• Plenty of room for the driver…
• Adequate space for rear-seat passengers
• Luggage space is very impressive

How much space is there?

Given how large the Velar looks from the outside and how long it feels from behind the wheel, the interior space for people is a little underwhelming at first. Four adults can make themselves reasonably comfortable, but there is not an enormous amount of rear knee room, and anyone forced into the middle fifth seat will find themselves straddling the transmission tunnel, which isn’t ideal for longer journeys.

So, consider it an adequately roomy car for four and you won’t be that disappointed. If you have kids, the Velar will look after you reasonably well. For instance, it has just the two Isofix points, both on the outer rear seats. The Isofix sockets are easily accessible though, rather than buried deep between the seats, and there is plenty of room in the back to manoeuvre the children into position.

Boot space and storage

The Range Rover Velar is not short of boot space with 558 litres of capacity. That increases to 1,731 with the rear seats folded. Making life even sweeter, there are multiple fold-out curry hooks in the boot as well, plus load restraint rails available as an option. Shame the rear seats don’t fold totally flat, though.

Most Velars come with a powered tailgate – they’re only an optional extra on entry-level models – while higher-spec SE and HSE models also come with gesture control fitted, allowing you to open the tailgate by sweeping your foot underneath either corner of the bumper.

Is it easy to park?

There are some interesting optical illusions going on with the Velar’s exterior. It looks long and narrow, yet at just over 4.8m is far from being the longest SUV around while its 2.1m width from mirror tip to mirror tip is actually rather broad.

Parking requires care, but all models come with front and rear parking sensors as standard, with plenty of additional systems and cameras on high-spec models, and parking assist makes light work of most spaces. We’d at least recommend having cameras as rear visibility is a little limited.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating in 2017
• Six airbags and AEB as standard
• More active tech fitted on higher trim levels

The Range Rover Velar covers all the safety basics. Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, and a comprehensive suite of stability control systems are fitted as standard; you also get six airbags, power-operated child locks and a brake pad wear sensor.

More adventurous types will appreciate that Hill Descent Control, Hill Launch Assist, Gradient Release Control and Low Traction Launch are all standard across the Velar range as well. You get automatic high beam assistance from Velar S upwards, while SE adds blind-spot monitors, traffic sign recognition, adaptive speed limiter, rear cross traffic alert and a driver condition monitor.

HSE gets even more active with adaptive cruise control, plus blind-spot assist and lane-keeping assist – both of which actively intervene to keep you in lane and avoid merging with the vehicle next to you. When crash-tested by the experts at Euro NCAP in 2017 the Velar achieved a five-star rating, its 74% score for pedestrian safety being good for a high-rise SUV.

Watch the Euro NCAP crash test video