Heir supremacy

A new Range Rover means renewed efforts to steal its crown. The king in waiting goes to war with Bentley's Bentayga and the Porsche Cayenne

- Ben Miller

GENUINE ICONS? THEY ARE FEW AND FAR between. Porsche have at least one and so too do Land Rover. Their flagship, the luxury-meets-utility Range Rover, may be more than half a century old but it is only now into its fifth iteration. Trends, corporate owners, rivals, prime ministers-they come and go yet the Range Rover remains; aloof yet desirable, aspirational yet practical, contemporary yet timeless.

Tempting though it must be to consider your icon a creation beyond comparison, Land Rover have resisted such complacency and with good reason: the luxury SUV sector heaves with quality rivals and glittering debutants (here's looking at you, Lotus and Ferrari).

We know from our first drive that this new Range Rover is much more than a cut-and-paste exercise in marginal gains. Instead, it looks, smells, feels, and drives suspiciously like a masterful reinterpretation of a half-century-old formula, one that retains the type's trademark style, comfort, and off-road ability while also fixing the only real chink in its armour, namely, its on-road driving dynamics. Can it really be that good? Today we shall find out.

Where just an hour ago the Peak District was devoid of colour a monochrome wilderness under a slate sky-dazzling spring sunshine has since brought the place to life. The myriad ochres of the moors pop with the vivid yellow of flowering gorse and the emerald green of fresh growth. It is a landscape of remarkable beauty and one in which it is easy to lose yourself, particularly from the Range Rover's throne-like driver's seat. There I am, left arm on the armrest, happily lost in peaceful contemplation, when two bombastic V8s roar past in a wall of stereo noise. The Cayenne (here to put the Range Rover's newfound on-road flair in perspective) and the Bentayga (for most the definitive luxury SUV), bored of my pedestrian pace, lunge ahead before bobbing out of view over the next crest. Game on.