2024 Range Rover Velar P400 Review: It's the Small Details that Count

Almost seven years have passed since Land Rover first revealed the Range Rover Velar, a car meant to usher in a new era of design for the iconic British SUV brand.

In the years since, the Velar’s rakish, swept-back looks have spread across the brand, as new versions of the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and even the subcompact Range Rover Evoque – a model that predates the Velar – all now have a distinctive Velar-ish resemblance.

Instead, North American models have two main gas powerplants: the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder P250, and the P400 3.0-liter turbo inline six-cylinder. The latter utilizes a 48-volt mild hybrid (MHEV) system.

The 2.0-liter four produces 247 horsepower and 269 lb-ft. of torque, while the 3.0-liter inline-six generates 394 horsepower and 406 lb-ft. of torque. A detuned variant, the P340, using the same inline-six with MHEV, is also available for the Canadian market. It produces 335 horsepower and 354 lb-ft. of torque.

All grades are paired with a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission with standard all-wheel drive.

While one could reasonably call the Velar’s exterior updates minor, the same cannot be said on the inside, where the car’s design, materials and available tech have received more significant updating.

On the design front, the two-touchscreen setup has been replaced with a single next-gen 11.4-inch curved Pivi Pro multimedia display. The ‘24 Velar is the first JLR model to receive this new screen – its capabilities are detailed further down.

New console and dashboard materials have also been rolled out, including Shadow Grey Ash wood veneer trim, and Moonlight Chrome, which is found on the steering wheel, center console surrounds and air vents. Apart from Shadow Grey Ash wood, Technical Light Anodized and Dark Anodized Aluminum are also available.

These new trim options work in conjunction with four new interior color schemes: Cloud, Caraway, Raven Blue, and Deep Garnet.

The Velar can also be had with a leather-free option that uses new seat designs and materials. The Danish supplier, Kvadrat, uses wool combined with Ultrafabrics polyurethane textile inserts with a new Diamond Herringbone pattern. The wool blends are lighter than leather, by about 58 percent, and are quite durable.

On the durability side, Range Rover says it exposed the new material to 60,000 cycles of abrasion testing (about 10 years of use) and three years of UV testing to ensure it remains robust over the car’s lifecycle.

As mentioned, the big news on the tech front is the new 11.4-inch Pivi Pro infotainment touchscreen. The screen uses a new layout that has controls for climate, seating, and audio, and other frequently used items always visible on both sides of the screen.

The screen also has a Pre-Drive start-up panel that provides quick access to commonly used features, such as optional heated seats. Once the car is moving, the panel is replaced by a customizable three-panel home screen.

The new Pivi Pro system supports wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, and a wireless device charge pad is in the center console in front of the gear shift behind a door panel. Thanks to embedded eSIM technology and cloud-based architecture, a wide array of third-party apps, such as Spotify and Deezer, are integrated into the system. Amazon Alexa, which can be used to control several settings with voice commands, is also embedded.

Over the air updates, which can be used to update about 80 percent of the Velar’s ECUs, including the Pivi Pro system, navigation mapping, on-board diagnostics, and more, is also standard issue.

Finally, the Velar features Active Road Noise Cancellation technology, which Range Rover says makes it the quietest vehicle in its class for road noise. The anti-noise processed through the car’s sound system reduces overall noise by at least four decibels, or four volume steps.

The Range Rover Velar was a smooth, powerful, and quiet-riding SUV before and remains so. We spent about three hours behind the wheel of a P400 tester on a route that took us from downtown Miami to Key Largo and back, and it proved to be quite a pleasant experience.

The acceleration, from rest and at speed, from the turbo inline-six is impressive in all drive modes, and emits a pleasing, luxury-car growl from its concealed exhaust. Range Rover claims a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph, and while we didn’t verify those claims ourselves, the Velar indeed feels fast.

The Velar also feels well-planted, with a direct and linear feel that not only applies to its acceleration properties, but also to its steering and handling. Our drive was only on public roads, so we didn’t test its track or off-road capabilities, but if they’re anything like its on-road performance, we think the Velar would stack up well against its (mostly German) competition.

We are also big fans of the changes made to the Velar’s cabin, especially the simplified and faster-operating Pivi Pro multimedia system. One screen is better than two, in our view, and we look forward to spending more time with it as it filters out across the model range. During our brief time with it, it worked splendidly.

The new materials and color options for the dash, center console and seats are also impressive, and having a no-leather seating option is great, but the Velar’s cabin was already quite well finished.

Taken together, the Range Rover Velar’s changes make an impressive vehicle even more so. The exterior design changes are somewhat modest, but the cabin updates, especially the new Pivi Pro multimedia system, are significant. And a step in the right direction, in our eyes.

Do we wish the PHEV Velar would cross the ocean? Yes. Do we wish the Pivi Pro system had fewer icons, and that there were at least some hard keys for climate control functions? Double yes.

But these are minor nits that don’t impact the Velar’s appeal much. It remains a handsome, capable, finely crafted SUV that delivers impressive performance, along with an abundance of sophisticated style and advanced technology. Plus, it’s a Range Rover, a marque that requires no explanation.

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