2026 Range Rover P615 SV Intrepid | UK Review

You want proper consumer testing? Time to see just what's what with JLR's Body and Soul Seats...

As with the Porsche 911, it can be easy to forget that the Range Rover is forever evolving. Even in a single generation - we’re on the L460 now, in case you’d forgotten - there are model year updates, powertrain changes, spec refreshes and more. It’s nipped here and tucked there to be better as it goes. But because even the significant overhauls retain that innate Range Roverness, instantly recognisable even when all-new - just like the Porsche - it can be hard to keep track of progress. Plus, let’s be frank, maintain the interest: lots of Range Rovers exist, lots of Porsche 911s exist. And for all those folk that can tell you about the paint codes for the 2018MY, many know of Range Rovers and 911s without needing any more detail than that.

However, we’re now half a decade into the life of the current Range Rover. While the electric one seems as far off as it did in 2021, the once-contentious design has mellowed nicely and the ‘460 feels well established (just as the L405 was), as the eminent super luxury SUV. Plus, well, the latest S-Class has just been tested; as we’re dealing with the ultimate exec expresses, a revisit of the Range seems appropriate.

Especially with some snazzy new seats to try out. As well as introducing a funny new acronym, the latest Body and Soul Seats - yes, BASS, first arriving with last year’s SV Black - promise to take ‘in-car audio and wellness to a new level’. Now available for the rear seats also, BASS is a £1,500 option that offers up six wellness programmes for occupants - with different soundscapes and massages - as well as actual bass through the seats for ‘a fully immersive journey.’

The good bits first: say you have left a house containing a whiny toddler, howling dog and grumpy other half, selecting ‘Poise’, ‘Serene’ or ‘Tonic’ on the screen - there are six in total, from a Calm end to an Invigorate one - really can improve your mood. As any time spent in a Range Rover tends to, of course, though here even more so with the smart combination of massage and sound. Because a Range Rover always isolates its driver so well, it’s very easy to fully embrace the feeling of being in a spa retreat on wheels. No doubt those in the back seats, reclined if they wish, will appreciate it even more.

And the bad bits of BASS? It’s fiddly, in truth. The six bullseyes on the screen are easy to miss, and to get from the wellness programmes to have the seats thump along to your favourite song that’s just come on is awkward. When the perfect moment suddenly arrives to make believe you're in the VIP section of the club (and you really did pull up in a top-spec Rover), it can pass again because of prodding at the screen. And sometimes having to turn your audio source back on because it was playing the spa music.

Not quite flawless then, if quite a nice feature to have when all the stars align: stop-start traffic can be a lot more soothing, an A-road canter even more invigorating. Moreover - and this is probably going to cause some consternation - this Range Rover interior shouldn’t have buttons. Firstly because there are simply too many features to even consider the idea of switches, from five settings each for massage strength, type and direction (really), to everything that Terrain Response does. But also because the minimalist vibe looks brilliant to these eyes. It’s so clean and uncluttered that you feel bad bringing a bottle, covering up cubbies and keeping the centre console uninterrupted. Maybe it isn’t great for usability (volume adjustments most notably), maybe some icons should be larger and maybe the screen should be a bit swifter by now, but it does all make for a very swish driving environment. And, BASS intrigue aside, do people fiddle that much with their Range Rover settings on the move? This time around, the feel of driving a penthouse on wheels outweighed the frustrations around climate control adjustment.

Because while this SV is designed more with fortunate rear seat passengers in mind (complete with their own colourway that doesn’t look quite as crazy as it sounds), there’s still a lot to enjoy about captaining a Range. From small details like the driving position to the sumptuous way it flows down a road, it’s a lovely reminder that driver reward doesn’t have to come from something small, light, and rear-drive. The satisfaction of a great car can be on the subtler side, too.

Or you can mat a right foot and accelerate like an M3, if subtle isn't a concern. While it might seem odd for a 600hp-plus SUV to carry no real performance branding - the flagship, 6D-chassis’d Sport SV is just 20hp more potent - the speed on offer here is never in any doubt whatsoever. Less emotional than the old supercharged V8 but even more effective, the relentlessness of the twin-turbo 4.4 is quite something to experience. It really is like take-off, prow rearing up to the sky and acceleration never abating; the scenery blurs and yet the calm isn’t disturbed one jot. So it would probably suit electric propulsion absolutely perfectly.

By and large, a purely V8-powered Range Rover remains a truly lovely thing to pilot. But there are just a couple of quibbles that can disturb the BASS-induced calm, the first being an automatic gearbox that can make its work a bit too noticeable, the odd thunk detectable (and all the more noticeable when most shifts are so smooth). There’s also the fact that 23-inch wheels can still upset the ride; with smaller secondary intrusions causing more interference than is really ideal in a £180k luxury machine. Maybe, like the buttonless dash, an accommodation could be made for the sake of looks, but - as is pretty much always the case when a car comes on such huge wheels - we’d sacrifice a bit of kerb appeal (and kerbing risk) for a nicer drive.

Not least as so much of what the Range Rover does, even now, is so deeply impressive. Naturally, there’s a light, chauffeur-appropriate touch to every control, but with a consistency across pedals and wheel that puts you immediately at ease should a brisker pace be required. Smudge the screen into Dynamic mode and the car that results isn’t transformed, rather usefully enhanced to corner a bit less languidly and accelerate with greater urgency. Of course, the sheer size always plays on the mind, but it’s still a pleasant surprise to find how accurate - and how enjoyable - threading a Range Rover along can be. Four-wheel steer that, however handy, feels a bit severe at parking speed makes its usefulness seem more organic once pushing on. Thinking about all the tech that goes into making so much Range Rover feel and work like a Range Rover - soft yet responsive, refined yet not totally aloof, still off-roading royalty - will make your head hurt; better instead merely to enjoy what remains one of the great SUV experiences. Then stop for a sandwich on the Tailgate Event Suite.

Truthfully, much of this Range Rover charm and sophistication is available in models below the SV. An Autobiography with the V8 is still going to be a pretty lovely machine, even if the BASS are only available on the SV. Those attempting to make a true Bentayga or Cullinan rival of a flagship Range (or eyeing up a bargain in a decade’s time) should probably get the chairs, though. Granted, the integration is imperfect and, yes, a massage seat ought to suffice for most. But when so many new features on luxury cars feel like gimmicks, here’s something that really makes a special car feel just a little more so. Whether de-stressing after a long day scrolling or turning a Range Rover into a rave, the Body and Soul Seats do just add that bit extra to the R-R experience for all involved. And it was already a pretty special one to begin with. A week and a couple of hundred miles really only scratched the surface of what the machine (and the seats) were capable of; seldom has a car ever seemed better suited to anything and everything that could be thrown at it over many years than a top-tier Range Rover. Just like another automotive icon, in fact.

SPECIFICATION | 2026 RANGE ROVER P615 SV INTREPID

Engine: 4,395cc, V8, twin-turbo mild hybrid
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 615@5,855-7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 553@1,800-5,400rpm
0-62mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 162mph
Weight: 2,716kg (DIN)
MPG: up to 24.1 (WLTP)
CO2: from 266g/km (WLTP)
Price: £174,345 (price as standard; price as tested £181,625, comprising Black contrast roof for £950, Privacy glass for £490, SC Intrepid Rosewood Near-Aniline leather front and Ebony Semi-Aniline leather rear seats with Ebony interior for £3,000, Body and Soul rear seat for £1,500,Tailgate Event Suite with Cushions for £1,000, Secure Tracker Pro for £340)

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Master Bean

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