Dubai has a real obsession with Land Rovers. You see the badge everywhere really, in the lobbies of the hotels on Jumeirah, heaving through Downtown at peak hour, sitting at the side of the dunes on a Friday. For a visitor or a new resident it’s pretty much the way to go if you want to fit in. The real issue is which one though, as the three main families of Land Rover are very much built for very different people.
The easiest place to start is a Land Rover rental in Dubai via a search on Yango Drive. That brings together listings from over 150 rental companies in one catalogue. The breadth of choice is important with a brand like this. Rather than being offered whichever model a single desk has to hand, you can have a Range Rover, a Defender and a Discovery all in the same search results and pick the one that actually suits your needs.
Range Rover: The City Flagship
The Range Rover is the car that people think of when they think of Dubai luxury (quiet, calm, all leather, very commanding driving position). It just glides down Sheikh Zayed Road and looks absolutely at home at a valet stand.
Choose it if you’re spending most of your time in the city, if you’re doing lots of long motorway runs to Abu Dhabi and want the most comfortable ride, or if you’re a business user and want the car to make a good impression. It’s also the car for a couple or small group who want the car to be refined rather than have a lot of cargo space.
Think again if you’re planning on a lot of tight parking as it is a big car and multi-storey mall car parks can be a real squeeze. It’s also the model where a scuffed wheel or a scratched bumper is going to hurt the most so careful parking is absolutely part of the equation. And if your idea of a holiday is sand and gravel tracks then the Range Rover’s polish is pretty much going to be completely wasted.
Defender: The Character Choice
The modern Defender retains the boxy shape of the original but has a very much contemporary cabin. It’s quite a rugged looking vehicle even just parked up outside a cafe in Al Wasl. Visibility is excellent, the driving position is very upright and the cabin has a very solid feel which is ideal for beach days and sandy kit.
Choose it if you’re after something with character, if you’re planning road trips to Hatta or along the east coast or simply like the idea of a car that looks absolutely ready for adventure even if you’re just driving down to have a brunch. It’s ideal for the active traveller who’s got their bike, kayak or diving kit in the boot.
If comfort on long, smooth highways is your prime concern then the ride is quite good, albeit quiet. Some variants have a side hinged tailgate with the spare wheel on it which takes a bit of getting used to in tight spaces. The rental Defender isn’t really a vehicle you’re going to go dune bashing with.
Discovery: The Family All-Rounder
The Discovery is the most unshowy of the three and that’s actually its strength. It’s all about the passenger and the luggage first with an available third row making it one of the very few genuinely seven seater options in the Land Rover range. The cabin is very spacious, the seats are very comfortable and it’s a very relaxed car to be in rather than a flash car.
Choose it if you’re travelling with kids, with grandparents or with a group of friends. It’s the obvious choice if you’re doing a long weekend with a number of airport runs, school-style logistics and day trips out of the city.
Think again if you’re after the car to make a statement. Next to a Defender or a Range Rover the Discovery is very much in the background. With all the seats in use the boot space is going to be significantly reduced so you may find you can’t quite fit a full load of people and a full load of luggage.
A Few Practical Notes Before You Pick
Whatever model you pick a large SUV is going to change the way you move around Dubai. You’re sitting well above the majority of the traffic which is a distinct advantage in terms of visibility. The problem with that of course is that in the older parts of town like Deira and Bur Dubai you can be very very patient when it comes to parking.
Licence and age rules are all set individually by the various rental companies and in some cases the premium SUVs will have more restrictive conditions than the standard saloon. Two listings for the same car can have very different conditions so it’s worth a quick check of the small print.
If you’re still not sure whether a Land Rover is quite the right vehicle at all then it’s worth looking at the wider category. Browsing SUV rental by class in Dubai will allow you to compare the premium offering against the mid-size and full size ones from other manufacturers and that’s useful if your primary concern is space rather than the brand name.
What About the Desert?
This is where a lot of people get it completely wrong. Land Rovers have a very good off road record and it’s very tempting to think that if you rent one you can just go out and drive into the dunes. In reality most of the rental agreements in the UAE will either restrict or completely prohibit off road driving and that would include sand. Getting bogged down in the soft sand and having damage to the underbody is very expensive and a desert breakdown is potentially very dangerous.
The better approach is to split the experience in two. Use the rental for the drive to the desert edge on the paved roads where the high seat position and the cabin are really in their element. The route out to Al Qudra and the highways to Hatta go through some absolutely stunning sandy scenery but you never actually leave the tarmac.
For the dunes themselves you’d be best to book a guided desert tour with an experienced local operator. They use appropriate vehicles, they know how to reduce the tyre pressure and read the sand and they’ve got recovery gear on hand if anything goes wrong. You get the full experience of sliding down a red dune at sunset, just without the risk to your deposit or your safety.
If you DO have a rental agreement which specifically permits off road use then you must of course abide by the terms of that agreement, never go off road alone, let someone know where you’re going and take a huge quantity of water with you. The desert is stunning but it is extremely unforgiving of any degree of over confidence whatsoever even in a car that bears one of the most well known off road badges around.
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