Chapman’s Peak is essentially a ribbon of fast-flowing tarmac, an hour’s drive away from Cape Town’s bustling city centre. For a city that’s surrounded by views of the south Atlantic and wind-swept mountains, it takes gobsmacking gorgeousness to qualify as one, if not, THE best drive in the Eastern Hemisphere. So when the name popped-up multiple times in web searches and individual recommendations, I knew where I was headed. What I would be driving, on the other hand, remained undecided.
A full-bodied, “Moby Dick” Range Rover Autobiography, with a gigantic and gloriously profligate 4.4-litre V8 evokes only one response: grand touring overkill. But beholding the Rangie, with a wheelbase extending across national borders and a light-absorbent shade of Belgravia green, it becomes instantly and overwhelmingly clear that the big Range Rover is almost always the way to go regardless of which way you’re going, and which seat you’re occupying.
It’s also a great exercise in evaluating how far the Range Rover has come. From being a mud-slinging ambassador for British duck-hunting sprees, the 2023 Range Rover petrol V8 is an oversized manifestation of both the `luxury’ and `SUV’ attributes that came to be associated with the original.
And boy, is it luxurious. Open any door, and a step-ladder pops out instantly, to assist your ascent into a cockpit that’s a master class in British minimalism. No pillar-to-pillar touchscreens, no neon-bathed interiors — just restrained opulence. I want to wallow in the lounge seats at the back, but instead I take the steering to explore the 523 bhp on offer.
To begin with, this has one of the best driving positions offered by an SUV in the market. Both the steering and the seats offer a pretty wide berth when it comes to electronic adjustment. The 13.1-inch touchscreen has negated the need for most buttons but, thankfully, temperature, fan speed, and seat ventilation is controlled by physical knobs. Unfortunately, it’s the same two rotary knobs, so you have to either push them or pull them towards you to activate either function. Still, the screen is one of the easiest to access, with bold, legible logos that respond to soft touches. It makes operating the variety of functions offered by such a complex automobile fairly simple.
The V6-powered P400 offers perfectly adequate levels of power. Until you experience the V8, and then you realise how easy it is to trade perfectly adequate for absolute perfection. The seats are incredibly well-bolstered, so long hours on the highway seem much shorter. Not that there’s anything remotely tiring about the coastal roads near Cape Town. Steadily increasing elevations lead-up to an almost canyon-like formation of windswept rocks on one side, and views of the Atlantic awash with the golden rays of a South African sun that’s in no hurry to set. The contrasting sight of a flat, rocky canyon and a pristine blue ocean makes Chapman’s Peak a topographic fantasy of sorts. By November — summer time in South Africa — the ocean is a much deeper shade of blue thanks to clear skies. But oddly enough, it’s got an almost turquoise shade. It’s enough to make Instagram filters permanently redundant.
It’s surprising just how good a driver’s car the P530 Range Rover is. The V8 has turbos spooling-up till 2,500 rpm, after which the Rangie squats down in its trademark fashion and then practically leapfrogs to the horizon. It’s a sight as old as… whenever they started plonking big V8s in long wheelbase Range Rovers, and it never takes away from just how poised a Range Rover looks at all times.
After that a steady supply of torque, steadily climbing revs allows the Range Rover to reach speeds that the occasional blind curve on Chapman’s Peak cannot sustain. The suspension at the back can be a tad stiff, despite the full-Monty Autobiography being equipped with air suspension. But on the upside, the P530 does corner considerably better and faster than you’d expect a sub-three tonne, five-metre SUV to. The aluminium monocoque lends a level of dynamism to the SUV that’s truly baffling. No, it’s not SVR-level flat; you do feel it roll a fair bit around hairpins — but it's good enough for a hasty exit.
Still, buying a big V8 Range Rover for its cornering prowess is a bit like buying a zeppelin for the daily commute. The whole idea behind a car this large and this opulent is to soak in the extravagance. The dark shade of green along with a contrasting black roof and 23-inch alloys has thankfully, taken some of the chintzyness out of the Range Rover, and made it more regal in profile. Its sheer grace-in-motion belies its outrageous proportions. It’s not a tasteless mish-mash of all sorts of opulent car features. Despite its eye-watering price tag, this range-topping Rangie somehow comes across as not too self-indulgent, unlike the Bentayga or even the Maybach GLS, whose “look at me” quality isn’t for everyone.
And then there’s the sheer level of standard kit incorporated here. Apple CarPlay is wireless of course, but the ebony perforated leather seats, 23-way adjustable seats, Meridian sound system, heated steering wheel, heated washer jets, and a suite of cameras that can see all the way into the 19th century — all make for a truly sublime driving experience. The P530 is modern British motoring at its finest. All the sybaritic comforts you can possibly think of mixed with heady performance, wrapped in good taste.
And then there’s the sheer surplus of power and torque (750 Nm). Even when pitted against dedicated grand tourers, and not 7-seater behemoths, the Autobiography feels quick, and never in any danger of being outgunned. The only time its performance felt eclipsed by a superior automotive form was when a group of six Shelby Cobras pulled up at a drop-off point at the peak’s summit. Still, as far as grand touring capabilities go, the Range Rover is your best bet. I exited the snake pit hastily, commencing my descent that will take me back to central Cape town. The golden light cast during dusk has turned the flora to a shade of green, mirroring the car I drive. The south Atlantic has been conquered.
I’m told by the internet that Chapman’s Peak drive has 114 curves. But whoever was pedantic enough to come up with that number didn’t have the sheer fortune of driving around it in a Range Rover SV Autobiography which adapts to each variation with such precision that you’re unlikely to step out to any one of the various run-off areas to click a photo or thirty-two of the sun, which has finally agreed to set upon the South African coast and my time at Chapman’s peak.
Panoramic views abound, with the Autobiography gliding over the edge of the mountain, and it becomes abundantly clear that as far as SUVs go, the Range Rover offers one of the greatest driving experiences available in the modern world. Oddly enough, the top-end version of the Autobiography sold in India is an even more powerful P615 version utilising the same 4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8, that makes even more power (606 bhp). It also costs Rs 4.17 crore in India, so understandably, you don’t see too many on the road, given that the V6 version is more car than anyone can utilise on most days. But the V8-powered SV Autobiography? That’s all the car you need and then some.
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