"Open your window, now!" The man in the van really didn't look very happy. But then he had nearly ended up with a Range Rover Sport SVR in his lap, having pulled out of the side road in front of me. Now alongside each other he clearly wanted a chat. Here we go, more anger.
"You were indicating left!" he said. I was? "Yes!" Sorry? "No worries, cheers mate!" And with that he was off.
A 'workman, tools' moment to follow but, shocking to admit, this isn't the first time I've found myself merrily driving along with the indicator flashing. A common mistake in a Caterham with its non-cancelling rocker switch. Less so in regular road car. There is no excuse. But here are some anyway. Because I don't recall it happening in any other car I've driven recently. It's possible the self-cancelling mechanism is a little weak, or maybe I need to turn the thumping Meridian hi-fi down in order not to drown the click-clack-click-clack sound. The green indicator arrows are rather small and inconspicuous on the dash display and easy to miss too. Suffice it to say, the above incident has got me rather more aware that I need to make sure I'm not flashing inappropriately.
I'll get in there before anyone else does but the stereotypical Range Rover Sport owner probably doesn't bother using the indicators anyway. I've said previously I'm conscious of being an ambassador for the breed and slightly over-compensate by being obsequiously polite to fellow road users. To the point they look a little creeped out at times. But as you'll see from the pic from the supermarket car park there are some SVR owners fighting hard to keep the boorish image alive. Yes, it has been submitted to a certain Twitter feed publicising such efforts...
Anyway. Last time I was discussing the move to the big wheels and road rubber; this has now been booked in for next week, Land Rover asking if they could have the car back for a once-over. As it happened with 14,230 miles showing the service indicator has just flashed up so the timing seems about right.
Before the swap a last little paddle off-road, in this instance on the beach on a weekend break to Anglesey. In response to an Instagram share the PR replied "Still an 850mm wading depth - you can go a little further in :-)" He should know better. Temptation was already there - the holidaying Cheshire set now mean the place is crawling with Sports ostentatiously towing jet skis onto the local beaches. And the idea of playing in the surf did rather appeal. Maybe I should have swapped plates with our car park friend before really letting rip...
The miles are certainly racking up in the SVR and - if you set aside the small matter of the amount of fuel it burns - I'm rather growing to like the comforting rumble you get on a cruise. Daft really but I default to loud mode for the exhaust even on a long journey to let the bassy throb tingle through the leather. Kind of like one of those vibrating massage chairs. I'd imagine. Even that 1,700w hi-fi can't compete, all my music seemingly benefitting from a V8 accompaniment.
And it's character features like these that win you over. Natural Range Rover driver or not I'm rather enjoying the experience.
FACT SHEET
Car: Range Rover SVR
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: November 2015
Mileage: 14,230
List price new: £106,635 (Basic list of £95,150 plus £450 for Solar Attenuating Windscreen with Laminated Hydrophobic Front, Rear Door and Quarter Light Glass, £600 for 8 inch High Resolution Touch-screen with Dual-View (includes one set of WhiteFire headphones), £4,000 for Meridian Signature Reference Audio System (1700W) with radio and single slot CD player, MP3 disc, file compatibility and conversation assist with 23 speakers and subwoofer, Contrast Painted Roof - Santorini Black, Sliding Panoramic Roof including Powered Blind, £185 for Adjustable, Auto-dimming, Heated, Powerfold Memory Exterior Mirrors with Approach Lamps (approach lamps include illuminated Range Rover graphic), £700 for Surround Camera System with Towing Assist, £750 for Wade SensingTM with Blind Spot Monitoring with Closing Vehicle Sensing and Reverse Traffic Detection, £600 for Traffic Sign Recognition and Lane Departure Warning, £1,000 for Head Up Display, £900 for Park Assist featuring Parallel Park, Parking Exit, Perpendicular Parking and 360° Park Distance Control, £1,500 for SVR Carbon Fibre Engine Cover and £800 for Digital TV)
Last month at a glance: SVR rolls up its trousers for a bit of paddling