XXXXXXX LEFT UP! A
XXXXXXX LEFT UP! A three-part ‘obstacle course‘ is the star of the show. The first, the Twin Terrapod, is an awesome custom-built machine that looks like something out of Jurassic Park – if Jurassic Park featured construction toy monsters instead of dinosaurs. The job of this huge steel structure is to test a Land Rover vehicle‘s ability to climb up and over steep gradients, and, today, to make children squeal. Our Discovery navigates the formidable 30-degree incline, the car’s All-Terrain Progress Control function managing the power going through each wheel to maintain a steady speed across the obstacle surface * . With a forward view of nothing but sky, our passengers, eight-year-old ANNABEL AGED 10 “IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! THE FIRST SECTION WAS THE SCARIEST BY FAR!” Haiden and 11-year-old Augustus Wrenn, are beside themselves with excitement. “How is the car holding us up?” Wrenn screeches. “It’s shocking!” Before we know it we’re at the top, our Land Rover Experience instructor balancing the car on the throttle 19 feet above the ground, the height of a fully grown giraffe. The view down is a 40-degree slope – as steep as the stairs in a two-story house. More excited screeching ensues from the back seats as the descent begins; our driver keeps his feet clear of the brakes and the Discovery vehicle‘s Hill Descent Control (HDC ® ) function automatically slows our descent on the slippery metal surface * . On the Turntable Terrain Trailer the climb is followed by the car being set onto a vertiginous platform, which then tilts itself through 180-degrees before dropping the Discovery down to ground level, where it articulates itself off the trailer, wheels akimbo, and onto terra firma. The demonstration is a reminder of just how supremely capable the Discovery is. The final section, the Articulation Trailer, has two large staggered ramps to test the Discovery vehicle’s talents for conquering difficult approach angles. Twelve-year-old Hugo Allison- Vallois emerges visibly shaking. “It was so exciting! It was so steep it felt like I was taking off!” Was he impressed with the car? “I definitely want a Land Rover when I’m older,” he states firmly. But which one? As well as the Discovery there are two Range Rover vehicles and a Range Rover Sport on duty here today. “Oh, all of them!” he laughs. * These systems are not a substitute for driving safely with due care and attention and will not function under all circumstances, speeds, weather and road conditions, etc. Driver should not assume that these systems will correct errors of judgment in driving. Please consult the owner’s manual or your local authorized Land Rover retailer for more details. 44
EXPERIENCES 45
