A car to match your status? £92,365 please

Nothing too flashy, nothing too quick. After all, when can you ever let rip on our crowded roads these days?

You want a classy car capable of covering comfortable miles with elegance with plenty of space for passengers and luggage.

Sounds like you need a Range Rover. Not the new more affordable Evoque. You want a proper old-school Range Rover Vogue SE.

That’s £81,850 please. But hang on. It comes well-equipped but surely you want it to be very well-equipped.

Let’s add rear-seat entertainment with a pair of 8in screens (£1,500); a blind-spot monitoring system (£700); heated wood and leather steering wheel (£465); traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning system (£600); park assistance (£900; Meridian sound system with 17 speakers - well, it is a big car (£1,000).

The costs soon add up and your Range Rover Vogue SE with all the bells and whistles now costs £92,365.

That is a lot of money and sure you can have a good rival for half the price, but as I said earlier this is more than good. It’s very good.

Range Rover today appeals to the sort of people who once bought Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. It is the ultimate car for people with clout - entrepreneurs, managing directors and moderately successful footballers.

Range Rover has evolved massively over the years. It began in 1970 as basically a posh Land Rover. It was designed to be used as a farm vehicle by day and, after a quick hose down inside and out, it could be a smart family car by night.

Today’s Range Rover still appeals to country types who want to keep moving even in winter but it is now arguably the best all-round car on the road. OK, so the people at Mercedes-Benz and a few other brands might differ but the Range Rover does have a strong case.

The proper Range Rover - as opposed to the more affordable and smaller Evoque - is a huge vehicle. It’s just under five metres long - that’s a little longer than a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a little shorter than a Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

So, what exactly do you get for your money with the Range Rover Vogue SE?

It’s a beautifully designed vehicle - tall and solid yet stylish. The outside is elegant and the interior is incredibly well equipped and well appointed. Think boutique hotel and you will be on the right lines.

For me, the best part of the vehicle is the way the hi-tech systems work. Many cars have lots of gadgets but few have them as well designed as the Range Rover.

Take the cruise control. Lots of cars have them these days but this system enables you to maintain a constant distance between you and the vehicle in front. Get too close, and your car brakes gently.

The heated steering wheel sounds like a gimmick but believe me, it was welcome on cold mornings.

The Meridian stereo system with 17 speakers sounds over the top but it really does offer a sound quality which is hard to match.

And the park assist system is useful, especially for such a big vehicle.

Add those to the standard features of leather and wood trim, alloy wheels, no end of gadgetry to keep you going off road and on road and even puddle lights - illumination which shines from the mirrors to prevent you inadvertently stepping in water - and you have the ultimate car.

But surely such a beast is expensive to run? Well, the emissions (182g/km) and insurance (Group 46) take the breath away.

But the other running costs are pretty sensible. It manages 36mpg around town and more than 44mpg on a run.

And the performance is pretty sporty - 130mph and 0 to 60mph in 7.4 seconds.

Add to that a huge boot (550 litres rising to more than 2,000 litres with the seats down) and you have a car for all reasons.

OK, for half the price you could find a car which is nearly as good. But that’s not the point. If you want the ultimate off-road and on-road limousine with unquestionable quality, and you’re not too bothered about paying house-type prices, then the Range Rover is your car.

Range Rover Vogue SE 3.0 TDV6

PRICE: £92,365 for the test model. Basic Vogue SE is £81,850

ENGINE: A 3.0 litre TDV6 turbodiesel generating 258bhp via all four wheels

PERFORMANCE: Top speed 130mph and 0 to 60mph in 7.4 seconds

COSTS: Town 36.2mpg; country 44.1mpg; combined 40.9mpg

INSURANCE: Group 46E

EMISSIONS: 182g/km

WARRANTY: Three years’unlimited mileage