Ford Mustang vs Range Rover Velar

What's the difference?

The new Ford Mustang GT was not designed for Paris.

Fighting through the morning peak hour rush (which seems to extend through the middle of the day and the afternoon), the new Mustang feels like a caged animal. Which is appropriate, given the car’s namesake is a wild horse that exists to roam the American wilderness.

But once we finally break the shackles of Parasian traffic we find ourselves getting to let this Mustang gallop across the French countryside and unleash its full potential. But more on that later…

The reason we're driving the Mustang in France is because the American brand wanted to connect it to its new racing program at the famous Le Mans sports car race (you know, the one in the Matt Damon movie, Ford v Ferrari).

No less than Bill Ford, great-grandson of the company’s famous founder, was on-hand to see the Mustang at Le Mans, such is the passion for performance.

Ford (the man, not the company) took the opportunity to declare that the Blue Oval brand is not only committed to internal combustion engines for the foreseeable future, but it will retain the V8 under the bonnet of the Mustang GT for as long as it can legally do so.

Australians will have to wait a few more weeks (maybe months) before the seventh-generation Mustang arrives, but here’s what you can expect when it lands on local roads.

The new Range Rover Velar P400e Dynamic HSE, or P400e for short, is the first Velar offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. In theory, this should make it a solid contender for those wanting a luxury SUV that produces a smaller and greener footprint.

It’s not as big as its Range Rover siblings, so if you’re after a sleeker Rangie that can do some 'mild' adventuring on the weekends while still looking flash during the week, this may be the one you’re looking for.

It faces competition from the BMW X5, Volvo XC90 and… at a stretch, the Porsche Cayenne. I’ve spent a week with the mid-level P400e Velar to see how it stacks up for everyday use.