, is fitting.

Following an official presentation of the Range Rover with the background of the golden state’s setting sun, day two’s programme guides us towards Robert Young Estate Winery, this time in a seven-seat version, another new addition to Range Rover, where the local winery access roads offer us another sample of the Range Rover’s dispensing with slippery grass hills, muddy descents and steep inclines with a dismissive wave-away of its overly capable hand.

That third row opens up a whole new buyer, too, and with the wheelbase extension coming from the rear door area, ingress and egress is as easy as it can be, aided by electric assist which pushes the seats forward, with the ability to keep a child booster seat plugged into the Isofix points.

As we pull into the final lunch stop at the Robert Young Winery, we’re greeted by a very clean, white and elegant pinnacle of the trip: a Range Rover SV, in Ostuni Pearl White with gold accents that add a Middle-Eastern feel of opulence, and available in only the P510e or V8, in either short- or long-wheelbase. It sits at the top of the Range Rover line-up, puts even more focus on the rear seat, with a centrally located fridge, electric pop-up cupholders and work table. The seats recline, they massage, and the legroom is like flying first class.

Just as much an experience as a car, the Range Rover exudes luxury from every angle, inside and out. The smooth rear end is my favourite, with the slimline vertical “hidden until lit” tinted tail lights, that are trivially the exact same length as the high-mount third stop light. “Reductive modernism”, it’s called. Note the absence of fussy trim-work and the seamless beauty of simplicity around the glass and panels.

Its simplicity is ironic, given we’re in California, sipping wine and driving quarter-million dollar SUVs, but those for whom a Range Rover appeals and affords, it’s all rather normal.