[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Team-BHP was invited by Jaguar Land Rover for the Engineering & Drive programme at their facilities in the UK, and the Nurburgring Test Center / Race Track in Germany.

Well done! Nice report indeed! I've been wanting to do the LR experience on one of my visits to the UK but the last time I passed it up to do a flight experience instead. Must do this one day! Cheers!

[silverado]

Thanks for sharing wonderfull experience.
I am a big fan of Defender series, especially 90.

I have couple of LR international maganizes with me and they are my prized posession.

I have 2 scale models of LR, and wish to collect few more.
In fact i want to visit darjelling some day specially to experience the old LR's.

Stunning is the fact that 75% still exist.
How can we get LR memorabilia in india? is it sold somewhere here?

[extreme_torque]

Great report! I am in love with the Land Rover Discovery 4. It looks so majestic and classy at the same time. A cross continent touring machine if you will. Where are the pics from the 'Ring?

[F150]

Wow is the word. Team - BHP is invited to an international event, speaks volumes about the brand our forum has become.

Khan,
You are one lucky chap. GTO is sharing all these oppurtunities with the mods. If I were him, I would not allow any one and I would have gone to all the events.

Thank you for sharing this report with us. If only there is heavy localisation, one can dream of owning these true off-roading machines in INDIA.

[brraj]

You are one lucky chap dude and i have few questions for you.

- Which vehicle was the best of all?
- How do you compare that best vehicle with your spidey? forget about electronics as abviously it has got more.
- Any news of release of 3.0ltr engine in Evoque in india?

[Shreyas Aterkar]

Khan, lucky you are to have been a part of this event. And its wonderful to know the reputation that Team-BHP has earned itself. Proud to be a part of the forum.

Coming to the report, very nice review and the pics just made it more complete and finally how i wish i could drive the evoque - its my favourite RR as well.

[SmartCat]

Couple of noob questions -

1) If Evoque can get through this trail with the help of computer wizardry, does it mean the end of the road for wheel articulation, low range gears etc?

2) After looking at the performance (and size) of Range Rover, do you feel that it can go farther than old school Indian offroaders' favorites like Gypsy/Jeep on a tough trail?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by offroad_maniac

He mentions that Disco is the heaviest of the LR beacuse it had standard body on ladder frame design + its body itself is as strong as monocoque design. So its more like dual chassis?

Land Rover calls it "Integrated Body Frame". It's a combination of both ladder-frame chassis and a monocoque chassis.

Originally Posted by silverado

..How can we get LR memorabilia in india? is it sold somewhere here?

Nope. I don;t think that one can buy official Land Rover memorabilia here in India. But good point you make. I think JLR showrooms should start selling these memorabilia.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

.. Where are the pics from the 'Ring?

Hold on, you wil get a full report for rest of the programme also

Originally Posted by F150

... If only there is heavy localisation, one can dream of owning these true off-roading machines in INDIA.

Yes, at current price + duty structures these machines are out of range for most -- if not all. However, there are no immediate or short term plans to get these manufactured here. The Freelander 2 does get assembled here in Pune

Originally Posted by brraj

- Which vehicle was the best of all?
- How do you compare that best vehicle with your spidey? forget about electronics as abviously it has got more.
- Any news of release of 3.0ltr engine in Evoque in india?

#1: All are good in their own respect. The Range Rover is epitome of luxury and comfort with awesome power. The Land Rover DISCO is again great. All these machines pump ~600 NM of torque and are loaded to the gills with gozmos. Difficult to choose one over other, except the money you have to pay

#2: Come on man.!!! It's an insult to these beauties to be compared with an ordinary gyspy. You are comparing 600 NM of torque from these machines with just 110 NM of torque from Spidey. These things can do what Spidey can even dream of -- cross country explorations, luxury & comfort par excellence, and very very capable offroad too -- if you are ready to throw them around in the pits. (just for reference, see the amount of articulation that Discovery has in the pictures)

#3: No idea. The Evoque is selling like hot cakes with a long waiting period so doubt that

EDIT:

Originally Posted by smartcat

Couple of noob questions -

1) If Evoque can get through this trail with the help of computer wizardry, does it mean the end of the road for wheel articulation, low range gears etc?

2) After looking at the performance (and size) of Range Rover, do you feel that it can go farther than old school Indian offroaders' favorites like Gypsy/Jeep on a tough trail?

#1: In several situations/conditions, Yes. For example rutted farm tracks. The computer wizardry can help overcome pure mechanical way of tackling these trails

#2: On a normal trail where the size of these vehicles is not a limitation, are with proper tyres, these vehicles will be quite competitive to Jeeps/Gypsys -- stock to stock. (Note, I am not talking competition class as you would see in youtube videos).

[Tushargohil]

Just WOW... what Incredible Machine.... i am loving it.. good job mate and thank you for sharing with us.. much appreciated.... i like all snaps but this one is too good http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...stle-uk-23.jpg

[the VTEC guy]

Excellent report. Just couple of days back had seen a black Discovery 4 on my way to office and started dreaming about owning one. Looking at the pics and video what makes the things that these vehicles more interesting is the fact that none of them had MT/offroad tires. All looked like normal tarmac tires.

[starter]

Brilliant report Khan! Thanks for sharing this with us.
Must've been a very different experience for you offroading with so many dials from the single lever transfer case that you are used to, eh?
Waiting for the rest of the report.
Cheers,
Deepak

PS: Hope, you havin' a blast today. Many wishes from me too!

[MileCruncher]

Very good report Khan Saab!

Waiting to hear your take vis-a-vis Defender / Disco and Freelander. RR /Evoque are too luxurious I feel to be compared with the above 3.

And waiting for the Nurburgring report too. Were your lap times faster than Ford Transit driven by Sabine Schmidt

And last but not the least, many happy returns of the day!

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by the VTEC guy

....what makes the things that these vehicles more interesting is the fact that none of them had MT/offroad tires. All looked like normal tarmac tires.

Great eye you have. with proper offroad shoes, these machines would be even more capable

Originally Posted by starter

..Must've been a very different experience for you offroading with so many dials from the single lever transfer case that you are used to, eh?

You bet. It's like you just sit and steer the vehicle and the computer in these does the rest

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

..Waiting to hear your take vis-a-vis Defender / Disco and Freelander. RR /Evoque are too luxurious I feel to be compared with the above 3.

Let me use an analogy: The Defender is like our Jeeps/Gypsy, the Freelander like our Safari and the Disco like the Fortuner. I don't know if that brings out the essence of comparing these three models without writing essays

[PrideRed]

Wow..awesome stuff.
I was under the impression that Evoque is softroader like others until now.Man this can put many of the proper off roaders to shame forget the softroaders.

RR and Disco ? well it seemed as if they were having a routine job.
I had read that Disco is second to none when it comes to off roading but the RR seems to be matching it every inch.

@Khan: even though the Evoque completed the trail i thought there were couple of under hits. did it?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

I was under the impression that Evoque is softroader like others until now.Man this can put many of the proper off roaders to shame forget the softroaders.

I still think it's a soft-roader. Remember, the trail was relatively easy. You can see it's tyres up in the air in one of the pics, and Khan did post on the tyre slipping as well. Electronics can help you, but it certainly won't match the more serious machines when it comes to 4-wheeling.