Land Rover is known all over the world for its unparalleled off-road capabilities. We had a chance to experience this at the recently held the ‘Above and Beyond’ tour, organised by Land Rover, near Mumbai.
The Above and Beyond Tour was an experience in the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque, under the supervision of trained Land Rover instructors. The breadth of terrain and complexity of driving conditions enabled us to have a first hand extreme experience at the capabilities of these machines. Land Rover has over 70 years of expertise in outstanding all-terrain technologies.
As per Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd, “The Above and Beyond Tour in India is an extremely popular activity with our customers. Not only do they get to experience all that a Land Rover can do, but they also get to enjoy some thrilling and unforgettable moments in the world’s most capable vehicles.”
The Above and Beyond Tour is a marquee series of off-road experience events that offers customers and prospects, the chance to experience the true capability and composure of Land Rover vehicles in off-road conditions.
This experience was held at 19 Degree North Adventure Park, Lonavala. The venue itself provides numerous challenges for off-roading enthusiasts. Having a look at the terrain, one would wonder if they can really be tackled. However, not only was it possible with the Land Rover Discover Sport and Evoque, but it was accomplished in quite a relaxed manner. The Land Rover Discovery Sport and Evoque are equipped with features such as All Terrain Progress Control, Hill Descent Control and a Terrain Response system, which help make off-roading very easy.
We encountered dangerous slopes, very steep inclines, wading through water and extreme side inclines as well. While it looked crazy from the outside, on the inside it felt absolutely normal. It is almost miraculous the way these SUVs handle such terrains. All we had to do to was hold on and follow the instructions on when to steer, brake and accelerate. In fact in some sticky situations, the intelligent systems took control and braked and accelerated as per requirement, on their own. With minimal driver inputs, these SUVs could carve their way out of tough situations.
Manoeuvring these SUVs in this manner brought a thought that our cities like Mumbai have such unexpected road conditions and water logging in monsoons, that these vehicles would be apt for daily use, without the fear of getting stuck.
The experience was about an hour long, however, the ease with which we drove though every obstacle, it felt like a few minutes only. The Land Rovers need to be experienced to understand what a marvel of an engineering they come with and we have no doubt why they are regarded as the best off-roaders in the world.