WILD ROVER
Maggie’s at home on the Range with 151mph off-road test drive
I am sitting in the back of a Range Rover as my co-driver hits 151mph. It’s not a great feeling.
Chris, the professional driver sitting beside Fred, is delighted. Me, less so as I hang on for dear life trying not to look at the speedometer as we hurtle down the straight and head for the banking.
Earlier, I had reached 123mph urged on by Chris so I guess this was Fred getting his own back.
We were in the new Range Rover Sport SVR V8 Supercharged – the most powerful and fastest Range Rover Sport. The idea was to put it through its paces and show us just how well it reacted.
We were not, I hasten to add, on a public road but at the Land Rover proving ground at Fen End near Birmingham. This is where their Special Vehicle Operations team had been fiddling with the Range Rover Sport for some time to create the kind of machine that would give drivers ultimate performance yet stay true to its all-terrain roots.
That is how Fred and I – with Chris as a temporary passenger – ended up pushing the 5.0-litre petrol engine to its limits, using up every bit of the 575PS under the bonnet. This car goes from 0- 60 in 4.3 seconds and 0- 62 in 4.5 seconds.
“We have just tweaked the engine to give you more power and torque,” said Simon Fairbrother, of Land Rover.
“We’ve taken 30kg out of the front seats with greater use of carbon fibre and put carbon fibre on the bonnet – this makes it more agile and powerful.”
“Amen to that, Simon,” I thought as Fred threw the car round corners and through hairpin bends. At the end, the smell of hard-pressed brakes was in the air.
But later on I was to get my own back when we arrived at the off-roading track and I was at the wheel. Several days of rain ensured the mud was deep and perilous.
Land Rover’s off-road guru Ronnie Dale warned me: “It’s quite slippy but if you do what I tell you, you’ll make it.” I hung on to his every word and hit the gas up the first slope, then eased off as the car slid sideways into the ruts, and then back on tthe gas up the steep incline, where I was extremely relieved to make the summit. We ploughed on through the woods slipping and sliding until we made the end, where a team hosed the car down. “Remember,” said one of them, “this is the same car that yoyou raced around the track. The capability and performance area incredible.” He was right – Land Rover have created a vehicle that is fit for every purpose while still retaining the plush interior and connectivity we have come to expect from the brand. So Fred can fulfill his need for speed on the track while I can get down and dirty messing about in mud in the woods. Perfect.