Louth Motors: Range Rover 3.0 PHEV - the pinnacle of motoring

Last week I reviewed the Range Rover Sport and left hanging which is better, the Sport or the "full monty" Range Rover. I won't beat about the bush. The Range Rover is, for me, the best all-round car money can buy. I included all-round and this is not to detract from the Range Rover in any way.

This car sets its sights on being the best offroad car available and in achieving that it also bullseyed all the things that go into making a car the best you can buy by association.

This car is super, sublime luxuriousness. It's super quiet, super comfortable and super practical. It will go anywhere and do anything in one car that you'd need a few others to do. Performance is incredible and what's amazing about this car is how that's normalised it is in a high, 4wd car that weighs 2.5tonnes. It is physics defiant and does things that would allow you question the discoveries of Newton.

I've always loved Range Rovers and remember as a kid when the original model came out in 1970. I remember then as I do now that I wanted one.

That want has never abated and this model, only the 5th generation of the icon, is by far the classiest looking of them all. All Range Rovers are of their time in terms of looks but this model is truly striking.

The rear has a talismanic look with sumptuous vertical light clusters for a Marie Kondo, minimalistic masterclass. The electric split tailgate remains that is equally talismanic.

The front looks like every edge has been religiously smoothed to be rounded with no creases. Inside is where the wonder continues. In most cars you'll see something that you've seen in other cars. Not here.

The Range Rover is a totally unique experience (Range Rover Sport aside of course) and you soak into its luxuriousness and let it envelop you.

There isn't a room with a chair anywhere I'd rather be in that could touch the Range Rover. Everything you touch rewards and is seeping with quality.

There's every feature imaginable but one standout one.

This car can be asked to find any type of parking place and it will then park itself. You do nothing. No steering, no pedal control, nada. I selected a reverse in spot and when the car had parked itself it was perfectly in the middle of the space to within a millimetre.

The appeal of the car is it'll traverse the worst that off-road conditions will throw at it.

It'll tootle around town using its battery for green transport and spoil you with comfort.

If you need a bit of turn of foot the 440PS combined power unit will deliver 0-100kmH in 6s. It's got head turning appeal and you can turn up at any, and I mean any, event, in the Range Rover looking like the top VIP.

I savoured every trip. My demeanour was relaxed, and I never wanted the trip to end so enjoyable was the experience.

The effortlessness in driving this sizeable car is hard to convey but you could give this to a learner and they'd have no bother driving it. External noise is simply eliminated and however they make it so quite through their engineering prowess is something they can bottle and sell. By far the quietest car I've driven.

To make the best car you can buy doesn't come cheap and the Range Rover starts at €138,090.

That's huge money and only the few can afford to spend that. And with that kind of money needed there are some other cars to tempt you.

But that's all they can do because when they are analysed, they just can't measure up to the all-round ability of the Range Rover.

The numbers matter and here are a few more. It'll travel 113 kms using electric power only, it has a 857l boot, 3 body sizes, it comes in a 5-seater and 7-seater, it'll tow 3.5tonnes, there's 3 model trims and a total of 4 engines between petrol and diesel.

The most expensive starts at €267,057 for a 4.4l V8 petrol behemoth. I managed a fuel return of 9.4l/100kms which is quite good when size is considered and I only recharged the battery once.

Whenever I'm asked what's the best car I've ever driven I'll still struggle to answer, but if I'm asked what's the best car you can buy it's now a no brainer. It's this one. Period. Discussion closed.

Next week: the revelationary Citroen C5X.