eddkawasaki wrote:

That's great news I might be able to get rid of my MP3 library that I just keep for use in the car.
Thanks

I think my conclusion is that where with previous cars I've been happy enough to use MP3, it's worth using (in my case, Apple Lossless) on an iPod. As the largest current iPod you can get is 64Gb, this means a more limited selection as the files are 4 - 6 times as big as MP3.

I'm going to try some files on a data stick to find out how the usability compares with an iPod. I see SanDisk do 128Gb data sticks which would at least address the capacity issue plus of course you could have multiple ones and select whichever your mood takes you. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

Then, fit the illuminated rear threshold, torch and bumper protector and I will be all set for trips to Lincolnshire and North Wales next week, the special Defender exhibition at Solihull and Sussex the week after. Just love this car!![/quote]

Mark - how easy is it to retro fit the illuminated rear threshold tread plate finisher? I would rather do this myself if its an easy task.

Mark_N wrote:

eddkawasaki wrote:

That's great news I might be able to get rid of my MP3 library that I just keep for use in the car.
Thanks

I think my conclusion is that where with previous cars I've been happy enough to use MP3, it's worth using (in my case, Apple Lossless) on an iPod. As the largest current iPod you can get is 64Gb, this means a more limited selection as the files are 4 - 6 times as big as MP3.

I'm going to try some files on a data stick to find out how the usability compares with an iPod. I see SanDisk do 128Gb data sticks which would at least address the capacity issue plus of course you could have multiple ones and select whichever your mood takes you.

OK, tried Apple Lossless files on a data stick, no go. I assume the three file types listed - MP3, AIC and WMA - are the only ones which work on a data stick and all of them are lossy compressed. I do not yet see how to play lossless files without using an iPod. So more work required.

Went to do some driving at Porsche's driving centre in Silverstone, so was pleased to park the SVR gleaming blue in the spring sunshine among the various P-cars. They had a Cayenne turbo in the centre, doesn't hold a candle to the SVR. My friends who I was with loved the SVR. It loves petrol pumps, put over £100 of unleaded in it. Currently 20.1 mpg.

The Dynamic mode is fun. Apart from the changes in driving characteristics, it also switches on the sports exhaust and sets the ambient lighting to red. Come out of Dynamic Mode and it reverts to what you have selected, ice blue in my case.

The rear threshold looks like it will be easy to fit. it's a drop in replacement for the existing but you have to route a cable to pick up power which involves removing trim, cable ties are provided. The key here is to use plastic pry tools to ease the press studs and rivets out. They apply firm but even pressure compared to a screwdriver to avoid damage and are much better than yanking the trim out. You can buy them in various packs on eBay. I have a busy schedule but will get to it when I can - it's sitting in my garage waiting to be installed - and I'll post any hints and tips here plus a picture so you can judge whether it's worth it. The light comes from the same sort of panel used for the door thresholds.

I think you save about £150 by buying it for self-install compared to letting the dealer do it. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

What are you using to create the files - loss less 48 kHz 16 bit works from a stick on my MY12 Sport. I use XLD on the Mac. I'm sure the AAC file saved by iTunes also works. 

Mark_N wrote:

The rear threshold looks like it will be easy to fit. it's a drop in replacement for the existing but you have to route a cable to pick up power which involves removing trim, cable ties are provided. The key here is to use plastic pry tools to ease the press studs and rivets out. They apply firm but even pressure compared to a screwdriver to avoid damage and are much better than yanking the trim out. You can buy them in various packs on eBay. I have a busy schedule but will get to it when I can - it's sitting in my garage waiting to be installed - and I'll post any hints and tips here plus a picture so you can judge whether it's worth it. The light comes from the same sort of panel used for the door thresholds.

I think you save about £150 by buying it for self-install compared to letting the dealer do it.

Thanks Mark

Mark how about a mini review for us who have the SVR on order would love to hear what you think of the acceleration,handling,dynamic mode and what kind or reaction you are receiving if your not out driving  2016 bmw x5 40d m-sport space grey
2015 bmw 335i m-sport touring mineral grey/coral interior looking to change again .
Gone HSE SDV6 Dynamic indus silver, santorini contrast roof,panoramic roof,red brakes,privacy,climate front seats,tow bar great car enjoyed it ����
Gone my10 3.0 tdv6 Bali blue/ivory 5 years 24k no problems great car will be missed

So I've now done my longest trip so far to the Lincolnshire Wolds, something like 150 miles and what a great drive it was on a quiet Sunday morning. It delivers everything you expect in terms of performance. When I overtook a gaggle of cars stuck behind an artic on the Fosse Way in a single safe manoeuvre, I don't expect many of the drivers would have realised what on earth that noise was until a flash of blue passed them and they were left to contemplate the back of the grain lorry, either envious or scandalised.

That noise is intoxicating. The supercharged engine has a unique sound, like a Merlin engine in a Spitfire or Lancaster or my Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG, a much under-rated car from 10 or more years ago. Similar power to weight to the SVR, they feel comparable in terms of performance. It's just in the RRS, you are probably two feet higher off the ground.

Throttle back, sort of legal, J J Cale's album "The Road to Escondido" with Eric Clapton on the exquisite stereo, you really do need native CD or lossless to "get" the Meridian Tri-Field Rock solid imaging. This is a good place to be. In flight drink? Certainly sir! The cooler works and the San Pellegrino was just what I needed. Another £100+ in the tank? So what? Coming up to 1000 miles in two weeks, something like £250 of fuel in it already. About 21mpg on a run.

What about the roadholding? There's a favourite S-bend near Weston on the Green in Oxfordshire on the way to Bletchingdon. Excellent visibility, fast right, past a crossing, fast left, most would take it at 30mph. Take it at 60 and use all the road and you get to see how a car behaves as the weight transfers from one side to the other. Porsche's go through it as though on rails but my Evoque was all over the place as it leant heavily on one side and then transferred to the other. The SVR is a revelation, as close to neutral stance as you could possibly expect and a pleasure to smoothly guide the car through.

Given the driving I do, the ride comfort is firm enough with the 21s and a couple of passengers have said they expected it to be more compliant but still comfortable. Compared to a 911 GT3 in sports mode, it's a magic carpet.

The gadgets all work and for the most part work well. I like the lane departure warning, speed limit recognition, blind spot monitoring, park surround view, auto headlamp dip, radar cruise control, wade sensing (drive through a ford with about 6 inches of water and it just about registers). The InControl Remote is brilliant, giving you a log of every journey and reassurance that the car is locked. InControl WiFi provides me with better (or at least an alternative provider) in-car internet, InControl needs more and better apps to make it useful and it's a pity the phone has to be cable connected. Bluetooth would have been better if it was possible.

One disappointment carried over from the Evoque is that if you have surround cameras and have them displayed, selecting reverse replaces the 5 camera view with the single reversing camera. If you are reversing in a tight spot, you want to be able to see all 5, so your having selected the 5 camera view should override the single reverse view.

Much was made of the need to press lots of buttons to get the seat heating. In fact, it's only two, providing the centre screen is at "home". One to select the screen, one to switch on. That contrasts with the surround cameras where if you want to see kerb view - a side by side view down from each door mirror, you can have no less than 6 presses. Home, Extra Features, Cameras, Cameras, Special Views, Kerb View. Whichever spotty schoolboy they got to do the programming was asleep on the job. There should be more direct access buttons on that first camera screen.

That really is my biggest niggle. The interface is a bit faster than it was in my Evoque so I am used to it and I daresay it will be updated at some point but not worth waiting for.

Two more longish trips planned this month, to Sussex and mid- and North-Wales, which will further explore the car's capabilities and take the mileage towards 2000 miles. If you are waiting for one, you will not believe how good it is when it arrives. It really is "that" good.

As for recognition on the road, not much except three swivelling heads in an old RRS as they overtook me as I was slowing at an exit. There's been next to no publicity on the production car which surprises me as JLR are normally keen to get as much coverage as possible and sycophants like Steve Cropley are happy to wax lyrical about their products, especially I imagine if you give him a good lunch. Still, I hear there will be something about it in Autocar this week or next. Let's just hope it's an experienced staffer writing instead of some junior smart-arse with a chip on his shoulder who likes to make snidey comments. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

Thank you! The editor of Autocar did ask!

As for the access to the cameras, it depends on the options you have on the car. The more options you have, the less configurability there is. On my Evoque, I had 3 button positions I could configure for hot keys, things like Cameras, Take Me Home and iPod. On the SVR, with the parking and other options, there are no spare positions left on the home screen for hot keys.

Edit: Bizarrely, there is a camera hot key on the display bezel but this takes you into a predefined two camera junction type view; not sure if that can be changed to give more general access. Kerb view for me is the most important when threading the car through a narrow gap. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

Last edited by Mark_N on Mon Mar 16 2015 8:39am. Edited 1 time in total

Great write up Mark. Talking of biase of motoring journalists, you can bet your bottom dollar that when What Car? road tests it against a similar Porsche and BMW the SVR will come last no matter how good it is. It seems that What Car? cannot give any Land Rover product a decent constructive review. Their review will go something like "Land Rover supplied us with a car on road tyres and therefore it couldn't get through our test farm gate onto the field" They will of course conveniently forget that neither the Porsche or the BMW will get into the field on the tyres that are fitted as OEM either! LR should give one to Clarkson to play with for a week! 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

Thanks Mark. Great report.

I've never programmed the Take Me Home thing in any of my cars, and if I did, wouldn't put my address it - the last thing I would want some scrote who nicked my car to know is where I live! 

Thanks Mark good review september seems even farther away now  2016 bmw x5 40d m-sport space grey
2015 bmw 335i m-sport touring mineral grey/coral interior looking to change again .
Gone HSE SDV6 Dynamic indus silver, santorini contrast roof,panoramic roof,red brakes,privacy,climate front seats,tow bar great car enjoyed it ����
Gone my10 3.0 tdv6 Bali blue/ivory 5 years 24k no problems great car will be missed

Last edited by viper on Mon Mar 16 2015 10:59am. Edited 1 time in total

I agree about the kerb view cameras. You should be able to set the default view that you want. The kerb view is the most needed for parking as, due to the geometry of the RRS, you cannot see car park space lines as you approach the space. The BMW TopView system is excellent for parking as you get a bird eye view of the car and the surroundings.

Can you set the home screen shortcuts to go direct to cameras? IIRC there are only a limited number of choices. Regards

Malcolm

Yes, that's the problem. With my choice of options, there are none left. Mark

SVR in Estoril Blue

philmw wrote:

Thanks Mark. Great report.

I've never programmed the Take Me Home thing in any of my cars, and if I did, wouldn't put my address it - the last thing I would want some scrote who nicked my car to know is where I live!