Land Rover Experience reaches Bengaluru; Evoque, Discovery Sport SUVs are ready for off-roading

Land Rover India sells SUVs such as Evoque, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport and flagship Range Rover. These SUVs are quite lookers while they are also capable off-roaders in line with the brand's DNA. However, customers hardly get any chance to understand the true potential of the Land Rover SUVs in their daily drives.

Also read: Range Rover Evoque turns 6, Land Rover celebrates with Landmark special edition

To showcase the off-road prowess of their SUVs, Land Rover India has been conducting a series of events. Christened Land Rover Experience, the event delivers off-road track drive experiences for customers and enthusiasts and demonstrates the drive capabilities of Land Rover vehicles. After the kick-off in Hyderabad and followed by Kochi, the event has now reached Bengaluru.

Land Rover Experience is being held at Wild Retreat Adventure Club (WRAC), Shanbhoganahalli Village, Bannerghatta South, Bengaluru this weekend (May 26 to May 28). Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport are available for the event.

Off-road experience

Usually during off-road drives organised by car makers, an off-roading expert drives the vehicle most of the time due to safety concerns. You probably get a very short distance to drive where obstacles are not extreme and relatively easy to tackle. However, in Land Rover Experience, you are the only person behind the wheels from start to end. The instructor will give you inputs sitting on the passenger seat for the entire hour-long session. Most importantly, each adventure seeker will get separate SUVs in Land Rover Experience, meaning there is no sharing of cars with others.

Being an off-road junkie, I got the chance to participate in the drive and my SUV for the mission was Discovery Sport. The SUV is powered by a 148bhp 2.0-litre TD4 diesel engine mated to nine-speed automatic transmission.

On the driver's seat, I had to encounter a downhill as my first obstacle. Land Rover's patented Hill Descent Control (HDC) was tested here. It assists the driver with controlled descents of difficult slopes by maintaining a constant speed and applying braking separately to each wheel. So, I took my foot off both the pedals and just steered the SUV.

The rest of the course tested the Terrain Response system of the Land Rover SUV. It optimises the vehicle's engine, transmission, differentials and chassis systems to maximize drivability and traction in every terrain. It comes with General Driving, Grass/Gravel/Snow, Mud/Ruts and Sand modes. Except the Sand mode, the obstacles on the course allow you to test other modes in the experience.

The SUV I drove encountered with steep climbs, downhill, slush pit, boulder section and almost 30 degree tilts. Increased ground clearance, precise approach, break over and departure angle of the Discovery Sport were put on test during the drive. The SUV triumphed over all the obstacles with ease and without scratching its underbelly.

In the end, I was convinced that Land Rover SUVs are not just showpieces to garner a garage. They are mean machines with heart to go anywhere potential.