In any case, it’s enjoyed from a cabin that’s absolutely lavish: rich with color, layered with contrasting materials and textures, packed with tasteful touches of high-tech, and finished expertly to the finest detail. It smells like a leather clothing store, and is lined with the sorts of materials you’ll find in the parlour of a ritzy hotel… that is, if hotels still have parlours. Here’s a cabin that fully pulls its weight towards the Range Rover’s price tag.

Plentiful space is on offer, whether it’s in the rear seating row, the front seats, or the giant cargo cavern in back, accessed by a clamshell setup with fold-down tailgate and lift-up liftgate, both motorized. There’s a heap of room back here, and a cargo cover, and a power outlet, and buttons to fold the rear seats up or down, depending on the currently required blend of passengers and gear. The tall cargo load floor and fold-down tailgate makes loading most items easy without risk to the finish on the rear bumper, though pet owners should note that the height exceeds the safe limit for many canines to enter and exit the cargo area via jumping.

Other covetables abound. Front seat occupants can summon heat, cool air, or even a massage from their seats, and sophisticated sensors can even handle all steering inputs while parking, hands-free. The Meridian stereo system is beautifully vibrant, and includes a mighty subwoofer that’ll blow the teeth clean out of your face. You’ll run out of eardrum long before this stereo runs out of horsepower. There’s also a giant panoramic sunroof, self-sealing luxury doors, and a console-mounted cold-box for keeping your luxury sandwiches refrigerated.

The headlights are notable, too. Shoppers mightn’t get to see how these work on a test drive if the sun’s out, but when it’s not, they may not even realize it. The xenon projectors positively flood the road ahead, and the treeline beside, with illumination as bright as a nearby lighting strike. A washer system keeps the lenses clear at all times, and they’re among the best headlights your writer has ever used for safety and reducing late-night eye fatigue.

Vehicles priced in this sort of ballpark typically pose little to complain about, and gripes after a week at the wheel are mostly of the nit-picky variety. The storage cubbies and controls down low on the doors and seats are knuckle smashers, since there’s minimal room between them. And aside from that very lazy throttle pedal, I wished for a slightly heavier feel to the steering at highway speeds to help the Range Rover stay more eagerly locked into its position between the lines.

Ultimately, the Range Rover’s high-class cabin, presence, creamy-smooth highway ride and tremendous use of technology to create confidence and engaging handling all help support the lofty price-tag in a big way.

Warranty:
4 years/80,000 km; 4 years/80,000 km powertrain; 6 years/unlimited distance corrosion perforation; 4 years/80,000 km 24-hour roadside assistance

Competitors:
Audi Q7
BMW X5
Cadillac Escalade
Infiniti QX80
Lexus LX 570
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
Porsche Cayenne
Volvo XC90

That price?

As they say, if you have to ask, you might not want to know. The HSE-grade tester, with some toys, came in around $118,000. That won’t stop Land Rover from moving plenty of copies into the driveways of shoppers after a truly world-class sport utility experience.

Pricing: 2015 Land Rover Range Rover HSE
Base price: $104,590
Options: 22-inch wheels ($3,500), Convenience Package ($2,100), Driver Tech Package ($1,200), Climate Comfort Package ($4,150), Premium Package ($1,000)
Freight: $1,575
A/C Tax: $100
Price as Tested: $120,065

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