LAND ROVER ENGINEERS spent 18 months covering many thousands of miles in 20 countries, including the Arctic, to put the new fourth generation Range Rover through its paces.
So I suspect they thought that bringing a fleet of the first production models to Scotland as part of the UK launch would be pretty straightforward.
We headed north, to the Scottish Land Rover Experience centre at Dunkeld, in the hills above the River Tay, where there was plenty of snow and hard-packed ice to make the tracks that bit more challenging. We set off to tackle the course in convoy, with about a million pounds’ worth of brand new Rangies, led, interestingly by a long wheelbase Defender Station Wagon.
As we gathered at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire before we set off on the first part of the road route, the skies darkened once again and snow started to add to the previous days’ fall. Any other manufacturer’s PR department would be in freefall, anxious whether their pride and joy would be able to cope. But this was Land Rover, and I sensed a certain satisfaction on their part that this early taste of a Scottish winter would be just the thing to show off the new Range Rover at its best.
We headed north, to the Scottish Land Rover Experience centre at Dunkeld, in the hills above the River Tay, where there was plenty of snow and hard-packed ice to make the tracks that bit more challenging. We set off to tackle the course in convoy, with about a million pounds’ worth of brand new Rangies, led, interestingly by a long wheelbase Defender Station Wagon.
Undeniable workhorse
That model has been around largely unchanged for about 70 years, but in spite of technical modifications over the years, its time has come and unable to meet tougher environmental regulations, it’s to be phased out by mid-decade.
For the moment though, it is still the undeniable workhorse of the brand and proudly led the latest big baby through the deep ruts, scary inclines and wild drops.
To be honest, the off-roading wasn’t the toughest I’ve experienced at the hands of Land Rover. The scariest was at a Discovery event a few years ago when, among other adventures, we were sent over a cliff edge on to the shore of Loch Eriboll at the northwest tip of Scotland.
I was happy until the Land Rover expert, who’d been sitting alongside me, jumped out at the last minute and wished me good luck. So I’m not sure whether the test at Dunkeld was a touch timid, or whether the Range Rover simply took it in its stride and made it look easy.
At no time did the car seem challenged, although it was in low ratio, extreme off-road mode and with the hill descent at its slowest setting. In other words, everything was on and it made it look effortless.
Conditions were awful
We then headed over the rain-soaked, muddy and icy road north of Loch Tay before tackling the notoriously narrow A82 down the less than bonny banks of Loch Lomond. There wasn’t so much snow here, but the conditions were awful with mini lochs of standing water at the roadside.
The diesel V6 Range Rover was solid as a rock, with noticeably less body roll than the outgoing model. At times I felt we might actually need the almost metre of wading depth which the car can take on without fear of drowning.
The test car was a Vogue SE, so it came crammed with equipment and was superbly comfortable, not least in the splendid Bridge of Weir leather seats.
Yes, ok, it’s expensive, but customers are queuing up in 170 markets around the world to get their hands on it – and the hugely successful Evoque — so Land Rover’s Indian owners, the Tata conglomerate, must be doing something right.
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Alan Douglas