Things I Hate About the 2023 Range Rover Velar S P250

Foreign. What's going on, guys? Dan here with Speed Labs and we've had the pleasure of driving around this 2023 Range Rover Velar SP250 for about a week now. And while it's treated as well, and I can't really complain, whenever motor envy sends us a car to review, there are always things that bug me. Especially if this was our personal car. So today I'm going to share some of those things with you guys in no particular order. Just going to fire them off as we go. Let's get number one, the backup camera. It's not directly lined up with the center of the car and is offset to the right by about 9 inches. While not the end of the world, it's really annoying at first. Makes backing into a spot a guessing game and I don't know if I'd ever get used to it. Number two, the hybrid dash. I hate hybrid clusters. Don't try to be cute with it. Just go all analog with a small info screen in the middle or don't do it at all. And I know this can be optioned to be completely digital, but it should have been standard on a car at this price point. Number three, it's slow. 247 horsepower is not a lot at all, especially when you weigh 4,300 pounds and everybody else in the segment is lighter and more powerful. It gets the job done. But if you just want to go from point A to point B, why not just get a Prius number four transmission? I love the paddles that this car has, but the gearbox has absolutely no soul. No excitement, no oomph. The shifts are smooth, but they're slow. Even when you switch to the dynamic drive mode. It feels like the planetary Automatic from my 1995 Nissan Maxima. Number 5 Piano Gloss Black trim. Why do car makers still do this? It's a fingerprint magnet. It's annoying to clean and it actually looks really cheap. It's. It particularly bothers me here on the bottom screen because you use your hands to control it. And this cup holder here because it uses a ridiculous amount of force to open. Number six, Android Auto connects randomly when the car is off. Listen. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is really nice. Every car should have it. But right now only the higher end vehicles make it available. So I'm glad Range Rover included this. But when the car's off and I'm still in the general vicinity, the infotainment randomly turns on and it'll connect to my phone and then it'll blast music. Not really A dislike, but just an annoying quirk. Number seven, the lack of exhaust tips. I really like the overall aesthetics of the car and this normally wouldn't bother me, but on the P250 they delete the exhaust tips and it's just one clean fascia. The problem is that's Range Rover's way of telling everybody else that you're a pleb with the bottom barrel budget model of this car and you couldn't fork up an extra couple grand for the P348 value. I don't like to include costs as a dislike or hate, but in this case it's pretty apparent the Velar is a lot more money than the comparable option from BMW, Audi or Mercedes or even Porsche. And after having this car for some time, there are certain things that make sense, but a lot of it doesn't add up. You're really just paying an extra five, ten or fifteen grand to say that you drive a Range Rover. Of course, we're going to have to balance this out with some things that I actually like about the car. So, number one, I think it's hot, it's designed well, it aged well and it looks hip. The R dynamic package gives it all these cool little black bits that make it appear more aggressive than it actually is. So, you know, that's appreciated, I suppose. Number two, build quality. I really like the pseudo suede that they used. Combined with the rubberized diamond stuff, brushed metal and supple leather. It's a classy package. Everything is well put together too. Just feels like quality in here. Number three, the Meridian sound system. You need to tweak it a little bit out of the box, but once you do, it's a pretty great sound system, especially because the car has double plane glass. That makes the acoustics just that much more enjoyable. Number four, the panoramic roof. This is cool because it's usually something you find in a more expensive car. Even though I almost never use this function, it's just nice to have once in a while when you want to let in some extra lighter air. Well, that's going to do it for now. I'm sure if I drove this car for another week or two, I'll probably find some more things that I love or hate about it. Special thanks to Motor Envy for letting me borrow this Velar. If you're in the market for a luxury or performance car, you'll definitely want to check them out. They've got a bunch of cool stuff. Hope you all enjoyed this quick little episode and I will catch you all on the next one, Sam.