Red Cross Experts Push new Land Rover Defender Prototype in Dubai Desert Testing
The new Land Rover Defender has been put through its paces under the watchful eye of all-terrain experts from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the latest stage of its global testing programme. According to the automaker’s statement, the prototype vehicle visited the IFRC global fleet base in Dubai, ahead of its public debut later this year. Land Rover engineers demonstrated the vehicle’s breadth of capability to their IFRC counterparts both on and off road, before the IFRC fleet experts took to the wheel to test the vehicle for themselves on the region’s desert sand dunes. The team also took to the twisty tarmac of Jebel Jais highway, experiencing the assured handling and comfort of the new 4x4 as they wound their way up the tallest mountain in the United Arab Emirates.
The test in Dubai coincides with the renewal of Land Rover’s global partnership with the IFRC – a relationship that dates back 65 years, to 1954, when the first specially adapted Land Rover entered service in the region as a mobile dispensary. This year marks the humanitarian organisation’s centenary as it celebrates ‘100 Years of Hope’. Over the next three years, Land Rover will support disaster preparedness and response initiatives in locations including India, Mexico and Australia.
Ilir Caushaj, IFRC’s Team Lead for Global Fleets and Logistics, said: “The Red Cross supports millions of people in crisis every year, working in almost every country in the world. We operate in some of the most hard-to-reach places on earth, often working in very difficult terrain, so our teams have to be able to cope with anything. That’s why we’re
proud to have partnered with Land Rover since 1954, and to be putting their new Defender to the test, as together they help us reach vulnerable communities in crisis, whoever and wherever in the world they are.”
The IFRC fleet experts tested the Defender in soft sand among the rolling dunes of the desert, where the prototype model shrugged off the steep ascents, demanding side slopes and blind crests that characterise off-road driving in the region. With temperatures in excess of 40-degrees, the iconic hairpins of the Jebel Jais highway were the next destination, as the Defender demonstrated its on-road comfort and agile handling, scaling altitudes of nearly 2,000m.
Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover Executive Director Product Engineering, said: “Jaguar Land Rover is proud to support the work of the IFRC. Since 1954 our vehicles have enabled access to remote and vulnerable communities, helping them become more resilient, and we hope the new Defender will maintain this heritage.
New generations in quick succession
After the great success of the first 911 GT3, Porsche presented a new evolution stage of the street-legal sports car with racing genes every three to four years. In2003, thepoweroftheboxerengineincreasedto381 hp (280 kW), thanks to the use of the VarioCam, the variable camshaft control system. The GT3 was now also available with ultra-high-performance Porsche CeramicCompositeBrakes(PCCB).Thenextincrease in power to 415 hp (305 kW) followed three years later. For the first time, the Porsche 911 GT3 featured the sporty PorscheActive Suspension Management (PASM).In2009,engineersincreasedthedisplacement of the six-cylinder boxer engine to 3.8-litres and the power to 435 hp (320 kW). The all-new rear wing andfullunderbodypanellingproducedasubstantial increase in downforce (almost double in comparison to its predecessor).
On the 50th birthday of the Porsche 911 in 2013, the fifth generation of the 911 GT3 celebrated its world premiereattheGenevaMotorShow,withacompletely new engine, transmission, body and chassis. The drivetrain consisted of a 3.8-litre naturally aspirated engine with 475 hp (350 kW), featuring active rear axlesteeringandadual-clutchtransmission(Porsche Doppelkupplung, PDK), forthefirsttime. Themodel completed the Nürburgring Nordschleife in just 7:25 minutes —more than half a minute faster than the first ever 911 GT3 back in 1999.
The latest version of the 911 GT3 was launched in 2017. The focus of development had been on the sixcylinder boxer engine: its displacement increased to 4.0 litres and the power output is 500 hp (368 kW). Customers can choose between a manual six-speed transmissionandPDK.Inaddition,aTouringPackage is available which replaces the fixed rear wing with an automatically extending spoiler.