Land Rover Discovery Crushes Off-Road Testing
The Eastnor Estate testing facility has over 66 miles of steep, deep, and slippery obstacles for a Land Rover Discovery to conquer.
When a group of friends get together to host a YouTube series, you get a result called Guys That Drive. The GTD team is based in England, so when an invite came to test out to test the Land Rover Discovery at Land Rover’s Eastnor Estate testing facility, they jumped on it.
“We’ve got two Discovery Land Rovers, 66 miles of land and obstacles,” one GTD host notes. And obstacle one comes up very quickly. Land Rover representatives are on hand to give advice, in this instance for a muddy and slippery incline. “Little more throttle, little more throttle,” Land Rover’s expert says. But, the Discovery doesn’t quite reach the crest and needs another attempt. In this instance, power is the answer, but that’s not the case for coming obstacles that require more patience.
Water takes a completely different approach. Wading deeply in streams is something the Discovery can do, but there’s a good way and a bad way to do it. The pro from Land Rover says “Waves are very steep at the front, but have a long trough at the back. So there’s an act to it, you keep the bow wave about a meter in front of the vehicle.” While that’s simple enough for a rule-of-thumb, it takes some practice, especially when the body of water is muddy and you can’t tell what lies beneath.
The Land Rover Discovery has grip and can wade through water, but it still needs lots of articulation in order to be a true off-roader. One test puts the SUV up on three wheels to showcase how it can lock a free-spinning wheel to still give power to the wheels with grip. On tight and slippery rocky surfaces, Land Rover’s advice is sound; “Nice and slowly here. Your observation has to be all around since it is quite tight.” In tighter spaces, control and finesse is essential. After all, you wouldn’t want to spend all that money on a land rover only to get rash on an alloy wheel or damage a running board.
At the end, though, both Land Rover Discovery SUVs made it through the facility and it showcases why Land Rovers are desirable. New ones for their luxury, and pre-owned ones for their handed-down incredible capabilities.
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