The specs
All hail the fourth member of the fourth generation Land Rover family.
•Turbo diesel
•Sound: Meridian 825W with 17 speakers
•Five Star Euro NCAP rating
•Can detect driver tiredness - not tested. I wanted to be fully awake for this whole experience
•Sliding Panoramic Roof $2850
•Verdict: The most good-looking SUV.
The car
Lavish. That is the word. Lavish inside and lavish out. Ta-da! Here comes the Velar. What's with the name? Velar comes from the Latin verb velare, which means to hide. It looks low-brow. Under-the-radar-ish. Not at all like its rugged predecessors, the boxy/beautiful Land Rover 4x4s. It's curvier and smoother. But climb inside and start the ignition and the entire thing freakishly rises up - ready for action.
I hit M1 (which sets my seat so that I never have to do this again, despite what other imposter has been here) and turn the beautifully simple dial that looks like a big radio tuner, to D - for Drive.
Nothing jars. There is no handbrake or foot pedal posing as a handbrake. I click into "comfort mode" - there are six driving modes - dynamic, ECO, comfort, grass/gravel/snow, mud and ruts, sand. It's 6am. We want comfort. It's mid-size so it's not like you can fit a kayak and a trestle table in the boot. But three kids (two in the back, one in the front) and I feel like we are travelling on a high-end sofa, probably from BoConcept, floating slightly above everyone else. Which on SH1 north of Auckland, heading for Pataua South, is an ideal way to feel.
