2017 LA Auto Show: Palatial 2018 Range Rover SV Autobiography debuts in public

If you are looking for the ultimate luxury SUV that can actually go off the road and not break down, look no further. Because here is the 2018 Range Rover SV Autobiography in the long wheelbase form and it is probably as luxurious as it can get.

With the Bentley Bentayga already in the game and the Rolls-Royce Cullinan knocking on the door, it was time for the grand-daddy of luxury SUVs to re-invent itself. Built only in the LWB form, the SV Autobiography has been built by the Special Vehicle Operations unit which is why the claimed 3.9 feet of leg room in the back does not seem entirely unreal.

This Rangie is all about rear seat comfort and the airplane-like business class recliner seats have 22-way adjustments which has the seatback reclining to almost 40 degrees. And that is not all. The quilter leather seats are ventilated right up to the calf support that is also adjustable. Sit inside and a button will close the doors for you if the chauffeur is at the wheel already. Press another button and the tray-table deploys by itself if you want to get the wine glasses out to pour some bubbly out of the fridge. Yes, it has a refrigerator between the rear seats that can fit two bottles of wine in case you want to have beverage options while you are being entertained by the individual screens in the back.

Even the cargo bay gets exotic veneers to go with the picnic kits that Range Rover would lovingly offer if you want one. To subtly stand out of the regular Rangie crowd, the SV Autobiography gets a chrome-lined grille, twin-exhausts integrated into the rear bumper and 22-inch alloys. Under the hood, the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol mill churns out 557bhp of power and drives all-four wheels. It has got all the off-road gear it needs. Of course, it will not climb rocks, but wading to rivers, crawling through the marsh and gliding over trails is all cake-walk. And if you need to go really fast, it does 0-100kmph in 5.2 seconds in spite of weighing just over two tonnes.

With a price tag of over two lakh dollars (approx. Rs 1.4 crores) it is quite expensive to buy, but then luxury like this does not come cheap. The 2018 Rangie will hit the roads globally in early 2018 and if you are looking to get one here in India, you will have to shell out over Rs 4 crores and wait till mid-2018 at least to get hold of it.