FIRSTDRIVE RANGE ROVER SPORT LAND ROVER DISCOVERY:WHATEVER YOUR opinions on how the landed gentry came by their acreage, it's hard to remain unimpressed when one of the estate employees mentions, in passing, that she is but one of a permanent staff of over 240.
“Really? Just how big is this estate?” I politely enquire. “Oh about 54,000 acres, give or take a field.”
For someone from a nation where the fascination with owning land and property nearly drove us to bankruptcy, it’s an impressive plot. In metric terms its 220 sq km, about a quarter the size of Carlow. No wonder it’s a full-time job for Guy Innes-Ker, the 10th duke of Roxboroughe, on whose property we spent two days hanging around on Land Rovers.
When I say hanging around, I mean it in the literal sense, for we spent large portions of our visit to his estate balanced precariously on muddy precipices with two wheels floating in the air, before descending into a river bed or off a temporary forge and into the water that splashed and swirled against the doors.
It’s an appropriate setting for an off-road outing of what is the royalty of off-roading and SUVs. The problem for the brand is that it needs to demonstrate the capability of its vehicles to more than the landed gentry with 54,000 acres to explore.
That’s where the Land Rover Experience comes in. A worldwide franchise of off-roading experts, it aims to put people behind the wheels of such vehicles on challenging off-road terrain and show them just what these vehicles can do.
Take, for example, the Range Rover Sport. This is a typical of what many would regard as nothing more than a high-set road car, a soft roader. Yet after 50 miles of twisting roads that proved its ability on tarmac, we were greeted by two members of the Land Rover Experience Team who directed us towards a small gap between two trees on the side of the road.
As we turned, we were met with a 45-degree slope of pure mud. A quick turn of the Land Rover Terrain response dial to the mud and ruts setting and we were crawling down the bank.
The beauty of this system is that a multitude of sensors takes over and the driver simply steers, feet off the pedals. Sliding down, the terrain system uses its various systems to brake the wheels and send power to those with the most grip. Beneath you, there is an incredible feat of engineering at work, but in the comfort of the cabin, you simply steer it away from tree stumps and rocks, and the car does the rest.
Soon after, we were driving along a river bed, slipping under the branches of fallen trees and climbing up a muddy bank 1km further upriver. This was followed by a forest trek on squidgy bog and through brackish water. It was all so simple that we stopped to admire the beauty of the evergreen canopy. As we jumped out, the bog gave way and swallowed our boots. We couldn’t get a steady footing on the same ground that the Range Rover Sport was making such easy work of.
And where the Range Rover Sport coped admirably, its larger sibling, the Land Rover Discovery, is the real off-road deal.
Land Rover clearly wants to show the brand’s versatility: remarkably capable on the trickiest terrain, competent and capable on the road, and smartly dressed for smart occasions. It wants to be the ultimate all-rounder, in every sense.
Part of that process includes a minor facelift to both the Sport and Discovery, bringing them closer to the image of the Range Rover, particularly in the interior.
They’ve also added two new engines: a 245bhp 3-litre diesel and a new 5-litre petrol model, either normally aspirated or supercharged. It’s the new diesel that clearly attracts interest, joining the current 2.7-litre offering in the Discovery and the 3.6-litre diesel in the Sport.
The new diesel is siginificantly quieter and more refined, while offering better fuel consumption. Yet there remains one seemingly insurmountable hurdle for the brand: Irish emissions tax bands.
Even with the new engines, none of the Discovery or Sport models come in under the top emission tax band, which carries a stomach-churning €2,100 annual motor tax.
Land Rover can claim an incredible off-road pedigree, but until it tackles its emissions as thoroughly as it does the off-road terrain, it will continue to face its greatest hurdle driving off the Irish forecourts.
Factfile Sport & Disco new diesel
RANGE ROVER SPORT TDV6
- CC: 2,993
- BHP: 245
- Torque: 600Nm
- 0-100km/h: 9.3 secs
- L/100km (mpg): 9.2 (30.7)
- CO2; 243g/km
- Motor tax: €2,100
- Price: est €78,000
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY
- CC: 2,993
- BHP: 245
- Torque: 600Nm
- 0-100km/h: 9.5 secs
- L/100km (mpg): 9.3 (30.4)
- CO2; 244g/km
- Motor tax: €2,100
- Price: est €65,000