Range Rover P400e Autobiography long term review

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Published on September 7, 2023 2:39:57 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDuBM20qUAA

Duration: 7:30

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Range Rover P400e Autobiography - long term review
WHAT'S THE NEW HYBRID RANGE ROVER LIKE ON A BIG, LONG ROAD-TRIP?
What’s better than one visit to the Alps in summer? That’s right, two visits. And what’s quite possibly the very best car on sale to do that trip in? Got it in one: our long wheelbase Range Rover. Sam Philip and Ollie Marriage were your smug chauffeurs for this one.

OM: Great minds think alike eh, Sam? 3,300 miles we’ve managed to pile on between us across the autoroutes and mountain passes of France. I don’t see your pics brimming with kids and plastic toys – what were you up to out there?

SP: A glorious, child-free jaunt to catch a big mountain stage of the Tour de France, because there’s no finer way to spend a weekend than eating cheese while watching tiny men power their way up 20-degree inclines. No messing around getting out to the Alps here: bike in the boot, flat out across Eastern France, one fuel stop halfway. A proper test of the Range Rover’s mile-mullering abilities – which, obviously, it smashed. Speaking of tiny men and bikes, you love your cycling, right? Surprised not to see the RR covered in bikes for your trip?

OM: There’s a reason for that. I was meant to take an electric mountain bike out with me, y’know, the old hybrid bike/hybrid car opportunity, but it was too heavy to go on the roof and – here’s a secret worth knowing – you can’t have a towbar fitted to a long wheelbase hybrid, for reasons I haven’t yet got to the bottom of. Anyway, how was the Tour? Did you manage to sit on the tailgate and bray like you were at a point-to-point?
SP: Yes, but in French, which is somehow more acceptable, I think? Allez! Bon courage! Peur du pamplemousse rouge! Went full local with my parking, too. Watching the Tour is something of an… improvisational experience: there’s no organised parking, so you simply find yourself an inviting section of verge, drive on in and set up camp. That’s where the Range Rover excels. You can bung it into hillsides and ditches you wouldn’t dare tackle in a regular luxury car. It’s a go-anywhere relaxation pod.

OM: It is sensational at that, isn’t it? I snuck off one afternoon simply to go and find some tracks and slopes to see what it’s capable of. And it’s actually bizarre. You’re sat in these immaculate cream seats, the ambience is plush squared, you have silent progress from the electric motor yet you’re crawling over loose gravel, past cattle, up vertiginous slopes. At times it feels like AI-generated immersive 3D cinema.

SP: I do find the RR’s bipolar nature – serious off-roader and luxury limo – a bit disconcerting at times, though. 150 grand plus mud-and-undergrowth is a puckering combination. I couldn’t shake the fear of scratching the glossy paintwork with a bramble, or defiling the thick-shag carpet with a mucky walking boot. I’d definitely spec my Range Rover with a darker shade of leather. And possibly cover the interior in that plastic they use to wrap suitcases at airports. While we’re talking about inappropriate Alpine activities, I can also report that the Range Rover is not the car for a spirited assault on an empty mountain pass, unless you wish that spirited assault to end in a thicket of pines trees. It’s a wafter, not a fighter, this lad.

OM: Yeah, this is not one of those luxury SUVs with rigid body control is it? It leans heavily and does its best to encourage you to slow down, admire the world outside, appreciate the imperiousness of it all. If only sudden impacts from expansion joints and potholes didn’t jar and kickback through the chassis.

SP: Far less of an issue on marbly autoroute tarmac, though. The phrase ‘continent crusher’ is hideously overused, but there’s no better way to describe the RR. It just hoovered up the 700-mile drive across France, all easy waft and leathery luxury. If you’re doing big miles and money’s literally no object, I’m not sure there’s a better car on the planet. A Bentley Continental? You certainly wouldn’t be so comfy in the rear. It’s an absolute business lounge back there. While I drove the stint from Calais to Troyes, my brother conducted a three-hour business meeting via Zoom from a rear throne. Nothing like receiving a deep tissue massage while you’re blathering through Powerpoint slides.

OM: I had five on board a lot of the time, so centre rear got a definite short straw. I only sat in the back during the inevitable four hour delay at Eurotunnel on the way home. I saw then why no-one else had volunteered to drive. It’s spectacular.