Yahoo Autos 2023 Range Rover Road Test Review: It's like butter
PIONEERTOWN, Calif. – Butter. Sexy, opulently gold butter is just the best way to describe this 2023 Range Rover First Edition. The twin-turbo V8 smoothly whisking you forward … butter. The adaptive air suspension wafting down the road and making railroad tracks feel like ant hills? As Linda Richmond would say, “buttah.” The primary controls for the steering, throttle and brakes that are all similarly weighted, friction-free and impeccably precise … like a knife slicing through supple Tillamook Extra Creamy. The lusciously soft leather and even its color in this particular Rover? Yep, butter.
And when you’ve just spent the day being jostled and bashed about on a rugged, rock-strewn trail in a firm-riding heavy-duty truck, you know what you want to climb into for a drive home? That’s right, butter. And feel free to insert “riding my horse” or “vigorous workout” or “match against Chelsea” in lieu of my personal Ram Rebel first drive example, but whatever the pre-Rover activity, know that it’ll be a very welcome sight. There might as well have been a beam of sun streaming from the heavens directly onto the Range Rover, its matte gold paint gleaming like it was the subject of a Renaissance fresco. Angels going “aaaahhhhhh” and such.
It should be noted that this’ll be the case if you’ve brought three friends along as well. Atop that butter base is stacked piles of decadent toppings for the long drive home after a long, hard day. Each of the outboard seats in this First Edition are heavenly. All are heated, ventilated and offer a multitude of massage options. Those up front are power-adjustable in 14 directions with additional lumbar movements, while those in back are six-way power adjustable, including power head rests and a seat bottom that moves upwards at the front while it moves forward to increase thigh support. And as these are “Executive Class Comfort” rear seats, the passenger-side one includes an extended calf rest and a pop-down foot rest mounted to the passenger seat that automatically slides forward at the push of a single button on the rear touchscreen controller. Oh, and those two leg rests are heated, too. So are the armrests.
