So I've had my new RRS SDV6 Autobiography for two weeks now, having picked up a new plate on the 1st of March. It was a big jump in car for me, having traded out of a ford focus ecoboost and prior to that I'd only had two other cars, a ford fiestas and a fiat punto. It has been some change, it terms of both size, performance and cost!! Originally I wanted a C63 AMG, but the wife to be doesn't like it (and frankly I prefer the old model), so the RRS ended up being a rather expensive compromise.

Generally the car has blown both of us away and we did have very high expectations, here are my thoughts on several things after two weeks in the brand:

- Interface and Sat Nav. I really like the interface and whilst it isn't the quickest, it isn't as bad as a lot of the reviews made out and I have no complaints re the tech at all and I have found it really easy to use compared to say the systems on the ML and BMW X5. However, the sat nav is terrible - the graphics are fine and it works well enough, but the route planning and ETA clearly don't factor in traffic and compared to the nav in the ford focus it does a very bad job of getting me from A-B. For a journey through London which always takes me about an hour it is always 30 minutes out on the estimate and it often takes me into traffic rather than planning around it - I expected it to be smarter and would rather have my old Nav system from the ford back and I now just use google maps on my iphone.

- Leather seats are very comfortable but the workmanship is really awful, I had the car detailed today by Belissiomoto (will do a separate post on exo black that I had done) and the detailer said the rear seats needed replacing because the workmanship was so poor.

- The drive is amazing, it glides along the road and has made journeys a pleasure - it doesn't feel as big as I thought it would and the driving position is probably the best I have experienced. In dynamic mode it really is quite impressive (and I prefer the handling particularly on narrow roads like the A3) and I may well have to invest in a decent speed camera system because it is all too easy to cruise along motorways at excessive speeds without really noticing. There is an initial lag when pulling away from a standstill which is taking a bit of getting used to but the car is plenty quick enough and I am happy with the decision not to go for the V8 this time around although I still have the craving for the supercharged engine sound and exhaust note.

- The interior cabin, leather issue above aside, is really beautifully put together and looks great. We have the Lunar seats with the machine finished interior (swapped out the piano black due to reports of scratching) and I wouldn't change it for anything. It is extremely comfortable and has made regular trips up the M3 a joy, particularly with the meridian sound system which makes my sonos system at home seem distinctly average.

- I drove an ML63 for a few weeks in Dubai a couple of months ago and really liked it, however the RRS really does feel like a class above in terms of quality, in fact the difference is really noticeable. There is no comparison on looks either - although I would have liked a quad exhaust system on the sport if truth be told - will have to wait a few years and get an SVR.

So all in all a very happy RRS owner and already can't imagine having anything else...

Congrtats on your new RRS

Nice write up ... bang on the money !!! 2014.5 SDV6 AB Dynamic ... Fuji /Santorini Pan roof and 22's
2013 Porsche Boxster S 3.4
2014 Audi A3 S line Quattro
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Great honest review. Thanks. Like reading others opinions on their cars.  2015 RRS AB SDV6, Fuji White, Ivory
2012 RRS HSE SDV6, Sumatra Black and Ivory
Audi A5, 3.0 TDI, Gone
Audi TT, 3.2 V6, Gone
BMW 5 series tourer, Gone

A good, honest write up!

It is very disturbing that the workmanship on the rear leather seats is so poor though?

Jim

I will take photos of the rear seats. The left hand side looks fine, the leather on the seat looks smooth and tight, whereas the right hand side rear passenger seat looks like they started with too much leather so it is loose and crumpled/creased in places which over time will only get worse exaggerating the sagging look of it.

The leather seat finish is an absolute joke

The seatbelt cutout is not deep enough so when the seats are down it stretches the leather and deforms it !!








 2014.5 SDV6 AB Dynamic ... Fuji /Santorini Pan roof and 22's
2013 Porsche Boxster S 3.4
2014 Audi A3 S line Quattro
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That is shocking workmanship

How on earth did that pass QC checks at the factory???

I'm now worried about mine which arrives in April.

Jim

The seats are made by a 3rd party supplier so LR management needs a rocket for accepting such poor finishing. I've seen better quality leather finishing from Ikea.......... And Ikea's leather chairs are probably made in China not by supposed "craftsmen" in the UK. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

My dealer told me that as leather is a natural product the seats will all vary!! Bit like their Quality Control then! MY16 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography in Aleutian silver, stealth pack and toys.

Almost the same answer from my dealer..
Basically LR and the dealer just do not want to know. Its a complete rubbish quality standard for a supposedly top end car.
I suspect that LR have entered into some type of deal with the seat supplier that they can not easily get out off or its just CHEAP , the bad news is that the few people I have seen that tried to get it fixed by the dealer ended up with the finish being even worse.. there is a few examples on this forum of the same..

Guess the only way to possibly get LR attention is to start talking loudly on all the forums saying "DO NOT BUY A LR SPORT THE LEATHER SEAT QUALITY IS RUBBISH", D4 2012 Santorini Black gone
RRS 2013 Santorini HSE Black gone
MY2016 RRS HSE Dynamic arrived September, but will it stay.. maybe not.

Well I am almost two weeks in, actually a little more. So far so good with the normal Land Rover abnormalities.

Couple of interesting points from me:-

1) Seats are all one color and so far good workmanship displayed, expect front seat side to wear due to needing to climb over it getting in and out.
2) Car build is no where up to European standards, but I expected this , things like the wiper on LHS touches the bonnet edge when lifted to clean the screen? Doors are not perfectly aligned , and rubber wrapped Rear door wiring loom touches the rear door seal at the top and causes indent in the rubber , which I believe will be a dust seal issue.
3) Car sometimes shuts down when I select park, there seems to be no regular reason for this that I can accurately reproduce , I do know it is supposed to shut down but under what conditions?
4) Diver seat sometimes does not return to correct position, just slightly out and fixed by pressing the memory button.
5) Media unit is OK but well behind the times, cannot have Bluetooth Media and USB connected at the same time , pretty average for this price point . Music quality on the other hand is first class.
6) Parking sensors don't work automatically in the front , yes you can turn on by selecting reverse or manual, but this is an extra step not required in other vehicles.

There are probably more little issues but after driving 2,000 klms in two days I can still say I am happy with my decision to buy this vehicle. I traveled from Melbourne to Wollongong in 8.5 hrs yesterday in heavy rain and the car just made the journey one of ease and gave me a feeling of safety in pretty wet and wild conditions.

Some people will buy the car for the name, in which case I believe it would be a poor choice, if are buying because of function , well having driven and owned a fair amount of the opposition, I believe the Sport is head of the group. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Shutting down - when pressing park and releasing your seat belt after an 'auto stop start' shutdown, the ignition will switch off. It's designed this way.

Parking sensors - select 'auto parking aid' on the touch screen and turn on. Sensors will now come on automatically.

Might be able to answer a couple of points

2) If you put the wipers into winter park mode this will enable you to lift off of the screen.
3) After its put into park if, if you take your belt off I think it's supposed to shut down.
6) If you press and hold the parking sensor button ( left hand side of main screen area ) for at least I think 3 secs then the sensors will be active 24/7

Sorry couldn't answer all of your questions and I apologise if I'm wrong, being yours is a Aussie spec and might be a bit different to a uk one, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along shortly

Fat fingers = slow typing  2015 HSE SDV6 Scotia Grey, ebony / lunar, colour coded, deployable steps, TV, sliding pano and a few other bits. Now gone
2018 Velar R-Dynamic HSE sdv6 silicon silver

Comments above correct for 15MY and earlier parking sensor activation.

See my comment for 16MY

Nowaytk wrote:

Might be able to answer a couple of points

2) If you put the wipers into winter park mode this will enable you to lift off of the screen.
3) After its put into park if, if you take your belt off I think it's supposed to shut down.
6) If you press and hold the parking sensor button ( left hand side of main screen area ) for at least I think 3 secs then the sensors will be active 24/7

Sorry couldn't answer all of your questions and I apologise if I'm wrong, being yours is a Aussie spec and might be a bit different to a uk one, but I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along shortly

Fat fingers = slow typing